Heart and Stroke Month

So I'm deciding to write a more serious piece today since February is the month in which the Heart and Stroke Foundation likes to inform people about their heart health. I thought I'd help do my part and spread the word, especially since I’m a nurse who works on a cardiac unit lol.

Heart Disease Information:

When it comes to your heart there are certain risk factors in which you can change, and some which you can't here are a list of both types.

Things you can't change:

• Genetics: some people are predisposed to heart disease
• Age: don't you wish you could change this lol
• Family History: if you have more than one immediate relative who has heart related issues, it is important to keep on top of your heart health as this puts you into a higher risk category for heart disease
• History of a stroke or TIA's (transient ischemic attack)
• Ethnicity: First Nations, African or South Asian people have a higher risk factors for heart disease

Things you can change or control: Which is probably the most important list out of these two

• High Blood Pressure: increase blood pressure adds more strain to the heart muscles
• High Cholesterol: you get a build up of plaque which remains in your arteries and causes your heart to work harder to pump the blood through
• Diabetes: if you have diabetes it is important to properly control your sugars
• Being overweight: with a higher percentage of body fat, you also have more blood vessels and this added distance creates more work for the heart
• Excessive Alcohol Consumption
• Physical Inactivity: a sedentary lifestyle is never good for the body
• Smoking: the carcinogens and pathogens from the cigarettes create plaques which remain in your arteries and veins
• Stress: increased stress increases your blood pressure

The most important thing about your heart is making sure you take care of it.

Stroke Information:

For a stroke I feel the most pertinent information would be the warning signs. Should you have a sudden onset of the following 5 things, immediately call your local emergency services:

1. Numbness or Weakness
2. Confusion
3. Dizziness
4. Sudden Vision Problems
5. Trouble Speaking

For more information here please visit the Heart and Stroke Foundations website at www.heartandstroke.ca

~Meg

He who enjoys good health is rich, though he knows it not.

-Italian Proverb

The Student Nurses Prayer

 

Lord: I know we go through this every day but please give me the knowledge as to why I actually wanted to go to nursing school.

Lord, give me the strength to make it through those boring three hour lectures without falling asleep.

Lord, please give me the patience to make it through twelve hour clinicals with instructors that can't just give you the right answer and on the same note, give the nurses the ability to remember what it was like to be a student and give us just a little more respect.

Lord, give me the endurance to read all the assigned readings and be able to remember it when I am taking a test with four right answers.

Lord, give my family and friends the ability to realize I really am on the edge of insanity.

Finally, Lord, give me the vision to see that one day I will be a real nurse and I will never have to wear this ugly uniform again.

http://www.catholicdoors.com/prayers/english2/p00637.htm

~Meg

The two most powerful weapons are courage and persistence.  Nothing can stop a person armed with both.
  - Scott Sorrell