When you think of how medical professionals save lives on a daily basis, your mind probably turns to the hard work of physicians. While doctors carry a considerable load in promoting good health, nurses make a lifesaving impact on the lives of countless patients on a daily basis too. Nurses are an essential component in health promotion, disease prevention, patient care and education, and they are even more crucially important to promoting health and wellness during flu season.

The Lifesaving Impact of Nurses

Registered nurses are the backbone of the health care delivery system. They make significant impact on the lives of patients by providing around-the-clock monitoring, education, assessments and care. As the populations of the United States and Canada continue to age, with an increasing proportion of the populace made up of the elderly, nurses will play an even more important role in providing care and comfort to patients and their families. After all, the job of a nurse is to provide holistic care, educate patients, offer emotional support, prevent illness, promote health, deliver medication and aid in the cure of illness and injury.

There are many types of nurses you may encounter in a medical setting, including registered nurses, advance practice nurses, nurse practitioners and more. Nurses may have a specialty in labor and delivery, geriatrics, pediatrics, urgent care, psychiatry or other fields of expertise. During flu season, nurses with immunology expertise administer the flu vaccine to millions of recipients across North America.

How Nurses Change Lives

Nurses play an essential role in promoting health. The duties of nurses include patient education, vaccination, administration of medication, providing patient care, and providing medical rehabilitation. Nurses also advocate for their patients to help ensure that every individual gets appropriate care. Registered nurses not only make a day-to-day difference in your well-being and the well-being of your neighbors, friends and family, but they also promote public health and design innovative ways to enhance the health of people around the world.

The Importance of Flu Shots

Every fall, flu season begins in North America. The virus circulates around the world, and the virus typically changes enough that even if you got sick with the flu last year, you can still get sick again. The flu is a serious disease that can lead to life-threatening complications, especially among young children, the elderly, and pregnant women. Luckily, you can protect yourself from this potentially deadly disease by getting your annual flu vaccination, administered by a dedicated nurse.

Your flu nurse will generally administer the flu vaccine via one of two delivery methods. The nasal mist flu vaccine can be sprayed directly into a patient’s nostrils. Alternatively, most people choose to get a flu shot injection to protect not only themselves but also their loved ones and wider community from illness. Indeed, when a nurse gives you the flu shot, there is not only less chance that you will fall ill, but also less chance that you will unknowingly pass the virus on to others. Remember that the most vulnerable members of society, such as the very young or those with compromised immune systems, typically cannot get the flu shot. By getting vaccinated, you, and the nurse who administered your vaccine, help protect others.

Are you a Registered Nurse looking to make an extra impact this flu season? Apply for a rewarding job administering flu vaccine with Passport Health.

Sources:
Passport Health: Careers
Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario: Careers in Nursing
EduBlogs: Why Registered Nurses Are Important
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Key Facts About Seasonal Flu Vaccine

Female business travelers have become an increasingly powerful and important travel market segment over the past few years as more women continue to enter into fields that have a heavy travel requirement such as finance, marketing, and business. As the percentage of female business travelers continues to rise, female professionals are on track to travel just as much as their male counterparts. Many women who travel alone describe an incredible sense of freedom and possibility, but there are also the challenges, ranging from safety to health, that make solo traveling daunting enough that many women may never take the opportunity.

All travelers should always take precautions, but here are Passport Health’s top 10 safety travel tips especially designed for female business travelers.

1. Take Your Health with You

Whether you’re a business executive or a seasoned adventurer, you’ll need to deal with unique health issues on the road. It’s crucial to have an individual travel health assessment; receiving required immunizations, obtaining travel health insurance, understanding tropical disease prevention strategies, and traveling with prescription medications will all help to keep you well overseas. In addition, packing an adequate supply of feminine hygiene products, contraceptives, and a first aid kit is essential since some items may be scarce in some parts of the world.

2. Be Aware of Your Surroundings

Always be conscious of your surroundings and the people around you. Never leave your food or drinks unattended and don’t appear or tell anyone you are traveling alone. In addition, avoid walking alone late at night, and stay in public areas where there are always other people around. Taking some time before your trip to research your destination will help you determine the unsavory parts of the town to avoid.

