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Prime Time for Ticks

Learn How to Protect Yourself From Lyme Disease by TIM CRAIG May is Lyme Disease Awareness Month, and as the warmer weather brings more family trips outdoors, now is a good time to be reminded about this tricky disease and how to protect yourself against it. Lyme disease is one of the most common…
A Hero’s Heart

Bartow Regional Nurse Talks About a Familiar Profession in an Unfamiliar Time by TERESA SCHIFFER For over a year now, our medical personnel have been on the front lines of an unprecedented battle, fighting a new type of enemy in the form of the novel coronavirus that we now call COVID-19. While researchers having been…
A Growing Healthcare Challenge

Nurse Staffing Study Provides Insight Into Shortage Across U.S. and Florida by HEATHER MACHOVINA The Avant Healthcare Professionals 2021 Trends in Nurse Staffing Study analyzes the status of registered nurse (RN) job vacancies in the U.S. and the overall welfare of RN staff. It evaluates the training of new nurses, compares the costs of outsourcing…

Editor’s Dose: A thank-you letter to nurses

FROM MID-FEBRUARY to about mid-April, my family was at the doctor’s office a lot. The late-spreading flu season (although none of us in our household ever actually caught the flu — thank goodness) must have carried with it many other viruses, because we’ve certainly experienced our fair share. In fact, a few nurses on staff…
Healthy Skin: May is Melanoma and Skin Cancer Awareness Month

“C’MON, DOC. What’s a little sunburn?” is a question I frequently hear from the public. The answer is, if you’re lucky, that’s all it is. But a little sunburn is one of the easiest skin cancer risk factors to avoid. If left untreated, skin cancer, or melanoma, can progress to the point that it’s disfiguring…
Cautions for two of your favorite summer activities

SPRING IS THE TIME OF YEAR in Florida when temperatures begin to warm and the weather is perfect outside. With the sun shining and a gentle breeze blowing, this beautiful weather also marks the beginning of swimming season for Polk’s residents. Swimming and boating are two of the most popular summer activities for people living…