It’s amazing how a single image can generate two polarized feelings. This one triggers, in me, both intense joy and unbelievable loss. It was taken at a conference about two months after I found out I was pregnant. I remember my husband and I seeing the heartbeat on ultrasound, the only appointment that he was able to make, and us laughing and conspiring about how I was going to keep my……
As an infertility nurse practitioner, I am asked this question often and it’s a valid one. First, I want to say that I am so sorry. I understand how devastating this news is. By explaining the potential reasons why this treatment cycle didn’t result in a pregnancy I don’t mean, in any way, to diminish the sadness and frustration that you might be having, only to give you information that, in……
Once a couple is diagnosed with infertility, clinicians suggest a plan of care that is the most effective, least invasive and, whenever possible, economical. On a parallel journey, the couple also explores interventions or actions, on their part, that can contribute to their success in achieving a pregnancy, often researching complimentary medical techniques such as acupuncture. In the U.S. over the last few decades as subfertile patients search for complimentary and alternative adjuncts to Western medicine in order to improve reproductive outcomes.……
In about half of couples experiencing infertility, there is a male factor which either contributes to, or is responsible for, their subfertility. This common condition presents a challenge to Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility (REI) nurses as it is a complicated diagnosis with many causes and treatments and our formal education on the topic is, arguably, limited. This lack of information (combined with the reduced visibility and familiarity of the male partner……
Earlier this month, we were honored to be speaking to Dr Helen Riess about the important concept of empathy for healthcare providers (See her TED talk here). Dr. Riess is Co-Founder and Chief Scientific Officer of Empathetics. She is an Associate Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. Her research on empathy and the neuroscience of emotions has been published in peer reviewed journals, and she is a core member of……
Everyone would agree that functionality of the uterine lining is incredibly important for implantation of the blastocyst to take place. The question of how to measure this, termed ‘uterine receptivity’, has been studied extensively in the literature. The methods that have been used in the past were indirect, assumptive and not reproducible. Researchers in Spain have created a new tool which has been shown to be promising for identifying molecular markers……
This photo was taken during the first hour of a seven-hour car ride that was as crazy and stressful as you can imagine it would be. My kids couldn’t seem to coordinate their bathroom breaks, there was bad traffic, and many, many squabbles in the car where I threatened some unmentionable actions and said things that I regret. But you would never know just by looking at this picture.……
I often role-play with nurse clients as I find it is an important teaching tool in exposing the nuances of patient care gaps that aren’t obvious by using traditional methods. For example, I use this format when reviewing how to convey negative results, where I become the ‘patient’ on the receiving end of the phone call. Last week, during a client coaching session, my ‘nurse’ told me about my negative……