3. Crime-Proof Yourself

It’s crucial that solo female travelers do not stand out from the crowd. You should minimize any attention brought to yourself to avoid running into trouble. Lower your tourist profile and try not to ever give the impression you’re lost. If you are lost, ask for directions from a police officer, shop keeper, or another woman on the street. Make sure to leave all valuable items in your hotel safe, and avoid carrying any flashy items around. This will help minimize the attention from thieves who may think a solo woman is an easy target.

4. Find Safe Accommodations

A traveler’s primary goal should be finding the safest accommodations in order to feel comfortable on her trip. Ground transportation and hotel accommodations should be planned well in advance. Requesting a room that is not on the ground level, is close to the elevators, and has proper safety features like locks on the doors and windows will all contribute to a safer environment. Planning all the transportation arrangements ahead of time and relying on the hotel’s recommendations can help to ensure you’re using only legal and reputable driving services.

5. Stay Connected

When traveling solo, it’s important to stay in touch with someone who can keep tabs on you, whether it’s a friend or family member. Make sure to keep that person up-to-date with your location, and provide him or her with a general itinerary of your trip. It’s also a good idea to link up with other solo female travelers along the way with whom you feel comfortable sharing a taxi or sitting next to on a train or bus.

6. Make Sure You’re Covered

When getting ready to travel, having the right insurance is a key consideration to maximize any traveler’s peace of mind and safety overseas. There are three different types of insurance travelers should consider, including medical evacuation, travel health, and trip cancellation insurance. Women who are traveling alone should always be prepared for the different situations that could occur, and it’s best to only seek medical help from high-quality providers. Insurance will help alleviate concerns about expense.

7. Confidence is Key

Whether you’re walking on a street at home or 7,000 miles away, walking confidently and with direction is an effective technique for making yourself appear less vulnerable. Women should look and act as if they know where they are going and know what they are doing at all times. An easy way to do this is to try and blend in with the locals in terms of actions and appearance. Make sure you are always polite but reserved, since some types of body language and smiling can be interpreted as a sign of encouragement towards males.

8. Identity Protection

For female travelers, there are a few tips that are easy to implement to protect your identity and disguise that you’re flying solo. When checking into a hotel, sign in as Mr. or Mrs., and ask the desk clerk not to mention your room number aloud so other guests can’t hear. Leave the television or radio on when you’re gone as well as the do not disturb sign to give the illusion the room is occupied. Whether or not you are married, wearing a fake wedding ring may fend off unwanted attention. In addition, as a precaution against loss or theft, have copies of all your travel documents, and leave a copy with family and friends at home.

9. Strictly Business

Women who travel abroad for professional purposes may realize in some parts of the world, the concept of a career women is highly unusual. It’s important to get thoroughly acquainted with the destination country’s customs and business protocol. You should always meet your business contacts in the lobby of your hotel to avoid giving out your room number. Make sure you are dressed appropriately for the office and conform to the attire that is acceptable in your destination.

10. Find Your Feet

Females who travel abroad for business may find that, in some parts of the world, privileges and rights are different for women when compared to the equality and freedoms enjoyed at home. Among some of these challenges are a lack of access to female physicians and discriminatory treatment by officials. It is important to maintain cultural sensitivity while abroad and inform yourself before you go. The more you are able to adjust to the different culture norms, the safer you will be in your travels.

Name: Denise L.
Passport Health location: San Diego, CA (Mission Valley)

We truly value our team members at Passport Health. They are the ones that make a direct impact in our clients’ lives as they entrust us with their healthcare needs. Denise has been with Passport Health for 10 years. Since the start of her adventure with Passport Health, she has been a key part in supporting smooth operations in her home clinic in San Diego. Not only does she provide excellent care and a high-level of service to clients seen in our clinic, but she also delivers this same level of care to the employees of our national account clients at their on-site events. We asked Denise about her role at Passport Health and the overall experience she delivers to our clients’ to care for their healthcare and travel needs.

What is your background? What did you do before you started working at Passport Health in 2004?
I have a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology and a Bachelor of Science in Nursing. For many years I worked with children in the foster care system. One of my favorite projects was as a director, I developed a transitional housing program for young adults exiting foster care. This program assisted young adults by providing housing, along with career and living skills. It was a great success and it is still operating today.

