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COVID-19 pandemic

1,704 articles · Since 2020

Articles, page 12

Conditions and diseases

Use a little compassion: How we treat and support each other is important

I need to start this blog by saying that these times do try us. I completely understand this as I continue to care for others in what is rapidly becoming the most tenacious public health disaster of my nearly 40…

I need to start this blog by saying that these times do try us. I completely understand this as I continue to care for others in what is rapidly becoming the most tenacious public health disaster of my nearly 40 years in nursing.

Last week, as I searched the aisles of the local grocery store looking for tasty, nutritious items to pack for lunches, I happened across a man wearing a …

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Use a little compassion: How we treat and support each other is important

Conditions and diseases

Why you should vaccinate your kids

I am definitely getting my daughter vaccinated, and I acknowledge a minimal risk. Here is my reasoning, and perhaps this can help your family decide to get the vaccine for the kids in your family, too. Coronavirus is going to…

I am definitely getting my daughter vaccinated, and I acknowledge a minimal risk. Here is my reasoning, and perhaps this can help your family decide to get the vaccine for the kids in your family, too.

Coronavirus is going to be with us for a long time — years, decades, probably for the rest of our lives like influenza. It is even widespread in deer now, another reservoir …

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Why you should vaccinate your kids

The Podcast by KevinMD

Physicians have gone from being heroes to villains [PODCAST]

"I am exhausted and sad and disappointed and discouraged. I am losing faith in humanity. Where is the 'love your neighbor as yourself'? Where is the willingness to help each other? Where is the solidarity of those first days? Physicians…

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“I am exhausted and sad and disappointed and discouraged.

I am losing faith in humanity. Where is the ‘love your neighbor as yourself’? Where is the willingness to help each other? Where is the solidarity of those first days? Physicians have gone from being heroes to being villains. We have …

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Physicians have gone from being heroes to villains [PODCAST]

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The Podcast by KevinMD

Doctors are humans, not heroes [PODCAST]

"The truth is, we were all drowning, alone, and hiding behind the image of perfection. Clearly, each of us secretly thought that the others had it all figured out. We were so afraid of admitting weakness or asking for help,…

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“The truth is, we were all drowning, alone, and hiding behind the image of perfection. Clearly, each of us secretly thought that the others had it all figured out. We were so afraid of admitting weakness or asking for help, so we kept it to ourselves and muddled through, …

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Doctors are humans, not heroes [PODCAST]

Physician voices

But my children are not vaccinated

Go to the store, support small businesses ... But my children are not vaccinated. Go out to eat; buy local … But my children are not vaccinated. Go back to work; go travel… But my children are not vaccinated. Come…

Go to the store, support small businesses … But my children are not vaccinated.
Go out to eat; buy local … But my children are not vaccinated.
Go back to work; go travel… But my children are not vaccinated.
Come celebrate, please enjoy … But my children are not vaccinated.

Kids need people; they need play … But my children are not vaccinated.
Kids need sports and activities … But my children are not vaccinated.
Kids …

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But my children are not vaccinated

Physician voices

To Aaron Rodgers, from a physician and Packers fan

3

I'm a doctor passionate about public health and public policy born and raised in Wisconsin and educated at the Medical College of Wisconsin (the same institute that bestowed Mr. Rodgers an honorary degree in 2018). I'm also a Packers shareholder,…

I’m a doctor passionate about public health and public policy born and raised in Wisconsin and educated at the Medical College of Wisconsin (the same institute that bestowed Mr. Rodgers an honorary degree in 2018). I’m also a Packers shareholder, as is my father, a practicing physician in the state. I cheered you on for your 2011 Super Bowl win from my college dorm freshman year and even had an …

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To Aaron Rodgers, from a physician and Packers fan

Patient voices

Is misinformation deadlier than the virus?

4

Lurking in the shadows, it creeps in. Spreading itself across the world. Creeping into all recesses of human civilization, like a slug oozing slime as it moves slowly and surely. A microscopic, spikey ball of evil engineered for killing. Attacking…

Lurking in the shadows, it creeps in.
Spreading itself across the world.
Creeping into all recesses of human civilization,
like a slug oozing slime as it moves slowly and surely.

