By now you’ve undoubtedly heard about the guilty verdict in Steubenville. You can read any variety of news coverage of the trial, so I am not going to post articles about the proceedings here (although kudos to the Ohio Alliance to End Sexual Violence and NSVRC for their excellent daily recaps [1.2.3.4 and their commentary on the verdict]). What I would like to post is some of the stuff I’ve been reading about the broader messages from Steubenville, since last we spoke:
On Wednesday, one of the things we talked about in the sessions I led was the issue of social media use. Now I am a huge fan, as most of you know, and I think there are some incredible ways to harness social media professionally. Not sure how?
Apologies for missing a post yesterday, but I spent a really lovely day with a group of (mostly) forensic nurses from the Southwest Ohio/Kentucky area, and so it just never happened. Back today, though, with a newly released publication from the National Center on Domestic Violence, Trauma and Mental Health:
Well, folks–we have gotten to the point where an actual site redesign is a possibility. Time to take this thing from a blog with a ridiculous amount of information to trawl through to an actual website that is intended to make information easily accessible and user friendly. Over the next 3-4 months I will be working with a firm to overhaul FHO, and frankly, I could use some input. What would you like to see happen on FHO? What suggestions do you have for how the site could be organized, or what information could be included to make it work better for you? Are there sites that you think are a great model design-wise? Feel free to leave comments below, tweet me your suggestions, or, as so many of you prefer to do, send me an email and let me know your thoughts. It’s important to me to get this right, and if it doesn’t meet the needs of FHO’s readers, it won’t be. So don’t be shy–all feedback is welcome.
The FDA released a warning today that azithromycin may exacerbate existing QT prolongation leading to fatal arrhythmias. Per today’s statement: “Health care professionals should consider the risk of torsades de pointes and fatal arrhythmia when considering treatment options with azithromycin or alternative antibacterial drugs.”
(More after the jump)
This weekend gave us a glimpse of spring here in the DC area, so I spent as much time as possible outside. However, I am prepping for a quick trip to the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky area (hope to some of you there–we’ll be talking about testimony, one of my favorite subjects!), so I wasn’t entirely unplugged. Here’s a look at some of what I’ve been reading since last we spoke:
Today is International Women’s Day, and in the spirit of the day I thought I would post a TED talk by Sheryl WuDunn. If you’ve never read her book, Half the Sky (co-authored with her husband, Nicholas Kristof), I encourage you to do so.
There’s also a new Half the Sky game on Facebook, for those of you who enjoy that sort of thing. It’s actually a cool concept that is meant to raise awareness and funds for organizations like Heifer International and the Fistula Foundation.
Just a note to the new readers/subscribers (including the big group of you from Montana that subscribed this week!). Please make sure to look for a link from Feedburner in your email to verify your subscription. If you don’t see it, check your spam filter. You must click on that link to activate your subscription. Thanks and welcome!
Time once again for Articles of Note, some of the research that has caught my eye from peer-reviewed journals in the field. As always, this is not a comprehensive outline of every relevant study, just the stuff that looks interesting to me. Scribd is giving me fits, so I have bagged using it this month; the complete list of articles with active links to PubMed is after the jump. Let me know if you want a printable word doc. Sorry–no free full-text this month. Sadness.
The National Health Resource Center on Domestic Violence (Futures Without Violence) has a webinar coming up March 25th from 10-11:30 PDT, A Survivor’s Journey: Understanding the Health Impact of Abuse and Paths to Wellness. The presenter, Olga Trujillo, is someone I like very much and it’s always great hearing her speak, so I would just go ahead and register for this one, especially if you missed her in Puerto Rico last year at the IAFN Annual Scientific Assembly (she was one of our keynotes). It’s sure to be a good use of your time.
Just downloaded the iPad app for the Journal of Forensic Nursing. It’s a beauty (color!). Compliments to the entire Journal Board who made that happen.
Apologies for being absent yesterday, but a trial out of town makes it virtually impossible to get much else done. I’m back for the rest of the week, though, and preparing for what is naturally (because I’m in DC) being called Snowquestration. We haven’t had a real snow storm here in a couple years, so we’ll see. I guess I need to wear my pajamas inside out so that we end up with a snow day tomorrow. Oh, wait–I work for myself. No snow day. My boss sucks.
There are some great online trainings coming up to discuss. For instance, the Battered Women’s Justice Project is hosting a webinar March 20th, 11:30-1pm Central Time: Intimate Partner Sexual Assault–Research and Advocacy. This is a good opportunity to get better acquainted with some of the science around this issue: the two speakers (Walter DeKeseredy and TK Logan) are well-known for their research on IPSV. Don’t let the advocacy part of the title deter you, healthcare people. I assure you, this is relevant to our practice, as well.
SAFEta has a free webinar coming up April 11th: Caring for Survivors with Physical and Developmental Disabilities. The session will be held at 2pm ET, and is meant for a multidisciplinary audience. Presenters are Nancy Smith and Shirley Pacely.
The CDC has a new website focusing on the public health implications of child maltreatment. It’s part of the Veto Violence campaign and while it’s specifically geared toward health department personnel and other public health professionals, there are some things on the site that feel incredibly relevant to my practice, as well.
I confess that I am surprised that there remain questions regarding the issue of victim advocacy access for all sexual assault patients. The best possible forensic clinicians simply cannot meet all of the needs of the sexual assault patient, and the role of the clinician is distinct from that of the victim advocate. HIPAA is not a reason to limit access, and where this issue continues to be a struggle, please read the latest EVAW bulletin (PDF), which is a follow-up to the original training bulletin. Even if you have fantastic collaboration and access, the bulletin is a good reminder of how we can frame the issue, how are respective roles differ, and what the research says about the impact of victim advocacy on patient outcomes.
Last month the CDC released the National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey 2010 Findings on Victimization by Sexual Orientation. I was remiss in not posting this sooner, but it’s certainly worth your time. This is the first set of national prevalence data looking at sexual violence and IPV by sexual orientation, and the results are sadly not surprising:
Back in my office after a lovely visit with a really diverse group of forensic nurses in Australia. The trip back from Australia? Less lovely. Much. The good news about the cluster&*@k that was my trip home? Well, I might need some time before I can come up with something, but the extra time added to my return trip gave me plenty of time to read. Here’s some of what I was perusing since last we spoke:
I’m starting the long trek home today, so I leave you with a quickie: an interview Terri Gross did this week with Emily Bazelon, an editor at Slate, on the issue of teen bullying today, which she covers in her book, Sticks and Stones: Defeating the Culture of Bullying and Rediscovering the Power of Character and Empathy. The book just came out and having an almost teen girlchild of my own, I’m looking forward to reading it.
The American Bar Association AIDS Coordinating Committee is hosting a multidisciplinary teleconference on the intersection of domestic violence and HIV. It will take place on February 27th from 12-1pm ET. Looks like you’ll need to email them for call-in info since it isn’t on the announcement. It specifically states that the teleconference is meant for healthcare, legal and social work practitioners, so should be pretty relevant.
Today in my keynote talk, I will be talking about innovation. One of the people whose ideas on this subject have been inspiring is Steven Johnson (check out his TED talk here). For me, this video says so much about what we need to consider when we think about innovation and its application to our work:
“…chance favors the connected mind.” Awesome.