What drew you to travel medicine?
I’ve always enjoyed helping others and experiencing other cultures. Travel medicine allows me to bring my experience from my own travels and my medical knowledge to assist others in preparing for their international adventure.

How do you stay up to date on the latest developments in travel medicine?
I stay up to date by reading medical reviews about diseases related to travel medicine, the websites of the Center for Disease Control and World Health Organization. Due to my expertise in travel medicine and vaccines, I have been a speaker for 3 pharmaceutical companies. I have spoken to large health organizations and public health departments regarding vaccine preventable diseases and the corresponding vaccines.

What is your favorite thing about your job?
Hearing the patient’s excitement of their upcoming adventures and knowing that I am helping them stay healthy during their trip.

Are you an international traveler yourself?
Yes, I have traveled to the Caribbean, Central America, Europe and Africa.

What do you think differentiates a Passport Health appointment from an appointment at another clinic that does not focus on travel medicine?
Passport Health staff have extensive training on vaccines, medications and preventive measures for the travelers. Patients enjoy their appointments with Passport Health because they are given a relaxed atmosphere, a generous amount of time to learn about health risks of the country they are visiting and they have time to ask questions. They like that Passport Health staff’s primary focus is pre-travel medicine and the various diseases that they may encounter.

Are you planning a trip abroad? Be sure you are healthy and prepared for your adventure by scheduling a visit with a travel health specialist before you go!

https://www.passporthealthglobal.com/

While vaccines are widely used in North America to prevent childhood illness and annual sickness such as influenza, scientific studies are finding that many of these routine vaccinations are also helping to protect against cancer later in life. Medical researchers at the Mayo Clinic devised an experimental treatment with a mega dose of the measles vaccine and found impressive results in patients with aggressive cases of cancer.

Using Measles Vaccine Against Cancer

So far, medical researchers at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota have conducted clinical trials using a dose of the MMR (measles, mumps and rubella) vaccine in two patients fighting rare and aggressive forms of cancer. One such patient had been fighting multiple myeloma for over 10 years. The dose of vaccine provided to this patient was enough to inoculate 10 million people against measles. The inactivated measles virus was specially engineered by scientists to single out cancer cells. Six months after the patient received therapy, the cancer has been eliminated.

How Vaccines Work Against Cancer

When a vaccine is introduced to the body, the immune system of a healthy person recognizes it as a foreign substance and creates antibodies against it. These antibodies then detect and destroy similar viruses and cells. Since the researchers injected the measles vaccine containing inactivated viruses directly into the tumor, the patient’s immune system set to work destroying the infected tumor cells. Because the patients in the study had compromised immune systems, they weren’t able to fight off the measles virus, which allowed the virus sufficient time to invade the tumor cells. The second patient in the study experienced a resurgence of cancer after a nine-month period of remission.

Future Work

Although a study involving just two patients is of small significance, it’s an important step in finding ways to treat cancer that do not respond to chemotherapy, radiation and surgical methods of care. Many viruses specifically target certain cells in the body, which makes modified viruses a natural choice to target tumors. Scientists are currently investigating whether the measles vaccine and other similar vaccines could be effective against ovarian, brain, head and neck cancers, and mesothelioma. While studies have produced positive results against cancer in rodents, curing cancers in humans continues to be a challenge. The next step would be to try similar work in a large, randomized clinical trial of cancer patients.

Getting Your Vaccinations

As scientists continue to make strides in the fight against cancer, there is increasing importance of routine vaccinations during childhood and continuing throughout adulthood, including vaccinations as preventative care for travel abroad. If you’re in need of routine vaccinations such as influenza, MMR, hepatitis B, a visit to a travel health specialist can determine which vaccines you require. Before traveling abroad, a pre-travel health exam to receive immunizations, travel medications and advice on packing essentials such as mosquito repellant and sunscreen can help enhance your health during and after your trip. Passport Health travel health specialists offer these and other international health-related services to ensure that you can embark on your trip with peace of mind.

Sources:

USA Today Article
Washington Post Article
Star Tribune Article
CDC Measles, Mumps, Rubella Vaccination Information Page

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