A microscopic, spikey ball of evil engineered for killing.
Attacking its prey without warning.
Attaching itself, drawing lifeblood for its existence.
A parasite of sorts, devoid of a conscience.

It matters not if victims are young, old, healthy, infirmed, rich, poor.
Existence is at risk and all are fair

…

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Is misinformation deadlier than the virus?

Conditions and diseases

A pregnant mother dies of COVID

In this small town I live in, a funeral procession is a big deal. The hearse is followed by several black cars turning into an array of family and friends cars. All of them roll slowly and sadly to the…

In this small town I live in, a funeral procession is a big deal. The hearse is followed by several black cars turning into an array of family and friends cars. All of them roll slowly and sadly to the final destination.

I knew all about this funeral.

A bright, college-educated woman. Six months pregnant. She had immense faith in God. God granted immunity from COVID. God would protect her from COVID. …

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A pregnant mother dies of COVID

Conditions and diseases

COVID ravaged my mother’s body

2

The day that my 82-year-old mother was scheduled to receive her first COVID vaccine, she was admitted to the intensive care unit, critically ill with COVID pneumonia. It was late January. My siblings and I hadn’t heard from our mother…

The day that my 82-year-old mother was scheduled to receive her first COVID vaccine, she was admitted to the intensive care unit, critically ill with COVID pneumonia.

It was late January. My siblings and I hadn’t heard from our mother in a few days, and we were worried because she lived alone. Joanie was a democrat and a CNN junkie, who was sure to be watching as the Trumps helicoptered from …

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COVID ravaged my mother’s body

Conditions and diseases

To booster or not booster? That is the question.

4

Gen. Colin Powell , the first Black U.S. secretary of state, passed away this week due to COVID complications. Yes, Powell was fully vaccinated but immunocompromised. However, he had scheduled the booster but was too ill to receive it. After…

Gen. Colin Powell , the first Black U.S. secretary of state, passed away this week due to COVID complications. Yes, Powell was fully vaccinated but immunocompromised. However, he had scheduled the booster but was too ill to receive it.

After President Joe Biden received his COVID-19 booster, many wondered if they needed a booster too.

I have been a registered nurse for over 38 years, and …

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To booster or not booster? That is the question.

The Podcast by KevinMD

Carry on, my weary one: Persevering in the aftermath [PODCAST]

"Frontline workers may have temporarily experienced a heightened sense of personal success and gratification, but I doubt many of us are still able to feel satisfied at this point, after all the repeated moral injuries and losing so many patients.…

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“Frontline workers may have temporarily experienced a heightened sense of personal success and gratification, but I doubt many of us are still able to feel satisfied at this point, after all the repeated moral injuries and losing so many patients. COVID-19 assuredly changed me. The virus changed my residency …

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Carry on, my weary one: Persevering in the aftermath [PODCAST]

Physician voices

Which is better: Psychotherapy using video or in-person while wearing masks?

2

At the very start of the pandemic last year, I met with a couple of patients in the office while we wore masks. Based on that limited experience, I quickly concluded that seeing each other’s faces was of paramount importance,…

At the very start of the pandemic last year, I met with a couple of patients in the office while we wore masks.  Based on that limited experience, I quickly concluded that seeing each other’s faces was of paramount importance, even if over video.  That, plus the infection risk, led me to close my office to in-person appointments.  For more than a year, I exclusively conducted …

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Which is better: Psychotherapy using video or in-person while wearing masks?

Physician voices

Crossing the liminal space of the pandemic

We have been walking down a long hallway for many, many months. We left the room we resided in pre-COVID, but we have not yet found a room to rest. We are in the liminal space of COVID. This is…

We have been walking down a long hallway for many, many months. We left the room we resided in pre-COVID, but we have not yet found a room to rest. We are in the liminal space of COVID. This is unsettling and unnerving — liminal space often is.

