Thousands of measures are in use today to assess health and health care in the United States. Although many of these measures provide useful information, their usefulness in either gauging or guiding performance improvement in health and health care is seriously limited by their sheer number, as well as their lack of consistency, compatibility, reliability, focus, and organization. To achieve better health at lower cost, all stakeholders - including health professionals, payers, policy makers, and members of the public - must be alert to what matters most. What are the core measures that will yield the clearest understanding and focus on better health and well-being for Americans? Vital Signs explores the most important issues - healthier people, better quality care, affordable care, and engaged individuals and communities - and specifies a streamlined set of 15 core measures. These measures, if standardized and applied at national, state, local, and institutional levels across the country, will transform the effectiveness, efficiency, and burden of health measurement and help accelerate focus and progress on our highest health priorities. Vital Signs also describes the leadership and activities necessary to refine, apply, maintain, and revise the measures over time, as well as how they can improve the focus and utility of measures outside the core set. If health care is to become more effective and more efficient, sharper attention is required on the elements most important to health and health care. Vital Signs lays the groundwork for the adoption of core measures that, if systematically applied, will yield better health at a lower cost for all Americans.

Accurate clinical observations are the key to good patient care and fundamental to nursing practice. Vital Signs for Nurses will support anyone in care delivery to enhance their skills, reflect upon their own practice and assist in their continuing professional development. This practical introductory text explores how to make assessments of heart rate, blood pressure, temperature, pain and nutrition. It also looks at issues of infection control, record-keeping and legal and ethical considerations. With case studies and examples throughout, this text will be invaluable to all healthcare assistants, student nurses, Trainee Assistant Practitioners and students on foundation degrees.

Pediatrician Melissa Blumenthal will try any scientific method available to conceive--until the horrible secrets of an urban clinic erupt in a nightmare of staggering proportions...

Rediscover—or discover for the first time—the things that make you passionate in life Vital Signs is about what inspires passion and what defeats it. How we lose it and how we get it back. And ultimately it’s about the endless yet endlessly fruitful tug-of-war between freedom and domestication, the wild in us and the tame, our natural selves and our conditioned selves. Each chapter in Vital Signs will contain a core sample, an intimate biography of one of the strategies we employ to gain or regain our passion. The book also affirms the importance of courageous inquiry into dispassion—where we’re numb, depressed, stuck, bored—so the reader can recognize and change these tendencies in themselves.

Moving through the exotic settings of California, Hawaii, and Africa, New York Times bestselling author Barbara Wood weaves a rich and compelling story of three women's lives and the challenges they face in their careers and in their relationships. In the late 1960s, three bright, ambitious women struggling to make a place in a man's world meet in medical school. Each has a past she wants to forget, and each has a dream she needs to fulfill. Mickey Long — Disfigured from birth, Mickey turns to plastic surgery to heal herself and others afflicted with her special pain. Sondra Mallone — Abandoned by her natural parents, Sondra becomes a missionary doctor to forgotten souls crying out for love. Ruth Shapiro — After discovering the miracle of motherhood, Ruth opens a pioneering fertility clinic that offers new hope to those who once had none. In the years that lie ahead — years of triumph and tragedy, joy and sorrow, love and loneliness — each woman will find, in their unique bond of friendship, the courage and strength to succeed.

Feelings by David Peter Malin Maxfield is a poignant collection of poetry that delves deep into the human heart. Born in Tickhill, Yorkshire, in 1948, Maxfield brings a lifetime of experiences to his work, offering a rich tapestry of emotions that resonate with readers of all backgrounds. His poems traverse a wide range of themes, from tributes to beloved figures like Princess Diana and Queen Elizabeth II, to reflections on nature, love, loss, and the human condition. Through his verses, Maxfield explores life’s most profound moments, encapsulating the essence of joy, sorrow, hope, and despair with remarkable clarity and depth. His work serves as a testament to the power of poetry to capture the complexities of the human spirit, making Feelings a must-read for anyone seeking a deeper understanding of the emotional landscapes we all navigate. Whether it’s the raw emotion of ‘Suicide’ and ‘Lonely Heart’ or the uplifting spirit of ‘Spring Love’ and ‘First Christmas,’ each poem in this collection is a window into the soul, offering a unique perspective on life’s many facets. This book is a journey through the heart, crafted by a poet who writes with authenticity and passion.

Alongside Greil Marcus, Nick Kent, and Lester Bangs, Ian Penman is one of the most important cultural critics of his generation. Long the star writer for Britain's NEW MUSICAL EXPRESS, Penman achieved something few music writers even dream of--he changed the way the subject was written about. VITAL SIGNS is the first collection of his writing.