Navigating a Career in Medicine as a Woman.

Despite the increasing number of women within medical professions, gender equality in career advancement and leadership positions still remains a challenge due to numerous barriers including unbalanced domestic responsibilities, discrimination, and rigidity in career structures. Here, we discuss ways to achieve work-life balance and family planning as well as some of the challenges women face in medicine and nursing careers and outline strategies for individuals and organizations to overcome them.

Acute Cardiac Emergencies.

Acute cardiac emergencies are life threatening. The initial responses to acute cardiac emergencies must be rapid, efficient, skillful, and well-planned. The goal of this article is to provide information that can be used to facilitate the prompt recognition and treatment of the most common acute cardiac emergencies.

Trends in central line-associated bloodstream infections in a trauma-surgical intensive care unit.

Objective: To report the impact of hospital-wide interventions on central line-associated bloodstream infection (CLABSI) rates in a 24-bed trauma-surgical intensive care unit.

Design: Data were gathered retrospectively from January 1, 2001, through June 30, 2009. Interventions to reduce CLABSI rates during this period included standardization of line insertion and maintenance processes, development of a mandatory education program incorporating practical line insertion simulation sessions, frequent audits, and intensive care unit staffing modifications.

Trauma VAP SWAT team: a rapid response to infection prevention.

The prevention of ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) has been a challenge within many healthcare organizations. The initial efforts for VAP prevention focused on compliance with "ventilator bundles." VAP rates initially improved with implementation of the bundles but then reached a plateau.