Health News

Features

Pop Quiz: Are you a ‘good’ patient?

Find Out if You Make the Grade, and Learn Some Tips along the Way It’s not easy being hurt, sick or suffering from a long-term disease or condition, but achieving optimal health can be even more elusive if you believe in the erroneous Good Patient Syndrome. With this syndrome, you may think it’s bad manners…
Q & A: What it takes to work on the front lines of patient care

Paula Miller talks about the challenges and rewards of being a nurse There to get you settled when you arrive, and there to discharge you when you leave, nurses are an integral part of quality care in the field of medicine. We interviewed Paula Miller, director of quality at Bartow Regional Medical Center, about what it…
Healthcare workers in demand

A look at local opportunities from the ground up As baby boomers age, there will be more job opportunities in healthcare in Central Florida. Nurses likely will continue to be in demand, and local schools are offering the training needed. “Students seek our Nursing Program because they know it will give them more than just…

Signs & symptoms: When your skin needs medical attention

As a surgeon who often treats and cares for patients whose ailments of the skin have gone too long without medical attention, I’d like to talk about the importance of seeing a doctor right away if you find abnormalities on the skin. I hope people can be aware that it is not only important…
Body, mind & spirit: Integrating primary and behavioral care

When you go to the doctor complaining of stomach pain, you probably don’t expect your problem to be depression. But it just may be. When you complain of headache, clumsiness, dizziness, shakiness, blurred vision, tingling around the mouth and seizures, you might expect an anxiety or bipolar (manic-depressive) disorder. You may be surprised if…
Mediterranean diet for cardiovascular health

Dr. Sean P. O’Rourke is a board-certified cardiologist at Watson Clinic. With a subspecialty in cardiovascular disease, Dr. O’Rourke often sees patients suffering from heart disease. He took the time to answer some questions about heart disease, which has a higher death rate in Polk County than in the rest of Florida. Health…