Okay, now your here, time to practice. Each of you that holds interest in this will be taught how to get into the Admin screen and begin to blog away. I suggest to practice you can use a relflective journal entry or a little autobiography,…sharing what specialty/area of nursing you plan to pursue. Or just for fun you can share what you have learned this week,…or journal format, what you inisghts, reflections and sources of research you wish to share with the world….WOW eh? with the World,…what potential impact and influence.

For now you will date your entry,…at the bottom of this run-on blog like this

April 27th, 2007 Dave Scratch entry

Hi, all I would like to share with you my clinical interests.

Since my father’s recents strokes, I have been researching stroke and rehabilitation more than any other topic. I wish to share this great website for others who may have a loved one who had a stroke.

This is but one useful paragraph from the chosen site:

Sensory disturbances including pain

Stroke patients may lose the ability to feel touch, pain, temperature, or position. Sensory deficits may also hinder the ability to recognize objects that patients are holding and can even be severe enough to cause loss of recognition of one’s own limb. Some stroke patients experience pain, numbness or odd sensations of tingling or prickling in paralyzed or weakened limbs, a condition known as paresthesia.

Stroke survivors frequently have a variety of chronic pain syndromes resulting from stroke-induced damage to the nervous system (neuropathic pain). Patients who have a seriously weakened or paralyzed arm commonly experience moderate to severe pain that radiates outward from the shoulder. Most often, the pain results from a joint becoming immobilized due to lack of movement and the tendons and ligaments around the joint become fixed in one position. This is commonly called a “frozen” joint; “passive” movement at the joint in a paralyzed limb is essential to prevent painful “freezing” and to allow easy movement if and when voluntary motor strength returns. In some stroke patients, pathways for sensation in the brain are damaged, causing the transmission of false signals that result in the sensation of pain in a limb or side of the body that has the sensory deficit. The most common of these pain syndromes is called “thalamic pain syndrome,” which can be difficult to treat even with medications.

The loss of urinary continence is fairly common immediately after a stroke and often results from a combination of sensory and motor deficits. Stroke survivors may lose the ability to sense the need to urinate or the ability to control muscles of the bladder. Some may lack enough mobility to reach a toilet in time. Loss of bowel control or constipation may also occur. Permanent incontinence after a stroke is uncommon. But even a temporary loss of bowel or bladder control can be emotionally difficult for stroke survivors.

Okay now,…just move to the bottom of the page, after clicking edit,…scroll down about 3 lines and start your entry,…any questions you can post here also,…others may have been wondering the same thing.

All the best,

Dave

May 16th entry

An invitation for all students of mine to consider linking together in a group through facebook.

Please share thoughts and concerns in the comment section so I know whether I should be encouraging this and posting stuff myself there. Just as I see the benefit of using Youtube to bring videos to our blogs, then why not facebook…as a place to post pictures and all.

Please let me know,

Dave