Liminal space in architecture is the area between discrete, functional spaces, a way of passage, but not the place where beds are placed, …

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Crossing the liminal space of the pandemic

The Podcast by KevinMD

I was thinking about retiring, and COVID-19 gave me a push [PODCAST]

"Last March, I was working in a small primary care practice on the west side of Denver. COVID-19 came to town. On Thursday, March 12, we were told the schools would be closing. On Friday, we were told that clinic…

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“Last March, I was working in a small primary care practice on the west side of Denver. COVID-19 came to town. On Thursday, March 12, we were told the schools would be closing. On Friday, we were told that clinic staff had to wear masks — and the clinic …

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I was thinking about retiring, and COVID-19 gave me a push [PODCAST]

Physician voices

The dimming of the shining city

In March 1630, John Winthrop delivered the treatise "A Model of Christian Charity" at Holyrood Church in Southampton, England, prior to leading the first settlers of the Massachusetts Bay colony on their to journey to the New World. In his…

In March 1630, John Winthrop delivered the treatise “A Model of Christian Charity” at Holyrood Church in Southampton, England, prior to leading the first settlers of the Massachusetts Bay colony on their to journey to the New World. In his address, he referred to the new community they would found as a city upon a hill with the eyes of all people upon them. This reference to a portion of …

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The dimming of the shining city

Physician voices

Does pro-vaccine always have to be pro-mandate?

3

"They are firing me for not getting the COVID vaccine. I can make more money working at Michael's than I do at this job. I was only doing this because I like to help people. But this is it for…

“They are firing me for not getting the COVID vaccine. I can make more money working at Michael’s than I do at this job. I was only doing this because I like to help people. But this is it for me. I’m quitting. I’ll miss the patients, but I cannot be forced into doing something that I don’t believe in.”

The patient care tech said to me after putting my patient …

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Does pro-vaccine always have to be pro-mandate?

Physician voices

Compassion fatigue and the unvaccinated

2

"Do you get compassion fatigue when you take care of smokers or patients with obesity or diabetes?" This was in reply to an article on compassion fatigue I had posted on my Facebook page. The article was written by an…

“Do you get compassion fatigue when you take care of smokers or patients with obesity or diabetes?”

This was in reply to an article on compassion fatigue I had posted on my Facebook page. The article was written by an exhausted physician caring for unvaccinated COVID-19 patients. My initial reaction was, “Of course not. That’s my job!” But it made me think, why was it that caring for unvaccinated patients seemed …

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Compassion fatigue and the unvaccinated

Physician voices

Honor your oath. Set boundaries. Demand respect.

2

This morning, while scrolling through social media, I encountered a resounding theme. Multiple physicians posting about being challenged, disrespected, and made to feel worthless by the very people they were trying to help: their patients. Being brought to tears by…

This morning, while scrolling through social media, I encountered a resounding theme. Multiple physicians posting about being challenged, disrespected, and made to feel worthless by the very people they were trying to help: their patients. Being brought to tears by the disrespect of the patient’s family members. Physician expertise blatantly questioned. Advice ignored.

Patients telling doctors – to their faces – that they “don’t like their tone” and then telling nurses …

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Honor your oath. Set boundaries. Demand respect.

Conditions and diseases

Looking at the studies behind masks

2

With the recent onset of the Delta variant rendering havoc on an already strained economy and weary population post- the rabid COVID-19 surge, there is much debate on effective policies that negate the harmful outcomes of viral acquisition. The B.1.617.2…

With the recent onset of the Delta variant rendering havoc on an already strained economy and weary population post- the rabid COVID-19 surge, there is much debate on effective policies that negate the harmful outcomes of viral acquisition. The B.1.617.2 Delta variant originated in India and is among the most easily transmissible form of the novel SAR-CoV-2 pathogen, apart from the Alpha-Britain isolated, Beta-South Africa isolated, and Gamma-Brazil isolated forms. …

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Looking at the studies behind masks

The Podcast by KevinMD

When clinicians are bullied at a school board meeting [PODCAST]

"The first amendment protects your right to free speech. But it does not make you more right, more ethical, or more kind. And nor does it give one license to rewrite history as has been occurring since July 27th, adding…

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“The first amendment protects your right to free speech. But it does not make you more right, more ethical, or more kind. And nor does it give one license to rewrite history as has been occurring since July 27th, adding insult to our experience. Let me break this down.

On …

Read more…

When clinicians are bullied at a school board meeting [PODCAST]

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