I was doing some research on nursing last night and I came across an interesting trend. Nurses today in the present-day are finding in taking temporary positions that enable them to travel across the United States to work as a nurse in multiple locations, or should say in different locations. So for example if you are a nurse and you wanted to spend the winter in Miami, you could accept a position as a travel nurse and work in Miami for two or three months during the middle of winter. These positions seem to be available all around the United States, and they offer outstanding pay rates and even benefits that are normally associated with full-time work such as a 401(k) plan.
This concept of travel nursing seems to have evolved and changed over the years quite a bit. As we continue to dig within the book of medicine, we are repeatedly reminded that the book was written 90 years ago for an audience primarily consisting of mothers caring for their families and nurses in remote locations where other medical care was unavailable. A single doctor might cover a single town or even a county or territory back then. A traveling nurse back then might have to go by horseback to take care of an ailing patient, or they might work in a hospice or alms house typically for very low pay if they were paid anything at all. Room and board were actually the standard pay of the time.
Fast-forward 90 years and the situation has changed dramatically. Nursing is very high in demand to the extent that people will actually pay a nurse to travel across the country and work for a few months at a time. Part of this is probably driven by the shortage of nurses and a number of different areas and part of it probably relates to the fact that elderly and ailing patients are much more mobile these days. It has been very common for a couple decades now for people to travel south for the winter to Florida or Phoenix or even Southern California. This influx of people that need medical attention seems to be matched by nurses that are willing to go to those locations and work. Furthermore, were not necessarily talking about a live-in nurse that works 24 hours a day taking care of an elderly patient, were talking about a nurse that works a shift sometimes in a home sometimes a hospital or other medical facility. That leaves pony of time for a real life after hours and many opportunities to explore the location that they're visiting.
Additional Articles from the Book of Medicine:
- Virulence of Lead Poison
Virulence of Lead Poison. — in the celebrated case of the accidental poisoning of the ex-royal family of France, a Claremont, by lead which was taken up in the drinking water, the amount was found not to exceed one grain of metal to the gallon of water. From cases which have since been observed, it would appear that the habitual use of water containing 1/10 or even 1/20 of a grain per gallon, is sometimes attended with danger. In his investigation into the cause of that curious disease, as it was formerly considered, the Devonshire colic, Sir George Baker, who discovered that it was only a form of lead poisoning due to the drinking of cider fermented in lead lined vats and troughs, found that 18 bottles of cider he examined contained four and a half grains of lead, or a quarter of a grain to each bottle.
The poisoning of the French aristocracy may not have originated in France. Some researches believe that lead lined vats may have played a contributing role in the decline of the Roman empire.
Well-to-do Romans painted their walls a rich Pompeian red, which owed its color to a salt of lead or mercury. Lead was used for water pipes, cups, toys, statues, cosmetics, coffins, and roofs, but the most significant source may have been the wine of the wealthy class.S. Columba Gilfillan proposed a theory for Roman decay in 1965 that involved "poisons esteemed as delicious by the ancient well-to-do." Spoilage was a problem in ancient Rome, and vintners discovered that wine tasted better and lasted longer if it was mixed with a concentrated grape syrup called sapa.
Some enterprising Roman probably started up a nice home business making wine ‘taste better’ and in so doing brought about the wasting of the upper class and the possible downfall of Rome as a whole.
- Values of the Plates
THE DIGESTIVE APPARATUS AND ITS WONDERS
Values of the Plates. — seeing is believing; nay, it is more, it is knowing and remembering. The mere reading of his statement on any particular subject is not always advance our knowledge of the matter in question. The observation of the facts, or its proper illustration by appropriate diagrams, such as we observed these anatomical charts to be, not only emphasizes the point considered, but aides us and remembering the principal features connected with the functions performed, does advancing our knowledge of the subject discussed, and educational progress is made.
_________________
In this section the author is referring to the medical charts and diagrams that come with the book. This is actually an interesting excerpt. I’m sure it was a bit of conventional wisdom that combining pictures with text would help people understand and learn. Today I work in part as a MindManager trainer. My manager is a software program that enables people to mind map on their computer. My maps enable people to put text in words and pictures and colors together so that they can learn and digest the topic faster. The interesting thing is in the 1960s a scientist won a Nobel peace prize for putting all that information together in proving that people do learn better when they look at pictures and colors as opposed to just flat black text. I’m sure the monks of the dark ages could’ve probably confirm that, but it hadn’t gone to the scientific process yet.
- Bony Frame of the Hand – Palm of the Hand
Bony Frame of the Hand. – on turning over this flap we behold the bony framework of this wonderful organ. This seemed to consist of a number of bones, so exquisitely arranged as to combine the greatest possible degree of flexibility and strength.
Palm of the Hand. – below this is given an elegant, and the same time a true and correct view of the muscular arrangement of the palm of the hand and fingers. Over the wrist to see me annular ligament, that then, tough, strong sheet, which binds the muscular courts and holds them firmly in place us in these anatomical charts have we depicted the perfection of the human hand.
Sometimes you definitely do get the impression that the author is talking much more about the book they are writing, the pictures in the book and absolutely nothing at all related to the topic. The author could be talking about acne treatment and it would be more relevant than talking about these charts and the ‘perfection of the human hand’.
del.icio.us tags: history of medicine, medicinal teaching, hand frame, hand palm, palm of hand, bony hand
[...] I read a different article talking about a new change in the nursing industry. Nursing history has changed dramatically over the years, but possibly more dramatically in the last 2 decades than [...]