Health Services

By Stephanie Rodriguez, APRN-CNP
Certified Nurse Practitioner, North Baltimore Medical & Diagnostic Center

We have all experienced occasional stressful days but can generally manage with anticipation that a relaxing period will follow. Burnout, however, is different. Burnout is “A state of physical or emotional exhaustion that also involves a sense of reduced accomplishment and loss of personal identity.” We see this in family life, work life and even as a whole community. How do we know if we’re suffering from burnout? Here are just a few signs: fatigue, this does not mean just sleepy, but also unmotivated or lack of energy; feeling apathetic or dissatisfied with work; headaches; cynical outlook; changes in sleep pattern.

How can this affect us long term? Long-term stress can lead to anxiety disorders, detachment, hypertension, a strained immune system and poor work performance, to name just a few. Burnout generally spills into community systems as well, such as in healthcare. For example, one study in 2019 found that “54 percent of nurses (in the U.S.) experience moderate burnout and 28 percent experience high or severe level of burnout.” This can ultimately lead to individuals leaving a profession or are unable to perform to standards. Ultimately, a wave begins with more and more demands to fewer and fewer individuals. There is nearly a 20 percent increase in demand for mental health services over the last year and a half, meaning the nation could, if not already, be facing a mental health crisis.

CONTINUES

By Karen Kier, Pharmacist on behalf of the ONU HealthWise team

The idiom to catch up means to reach a standard or to move faster in order to reach someone or something moving in the same direction.  This idiom can mean anything from a competition of catching someone who maybe running a race or it can mean a meeting with a friend to catch up on the latest news.

The World Health Organization (WHO) announced on April 24 “The Big Catch-Up” program to coincide with World Immunization Week.  This new campaign is driven by the decrease in pediatric vaccines prior to and during COVID-19.  Routine childhood vaccines declined in over 100 countries during the pandemic.  This is the largest sustained decline in 30 years.

The CDC reports a decline in pediatric immunizations during COVID-19 in the United States. The start of the 2022 school year had the lowest vaccine rates for kindergarten children at 93%.  Experts believe the disruption of routine physician visits and the misinformation about vaccines contributed to the falling numbers.

CONTINUES