I’ve been thinking about Florence, pledges, harm, and help. In 1893, nursing pioneer, Lystra Gretter, passed on the light from “The Lady of the Lamp” in penning the Florence Nightingale Nurse’s Pledge. Reminiscent of the Hippocratic Oath, the pledge included a commitment: “I shall not knowingly administer any harmful drug.” While nursing is so much […]
So, a pharmacist, a nurse, a healthcare consumer, and yours truly walk into a bar. I can’t help myself. I get going on how intriguing and instructive I find it that IV medications are often referred to as cocktails, whose preparation involves following recipes. For starters, adult beverages and IVs alike may be divided into […]
Each day, the sisters at St Philip’s filled the apple bowl at the front of the lunch line with exactly 52 apples—one for each student. When sister Mary Grace learned that three students were not getting their apple-a-day because three rascals were consistently copping two instead of one, she penned a piece of her mind […]
Sixty years ago, I enjoyed the popular ABC black-and-white television game show Beat the Clock. “America’s number one clock watcher” and host, Bud Collyer, gave contestants simple, fun assignments
On August 23, 2017, I received word that hospital-pharmacy icon and dear friend, Kenneth N. Barker, passed away earlier that morning. Below is a blog I wrote upon his retirement in 2009. I have made a few edits to bring it up to date.
2030. A robot, a dog, and a pharmacist walk into a bar. A chatty bar tender learns that his three customers comprise the entire pharmacy department of the large hospital in town. When asked what each does, the robot starts, “I prepare medications.” The dog follows, “I keep the pharmacist away from the robot.” The […]
Whoever concluded we are direct descendants of apes must have missed Solomon’s advice about considering ants. Seriously, nonhuman primates travel light. More like ants, we humans spend our days schlepping stuff around. We pack suitcases and briefcases, pull them through airports, stow them overhead, and drag them to taxi stands, hotel rooms, meetings, and back […]