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random and pressing details: 02/01/2010 - 03/01/2010

Friday, February 19, 2010

There are times for which there are no words...

I just want to say to Beth, Lisa and Erin, I know the loss you are suffering right now is devastating.  I want to thank you for sharing your mom with me, and tell you that I love you all and am praying for you.

And that's the best I can do right now.

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Sunday, February 7, 2010

Time for that talk again....Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day

About a year ago, while schlepping around the intrawebs, I got to "know" some people who have irrevocably changed my life.  Good, bad or indifferent... it is what it is.  I put "know" in quotations b/c I have never actually met any of these ladies.  Yet we have shared some pretty deep conversations online.  Have discovered that we hold similar tastes, likes, values, beliefs, pet peeves and humor.  My friendships with these people are every bit as valid and valuable to me as any I have with people in my immediate vicinity.

Because of one of these friendships, I became involved with the Red Pump Project.  Look over on the sidebar... my humble lil' blog with its sporadic readership was one of the first to Rock the Red Pump, last March for National Women's and Girl's HIV/AIDS Awareness Day.  And I'm rockin' it again, and again, and again....

Today is Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day.  And I personally think that it's the most important of the awareness campaigns going.  Why?  Because, demographically, Black Americans are unbelievably over represented as far as HIV/AIDS is concerned.  Now, my girl Luvvie has covered the stats in her post over at the RPP website.  And I believe if it ain't broke, don't fix it... so I'm gonna trust y'all will click the daggone links!

One stat that I came across deals with the disparity between pediatric AIDS among different ethnic/racial demographics.  The following tables come straight from the CDC website and they make me want to vomit.

FIGURE 2. Racial/ethnic distribution in total population and among infants aged ≤1 year, persons aged ≥13 years with diagnosed HIV* infection, and children aged <13 years with diagnosed perinatal HIV infection --- 34 states, 2004--2007
The figure shows racial/ethnic distribution in total population and among infants aged less than1 year and persons aged greater than 13 years with diagnosed HIV infection, and children with diagnosed perinatal HIV infection  in 34 U.S. states from 2004-2007. During 2004-2007, among all children with diagnoses of perinatal HIV infection in the 34 states, 69% were black, 16% were Hispanic, 11% were white, and 4% were of other or multiple races. In contrast, 15% of infants in the 34 states aged less than1 year were black, 22% were Hispanic, 56% were white, and 7% were of other or multiple races. The percentages of black and
Hispanic females aged >13 years with HIV infection were similar to those for children with diagnoses of perinatal HIV infection; 67% were black, and 14% were Hispanic.
* Human immunodeficiency virus.
 Data adjusted for reporting delays.
§ Hispanics/Latinos might be of any race.
Alternative Text: The figure above shows racial/ethnic distribution in total population and among infants aged less than1 year and persons aged greater than 13 years with diagnosed HIV infection, and children with diagnosed perinatal HIV infection in 34 U.S. states from 2004-2007. During 2004-2007, among all children with diagnoses of perinatal HIV infection in the 34 states, 69% were black, 16% were Hispanic, 11% were white, and 4% were of other or multiple races. In contrast, 15% of infants in the 34 states aged less than1 year were black, 22% were Hispanic, 56% were white, and 7% were of other or multiple races. The percentages of black and Hispanic females aged >13 years with HIV infection were similar to those for children with diagnoses of perinatal HIV infection; 67% were black, and 14% were Hispanic.



FIGURE 1. Annual rate of diagnoses of perinatal HIV* infection per 100,000 infants aged ≤1 year, by race/ethnicity --- 34 states, 2004--2007
The figure shows the annual rate of diagnoses of perinatal HIV infection per 100,000 infants aged  less than1 year, by race/ethnicity in 34 U.S. states from 2004-2007. From 2004 to 2007, the annual rate of diagnoses of perinatal HIV infection for black children decreased from 14.8 to 10.2 per 100,000 (p = 0.003), and the rate for Hispanic children decreased from 2.9 to 1.7 per 100,000 (p = 0.04). The rates for white children and for children of other or multiple races did not change significantly.
* Human immunodeficiency virus.
 Data adjusted for reporting delays.
§ Hispanics/Latinos might be of any race.
Alternative Text: The figure above shows the annual rate of diagnoses of perinatal HIV infection per 100,000 infants aged less than1 year, by race/ethnicity in 34 U.S. states from 2004-2007. From 2004 to 2007, the annual rate of diagnoses of perinatal HIV infection for black children decreased from 14.8 to 10.2 per 100,000 (p = 0.003), and the rate for Hispanic children decreased from 2.9 to 1.7 per 100,000 (p = 0.04). The rates for white children and for children of other or multiple races did not change significantly.
Yep, you read those stats right.  Disgusting.... 

