Grand Rounds 2:25

Welcome to this week's edition of the medblog roundup, as originally conceived by Nick of Blogborygmi and archived for a rainy day. Next week's host: Elisa at Healthy Concerns.

If you'd like to know more about the GeekNurse blog and the geek that writes it, Nick has been kind enough to write one of his 'Pre-rounds' articles over at Medscape.

(It's worth clarifying one point from the article. While I don't make a big noise about my name or where I work, I am in fact identified at the bottom of this site, in the copyright. Frankly, since there's only one PICU in New Zealand I'm not very difficult to find!)

This week, an experiment: exactly how much work is it to host Grand Rounds? This topic has been discussed back and forth for a little while now, with various formats proposed as solutions to the growing number of submissions. To contribute to this process, I've included every submission I received and kept track of the time involved, while trying to avoid my usual excesses in writing the thing!

I had a more artistic effort in mind, but that can wait till next time. This is more by way of saying, if you want to keep it simple, you can. The following took just over 4 hours to compile. I think it would be possible to do it in less, now that I've done it once. I'll write up a description of how it was put together and some shortcuts tomorrow, in case anyone out there is feeling nervous about offering to host.

Geek Pick

Usually I take the liberty of selecting one submission out of each grand rounds that I enjoyed reading the most. This week, I get to choose one from 'my' GR.

When your home town is wrecked by a hurricane it tends to rob you of something. Some have compared the damage of a natural disaster like Hurricane Katrina to a rape, but I don't see that. For me, it is more like losing a brother.

Read When Azaleas Last In the Backyard Bloom'd at Doctor Hébert's Medical Gumbo.

Best of the Week

My original 'top twenty' turned into a 'top fifteen'. Because I'm fickle. These either made me laugh out loud (automatic inclusion!) or were especially poignant or interesting. They are presented in order of submission.

Dust in the Wind presents a true "nursing from the trenches" story! Please read this one while observing standard precautions.

UroStream feels as if she's assaulting her patients sometimes, but can see them in the context of their loved ones too.

It pays to tell the truth, according to Sunlight Follows Me.

The Blog that Ate Manhattan gives an example of user-pays education leading to user-pays intercourse.

Chronic Babe hosts an article on hypoglycaemia. It's not just a number when it's YOUR glucose we're talking about!

It's hard to have those really big conversations with patients, as Dr Charles describes.

The Cheerful Oncologist launches his colleague across the room.

At Over My Med Body, the defensive medicine discussion continues. Also, allow me to plug MDCalc, a free online calculator for clinicians.

Doctor Andy reflects on two of his patients.

Doc Around the Clock should have been in show business. Or maybe some of his patients.

DonorCycle reminds us not to underestimate a patient, even the little ones.

Kim's got contrasts six ways from Sunday at Emergiblog

Keith at Digital Doorway has a thoughtful article on the contrasts evident in his work.

Step out of the high tech and take a look at the basics as To The Teeth presents an account of a refugee camp in India.

Harbor FM Residency has two letters from Pakistan.

On Theme

This week's theme was "Glass half-empty, glass half-full". Deliberately vague, the intent was to describe good and bad extremes of life in healthcare, or explore some of the contrasts in one's work. Many of the on-theme posts are featured above, but there are still some gems to be found here.

In nursing, especially as a student, it doesn't take long for a day with good potential to turn just plain ugly. Coffee and Conversation in a Smoky Room shows us how.

Didn't anyone ever tell Dr Crippen that he's supposed to notice when a woman changes something about her appearance? NHS Blog Doctor presents the classic case of a visit that ought to have gone well, but didn't.

The Beast shares a glass half-full view of her husband's hospital admission.

Rita of MSSP Nexus gives us the pros and cons of her work in medical staff service.

Last but not Least

Also in order of submission.

Kevin, MD: NY Times - Why Doctors Get it Wrong. Check the comments section.

Fixin' Healthcare: NGA one, two, and three.

Straight from the Doc: Vitamin E Sending Mixed Signals

Diabetes Mine: Nitric Oxide

Sumer's Radiology Site: Mitral Valve Disease

Insure Blog: Tuesday Health Tip.

BioTech: Antidepression Transdermal Patch Approved by FDA

Hospital Impact: News Scoop

Anxiety, Addiction and Depression Treatments: Internet Safety

The Heart of the Matter: The Star Misses Opportunity to Educate the Public

Clinical Cases and Images: Continuous Search Engine Queries

Neonatal Doc: Fertility

Notes from Dr RW: Practising Medicine--Can We Self-Actualize?

Unbounded Medicine: Getting not enough or too much sleep affects risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus

Respectful Insolence: The Geiers go dumpster diving yet again

Circadiana: What is a 'natural' sleep pattern?

Parallel Universes: Sleep-Talk Again

The Medical Blog Network: Online Content Aggregators: The Past, The Present, The Future

Flea: Three Wishes

DiseaseProof: Vitamin B Ineffective Against Heart Disease

Aetiology: Masks. Also a video about nurses.

Healthy Policy: The Deserving Sick

Gruntdoc: Can a woman with children make it through Medical School?

Aggravated DocSurg: Plavix & Aspirin--Fusion or Fission?

Interested-Participant: Doctor Handcuffed

Health Business Blog: Dr F Seems Like a Decent Consultant

And Finally, the "What on Earth...?" Category

Matt Shook shows us what NOT to do when designing a healthcare site (via webpagesthatsuck.com). You may need your sound turned up to fully appreciate this one.

That's all folks! Thanks for your submissions, and I look forward to hosting again sometime soon.