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Improving patient quality of life through palliative care

STATE COLLEGE — At the core of Mount Nittany Health’s mission of “Healthier people, stronger community” is a focus on quality of life for all patients, including those who are suffering from serious illnesses including cancer, congestive heart failure and kidney disease. To help handle the symptoms and stress associated with these illnesses, Mount Nittany Health offers specialized palliative care services. Palliative care aims to "improve the quality of your life by controlling the symptoms" from serious illnesses, according to Patricia Fogelman, DNP, Clinical Director of ...

UPMC Emergency Department nurse recognized with DAISY Award

LOCK HAVEN — Amanda Wadsworth, RN, UPMC Outpatient Emergency Department in Lock Haven, was recently recognized as a recipient of the DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nurses. Wadsworth was nominated by a patient who shared: “Amanda was very concerned about the pain I was having at that ...

Geisinger’s Cystic Fibrosis Center receives Quality Improvement Award

DANVILLE — Geisinger Medical Center’s pediatric and adult cystic fibrosis (CF) programs were both selected as 2023 recipients of the annual Cystic Fibrosis Foundation’s Quality Improvement Award for their work in improving patient care. “It is a tremendous honor for our program’s quality improvement work to be recognized by the CF Foundation,” said Dr. Catherine Shoff, DO, director of the adult CF program and physician in pulmonary medicine. “This is a unique specialty we offer the community, and our CF program has evolved and continues to grow.” To determine ...

UPMC, CU-Lock Haven partnership provides local experience, opportunity for nurses

LOCK HAVEN — UPMC and Commonwealth University-Lock Haven have a longstanding partnership promoting health care careers in north central Pennsylvania. Through the partnership, students are afforded many opportunities for training and clinical observation experiences with UPMC’s employees locally, helping them to better understand the unique health care delivery challenges that the communities of the region face.  “There’s no shortage of demand for skilled and well-trained health care workers, so it’s important that as an organization we continue to invest in our ...

The US infant mortality rate rose last year. The CDC says it’s the largest increase in two decades

NEW YORK (AP) — The U.S. infant mortality rate rose 3% last year — the largest increase in two decades, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. White and Native American infants, infant boys and babies born at 37 weeks or earlier had significant death rate increases. The CDC’s report, published Wednesday, also noted larger increases for two of the leading causes of infant deaths — maternal complications and bacterial meningitis. “It’s definitely concerning, given that it’s going in the opposite direction from what it has been,” said Marie Thoma, a ...

What are these things called ‘decibels’ and why are they important?

I will use some very technical terms in this article, but bear with me as I will try to simplify and explain each one. The Howstuffworks.com science site says “The decibel (abbreviated dB) is the unit used to measure the intensity of a sound. The decibel scale is a little odd because the human ear is incredibly sensitive. Your ears can hear everything from your fingertip brushing lightly over your skin to a loud jet engine. In terms of power, the sound of the jet engine is about 1,000,000,000,000 times more powerful than the smallest audible sound. That's a big difference!” On ...