Tinnitus

This year, my Anatomy and Physiology class has really taught me to appreciate the human body. The complexity and detail of the body is quite intriguing. The ears are perhaps the most intricate design of the body, and therefore it is no surprise that they are quite delicate. For a final project in this class, we were to present on an ear complication known as Tinnitus.

Tinnitus is a continuous noise within the ears that has been described in many ways; ringing, whining, buzzing, hissing, humming, whistling, clicking, or even beeping. Sometimes, it can be experienced temporarily when an individual is alone in a very quiet room. There are many causes of Tinnitus. Hearing loss due to aging, medications that are damaging to auditory tissues, ear infections, and wax build-up are a few contributing factors. The most common cause, however, is exposure to loud noises.

Teenagers are the most at risk for Tinnitus, because of the ways teens usually listen to music. For example, the average rock concert outputs volume between 110 and 120 decibels. Continuous exposure to only 85 decibels can be damaging to the auditory hair cells of the inner ear. Many organizations are attempting to promote the use of hearing protection in order to reduce the incidences of tinnitus. Hearing protection devices, such as ear plugs and ear muffs, can reduce sounds by nearly 30 decibels!

The use of personal music players, such as iPods, is also concerning. The ear bud headphones direct the sounds further into your ears, making it more damaging. Remember this when adjusting the listening volume. A general rule for safe headphone use is; music should not be loud enough to block external noise and should not so loud that it can be heard by others. As harmless as music use appears to be, we must always acknowledge the potential damaging effects it can have on our ears.

This picture is a humourous depiction of Tinnitus.

Source: http://www.vitakorea.com/wmk/mall.php?cat=001009002&query=view&no=252

Zen Buddhism

As mentioned in my previous post, cultural diversity is definitely increasing throughout the nursing profession. In order to help patients of unfamiliar cultures, we must become educated in their individual beliefs and preferences. In our Introduction to Health and Healing class, we prepared presentations on different cultural groups in order to acknowledge the distinct uniqueness surrounding us.

My group chose to present on the Buddhism culture. For the project we travelled to downtown Toronto to a small sanctuary called the Zen Buddhist Temple. We were fortunate enough to hear a lecture on Zen arts by Komala Patricia Campbell. I found the lecture to be very perceptive, as I had previously known very little about the Buddhist culture.

Through research, I discovered that the Buddhist beliefs are very inspiring, and have given me a different outlook on life. Buddhists believe in Cosmotheology, which is the belief of beauty in imperfection. Cosmotheology teaches an individual to pursue a greater overall acceptance. Karma is also a common principle of Buddhism. They believe that every sinful action will be balanced with resulting consequences. A popular generalized statement about Karma is, “what goes around, comes around”. According to Buddhist belief, by remaining conscience of my actions, I can avoid potential consequences due to Karma.

This is a chant similar to one used for meditation at the temple.

Future Nursing Trends

For a class presentation in my Development of Self as a Nurse class, we were required to analyze an article called Toward 2020: Visions for Nursing. I found the predictions to be quite insightful. The authors of the article identify four major trends they believe will be evident in the year 2020.

First of all, the nursing profession will become more culturally diverse. Canadian licensing, standards, and education requirements will become simpler to allow for foreign-educated nurses to have a better transition into the Canadian health care system. Secondly, the article predicts that nurses will be given more responsibility in the future. The physician role will become more specialized, therefore nurses will have to take over general physician duties (such as medication prescribing). Next, it is estimated that most nursing in the future will be community-based. Approximately 75% of the nursing population will practice in the community setting. Lastly, technologic advancements in health care will change the nurse’s job. An increase in the use of artificial intelligence will relieve the amount of physical tasks, thus making more time for emotional care.

Obviously, this is only estimation, as it is impossible to tell what the future has in store. What do you think nursing will be like in 2020?

Source: http://blog.c4more.com/

Communication Technology in Health Care

Technology is revolutionizing the ways in which we communicate within the health care industry. It makes communication more efficient, and therefore benefits all health care workers. For example, the use of telemedicine technology eliminates any inconvenient distance barriers. Telemedicine is the use of communication technology to quickly share medical information. Medical records and x-ray images can be sent over the internet to where ever the patient travels. Likewise, e-mail discussions and internet-based conferences help medical professionals gain information from their peers. The internet minimizes communication-related distance restrictions that have been troublesome in the past. As technology continues to develop, communication will become effortless around the world!