This article is posted on Healthcare Workers Australia.
“We’re over it.” Many of us, health care workers or not, have overtly or covertly expressed this state of being. The ever-changing protocols, the hybrid telehealth clinics, the endless zoom meetings, the cancelled conferences, the restrictions, the distancing, the lack of human touch, the masked smiles.… Read more
UPDATE BELOW. It happened again the other day. I asked for an N95 mask for my airway operating list. One hospital provided, another said no. Yes, pre-op swabs are negative, but we know that there is a false negative rate and I spend 3-4 hours in multiple patients’ nose, oral cavity, oropharynx, larynx and trachea in one session.… Read more
Let’s get some terminology correct. COVID19 is the disease. SARS-CoV2 is the specific name given to the actual new virus that has been identified as the cause of COVID19. SARS-Cov2 is a new novel virus from the Coronavirus family. In lay terms, coronavirus is the general term we use to refer to this virus.… Read more
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This coronavirus pandemic has changed the way we live drastically. This coronavirus is forcing us to choose. To choose to confront ourselves in the stillness and quietness of our homes. When all the bells and whistles have been removed, when our conferences, meetings and speaking engagements have been stripped away from us, we are forced to face our own selves when no one is looking.… Read more
We do so many online meetings and talks now. Here are 3 little tips to help you do well in front of your phone or computer.
Lights.
Camera.
Action.
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Lights
Keep a forward light directed on to your face.… Read more
The nasopharynx goes back, not up.
When you take a nasopharyngeal swab or insert nasogastric tube, NEVER aim upwards towards the brain.
Go LOW and go SLOW.
Correct direction follows the floor of your nose not up towards the roof.… Read more
Some data out there would suggest that 10-15% of people who are infected by the coronavirus are health care workers (HCW). Let’s do a numbers game here. One nurse treats up to 4 patients. They’re the absolute front line. They spend hours caring for patients in close proximity.… Read more
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This pandemic is changing the world and changing us. This coronavirus has slowed us down and taught us to live differently, to live carefully. Live CARE-full-ly.
Things I do NOT miss: meetings, KPI, goals, budgets, admin, shopping, competition, keeping up with the Joneses, parties, conferences, presentations.… Read more
Here are a few fancy ENT words for you:
Olfactory (smell) disorder:
Anosmia: No smell (I can’t smell coffee)
Hyposmia: Reduced smell (I can smell coffee faintly)
Parosmia: Smelling a different smell (This coffee smells different)
Phantosmia: Smelling something that isn’t there (There’s a coffee smell but no coffee)
Gustatory (Taste) disorder:
Dysgeusia: dysfunction of taste
Parageusia: distortion of taste
Hypogeusia: reduced taste
Ageusia: No taste
ALSO, did you know that humans have 5 kinds of taste: sweet, salty, bitter, sour, umami (taste of MSG)
Read here from Europe the latest and so far the biggest study on smell and taste disorder in association with COVID19.… Read more
Here’s a report from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention looking at the first 4000+ COVID positive patients in the United States.
https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/69/wr/pdfs/mm6912e2-H.pdf
There are 2 graphs in that article that concerns me. This is the first one.
This tells me clearly that people of all age groups get admitted to hospitals.… Read more
