Nursing professions' distinctive ethical standards: Exploring a code of ethics.

This article presents an examination of the ethical code of nursing in Israel, focusing on the nurse-patient, nurse-colleague, and nurse-professional leadership relationships. This article offers for the first English translation of the Israel Nursing Association's Code of Ethics to facilitate international scholarly discussion, and to critique this Code through the lens of Asa Kasher's philosophical test, thereby examining its completeness and practical utility. As it stands today, the code lacks clarification of the professional ethical uniqueness of nursing.

A country's efforts toward creating an advanced practice nurse in public health.

Aim: The study goal was to inform the creation of a blueprint for an advanced practice nurse (APN) in public health.

Background: No internationally accepted standard for an APN in public health exists. Activities of public health nurses (PHN) traditionally have centered on health promotion and disease prevention, but many have added other population-based activities such as chronic and acute disease treatment.

Utilization profile of emergency department by irregular migrants and hospitalization rates: lessons from a large urban medical center in Tel Aviv, Israel.

Background: Irregular migrants (IMM) are excluded from the National health insurance in most developed countries and may use the emergency department (ED) as a source for medical care. This study aims to compare the use of ED by IM with that of Israeli citizens (IC) in a large urban hospital in Tel Aviv, including socio-demographic characteristics, hospitalization proportion and medical conditions on admission.

Methods: This cross-sectional study included all IM and IC patients older than 18 years who attended the ED between 2007 and 2011, and compared their socio-demographic characteristics, the administrative details of the visit and clinical variables upon admission.

Changing the current health system's vision for disease prevention and health promotion.

Aim: Using the case of Israel, we examine the confluence of current philosophies of health care along with the historical trends of health promotion/disease prevention services to consider strategies for increasing inclusiveness and for updating and improving their service delivery.

Background: Health services in Israel are at a crossroads. Plans to integrate the historic, nurse-operated, nationwide programme, providing health promotion/disease prevention services to pregnant women and young children for all residents (Tipat Halav) into the National Health Service System's existing Sickness Funds are under discussion.

The correlation between antiphospholipid syndrome and cryoglobulinemia: case series of 4 patients and review of the literature.

Background: Cryoglobulinemia is an immune-complex-mediated small vessel vasculitis that classically involves the skin, kidneys and peripheral nerves. Antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) is an autoimmune hypercoagulable disorder which causes blood vessel thrombosis. It can present as a multi-organ microthrombotic disorder which is called catastrophic APS.