Great Tool! Air Sketch for iPad!

Genomes Are Beautiful!

What a lovely helix! It's amazing what a difference one tiny little peptide can do... If you are feeling a bit dazzled, think abut the cones and rods in your eyes... I wish that our educational system would highlight the fun and beauty of discovering science and make it come "alive!" It is almost as if their mission statement is "Hunt it down and beat every lovin' piece of fun and wonderment out of it!"

A Lovely DNA Origami Box

What a beautiful box, which was made by strands of DNA + bits of DNA + a computer program and the results are published in Nature Magazine...

Re: Wash Your Hands

Great Video from a Teen about HANDWASHING!!

Swine Flu Updates Directly from the CDC and Department of Human Services

Just a Parody About Mood Alteration Media (click me!)

"FDA Release:  New Medication for the Annoyingly Cheerful!"So, why does this remind me of the tale of "The Three Bears?" One mood is "too low" and the next mood is "too high"... and we just need to make ourselves feel "juuuuusssstt right!" If this weren't such a serious topic (psychopharmacology) it might be funny. I just reviewed the literature last month and came across a troubling statistic: Of the studies about the efficacy of antidepressants, there was a discrepancy (over a number of years) resulting in the following:

1. If the study's result was positive, it was published 94% of the time. 2. If the results were negative, it was published 14% of the time. This is scary to me... Not that I am against the judicious and prudent use of medication as a potential adjunct ... I just think that we need to inform the consumer public with a balanced approach and review of the literature...

Safety for Our Daughters/Our Sons and Ourselves

How can we name these dangers for our girls? How shall we convey a spirit of optimism while we teach our children the skill set with which they can ascertain dangers? Some of the best resources yet discovered are Gavin DeBecker's site and book, "Protecting the Gift: How to Keep Children and Teens Safe and Parents Sane."

Mr. DeBecker narrates the second book, himself, so if you can find it on CD, it is definitely the way to go. His voice is dispassionate, but his tone is quite serious while he makes the point that if we are afraid all of the time, we become less safe. He focuses on the strengths of the "wild brain," and says that we are too overly compliant with strangers' requests. That avoidance of being reluctant to not "give someone the benefit of the doubt" can be very dangerous. This is mandatory reading/listening for parents around here...

My Work Space: The Intersection of Nursing, Law and Family Therapy

Welcome to my new blog. I intend to gather some useful sites and publications for you to use, conduct a few web-based research projects and generally create a tiny conversational bubble at the intersection of several different "planets." (Poor Pluto) My metaphorical "planets" are nursing, law and family therapy. I have to spend a little time on the background of how these places came together to create my work space. The story spans 32 years in 2 paragraphs. Feel free to skip it, too...

Starting out as a nursing student at UT Austin (Go, HORNS!), I became interested in the differences I started to see between who got better and who became a "frequent flyer" in the medical system, whether it be in the ICU or the psychiatric ward. Even in the ICU, I spent more time interacting with patients' families and helping sort out some of their tangles, often, as I tried to provide some continuity of care for our patients. 

Eventually, I went off into the community sector (wings!) and learned how scary it can be out there. If I was nervous about being outside the hospital setting, I can only imagine how frightening it must have felt for most of these vulnerable folks! Since most of my patients/clients were elderly, there were multiples of family dynamics (think giant kitty hairball!) to learn about and negotiate, every day. These patients and their family members were anxious to tell me their stories. I soon discovered that if I wanted them to let me in their home, check their incision, their blood pressure, their IV, their bandages, their lungs... I needed to listen, listen and listen...