The European Medicines Agency (EMA) has warned against the use of antiarrhythmic amiodarone in combination with newer hepatitis C infection treatments, after reports of heart problems in eight patients.

We can easily say that within the last ten years social media has changed the way in which the world spreads information. Social media has touched every form of business and healthcare is no exception. Sites like Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest have helped large and small hospital systems define their personalities and reach out to their patients in new ways.

Social media has positively enabled small and large hospital systems to reach out to their patients and communities in brand new ways. It is currently estimated that over 70% of nurses regularly use social media. That is a tremendous amount and cannot be disregarded. On one hand, social media has enabled nurses to connect with one another and share inspirational and educational material. On the other hand, social media has also created numerous concerns related to patient safety and patient privacy rights.

Unnecessary tests, treatments and medication could be doing more harm than good for patients.

Providing adequate healthcare to those who need it is a massive challenge for any region or country. In many places worldwide, public healthcare providers are struggling to meet the needs of patients, and the demands of an ageing and increasingly morbid populace will only set to put further pressure on healthcare systems. The strain is already starting to affect patients. In the UK, waiting times are getting longer and costs are rising.

Although the demand for treatment is increasing, not all the tests conducted, treatments initiated or surgical procedures performed are necessary, appropriate or beneficial. In fact, one estimate puts up to 20% of healthcare to offer little or no benefit. Fear of uncertainty and death by patients and clinicians is one of the proposed reasons for some of this extensive overuse in healthcare.

Check your BP, pulse, O2, and respiration to determine if you are on a collision course with nurse burnout. Answer the questions to determe your personal burnout potential. See how many questions you can honestly answer with “Yes,” and if you have a lot, reevaluate your life as you may be on the road to burnout. Don’t follow that path. Get help!

Nurse recruitment will be under increasing strain in the coming years as new government rules that require overseas workers to earn a minimum salary come into effect, the Royal College of Nursing has claimed. The new legislation requires migrant workers who have come from outside the European Economic Area to have a salary of at least £35,000 after five years of working in the UK if they want to remain in the country. But the RCN has claimed the law, which was amended in 2012, means that from 2017 thousands of overseas nurses could be forced to leave the UK and will create “chaos” for the NHS.

The successful use of any therapeutic agent is compromised by the potential development of tolerance or resistance to that compound from the time it is first employed. This is true for agents used in the treatment of bacterial, fungal, parasitic, and viral infections and for treatment of chronic diseases such as cancer and diabetes; it applies to ailments caused or suffered by any living organisms, including humans, animals, fish, plants, insects, etc.