Video Nurse: Five Things People Do That Could Kill Them

It happens all the time. In fact, it happened yesterday evening.

A friend emails me, asking about a side effect of a medication he is taking. He wants to know if he should stop taking it, or if he should continue taking it. Can he stop taking a pain killer he was prescribed, and take some OTC Tylenol instead?

As an RN and licensed mental health counselor, I have the licenses and background to field general questions -- something like a triage nurse -- and help you, the consumer, find practical answers. With cheeky humor, entertainment, knowledge, and maybe a tiny bit of pointed sarcasm for the belligerent help-resistant person, I can point you in the right direction. I'll help you wade through medical journal articles, understand studies and statistics, and tell you when something sounds downright fishy (or as my friend says, "It's a bunch of crap!").

Video Nurse makes its official debut Mondays at 5pm Pacific Standard Time on Ustream.tv (look for Video Nurse) starting June 7, 2010. It's a one-hour show by topic, with time for people in the chat room to ask questions and jump in the dialogue about health-related topics. I'll occasionally record segments of the show and archive them by topic.

While Video Nurse does not exist to diagnose or treat any specific person's disease or disorder, I can speak generally about the disease/disorder, and point callers towards resources to help them make the most informed choices possible.

Here's just one example of Video Nurse:



On Monday June 7, 2010, Video Nurse will cover the topic, "Five Things People Do That Could Kill Them". I already gave you a hint to one of the five in the above example. When you don't read your prescription carefully and mix medications, you are playing "mad scientist" with your body as the lab experiment. In the example above, Tylenol had an adverse reaction to the pain killer this friend wanted to replace. The same could be said about stopping a medication mid-prescription without informing your doctor (for follow up): that's almost always a dumb thing to do, because doctor's usually do not prescribe medication without a reason.

Every single person is responsible for his or her own health, even if you see a physician. No matter your culture, age, gender, or sexual orientation, it is your right to be informed about what keeps you healthy. Ultimately, the choices available are yours to take. Watch Video Nurse, and start living your most satisfying life today.