At one point in the HIV/AIDS story, an infected mother automatically meant an infected infant.  But there are meds now, that when taken during pregnancy, can prevent the transmission of HIV from mother to child across the placenta.  And these tables are showing clearly that those meds are not getting to Black expectant mothers.  
And why?  Poor access to prenatal diagnosis and care?  Lack of information?  Lack of availability of meds that could prevent those infections?  Lack of caring?  Yeah, all that.  And more. 

So, what do we do about it?  We talk, yell, scream!  We get involved.  We start conversations about prevention.  We make this a priority topic again!  

I refuse to let the conversation die as long as I'm drawing breath.  Please get involved.  Use condoms.  Know your status.  Share information.  If we keep rowing the boat in the same direction, we can get those lines going in the right direction people!

By the way, the RPP has a brother organization, The Red Tie Project, with a focus on issues relating to men and HIV/AIDS.  Check them out!
Also check out this link... Pediatric AIDS Chicago Prevention Initiative for more info on perinatal transmission prevention.

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Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Obvious Is As Oblivious Does


So, sometimes I'm dense.  Other times, I'm pretty freakin' perceptive.  It really depends on how much sleep I've had  I care about the subject matter.  That's why it really shouldn't surprise any one who knows me that there are things I fail to notice until some time passes.  How much time?  I have no clue.  Didn't I just say I really haven't been paying attention?  I've had stuff going on, people.

Here's the part where the daring reader *pauses* gives me the *blank stare* o_o and asks what the he77 I been smokin'! (Newports, for the record...duh.)

In this particular situation, what I failed to notice is that I have been unfriended on the Facebook by some people with whom I work.  I'm pretty sure I know the reason for my unfriending, too.  I'm a "them" now.

In January, I transitioned from the role of a nurse doing direct patient care to the role of patient care coordinator, also known as a charge nurse.  In essence, what that does is puts me on the other side of the "us and them line" in a lot of folks' eyes.  I'm not really management, but I'm not really not management, either.  Yeah, it confuses me too.  What I do is a lot of educating, some problem solving, some helping, some fixing patient/family issues, a lot of meetings for projects, a truck load of stuff I'm still trynna figure out, and (here's the fly in the ointment) supervision.  And, yes, I share the office with my managers (yep, I work for two managers) and the clinical educator.  So, I guess maybe I am a "them" and just haven't fully accepted it yet *Kanye shrug* who knows.

But seriously, back to the FB thing...

Recently, the corporate level management/administration came to the conclusion that people needed some guidance as to what was okay to post or not post on a social networking site.  And let's face it, once something hits the interwebs, for better or worse, it's there.  For better or worse, good, bad, ugly or indifferent... the cyberverse has it on lock.  And here's a fact, we work with flesh and blood human beings who are going through some kinda something or they wouldn't be in the hospital.  Said human beings have feelings and so do their families.  Said feelings are probably being experienced acutely and with raw nerve endings because of the some kinda something to which I alluded previously.  Another fact to face is that these patients and their families have a right, ethically and legally to expect their privacy to be respected.  And yet another fact is that we are allegedly grown-a$$ people who understand that there is something to be said for the concepts of professionalism and respect for ourselves, our peers and our facility.  But I guess I assume that common sense is common... which, alas, it only ain't!

But new policy + new role = Amy gets unfriended.


(Which apparently had such an impact on me that I'm not sure exactly when it happened, so you know I lost sleep over it.) 

And I said all of that in order to say this...

What is it that is so compelling to post that one would feel the need to make sure one of the "thems" doesn't see it?  I mean, really?  I guess that I've never felt a burning desire to put a patient's business out there like that.  What if, even unintentionally, I caused a patient or a patient's family stress, embarassment or pain because I was trynna be the cool kid on Facebook?  What kinda jackass would I have to be to use someone else's misfortune as fodder for my status update?  (Okay, obviously this doesn't apply to ex-'s, hoes, pimps and scallawags... as long as they aren't patients in the hospital that employs you!)


So, if that's the kinda twisted crap that keeps you warm at night, well, that's on you.  And if it makes you feel more secure that we aren't Farmville Neighbors any more, fine.  But for the record, I've got better sh!t to do than police folks' Facebook walls.  Just whatever happens, remember, when you post a status about that "Crazy lady on 8 medical," and her son, the cage fighting redneck, meets you in the parking lot after your shift (coz he saw your status on his cousin's girlfriend's news feed and recognized you as Mama's nurse).... you brought that mess on yourself!

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