Donate Blood!

One donation of blood can save three lives!! If that's not reason enough to help, I don't know what is!

Here are some additional facts about blood donation, courtesy of the American Red Cross:

• The number one reason donors say they give blood is because they "want to help others."
• Two most common reasons cited by people who don't give blood are: "Never thought about it" and "I don't like needles."
• One donation can help save the lives of up to three people.
• If you began donating blood at age 17 and donated every 56 days until you reached 76, you would have donated 48 gallons of blood, potentially helping save more than 1,000 lives!
• Half of Red Cross donors male, and half are female.
• The American Red Cross accepts blood donations only from volunteer donors.
• Among Red Cross donors in a given year, 19 percent donate occasionally, 31 percent are first-time donors, and 50 percent are regular, loyal donors.
• Only 7 percent of people in the U.S. have O-negative blood type. O-negative blood type donors are universal donors as their blood can be given to people of all blood types.
• Type O-negative blood is needed in emergencies before the patient's blood type is known and with newborns who need blood.
• Forty-five percent of people in the U.S. have Type O (positive or negative) blood. This percentage is higher among Hispanics – 57 percent, and among African Americans – 51 percent.
• Only 3 percent of people in the U.S. have AB-positive blood type. AB-positive type blood donors are universal donors of plasma, which is often used in emergencies, for newborns and for patients requiring massive transfusions.

So check out their website, find a blood drive near you, and schedule an appointment to donate today!

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Photo courtesy of Google Images

Motherhood & Mortality

Heather Armstrong of dooce.com has been one of my favorite bloggers for a long time.  She recently returned from Bangladesh to a flurry of nasty things being said about her, both in the Guardian and by certain choice members on twitter (I'm sure there are plenty more, I just stopped looking).  I think what's being said about her is pretty atrocious; she's just trying to raise some awareness about issues in other countries that need our attention, and all she is guilty of is using her HUGE following to do exactly that: RAISE AWARENESS!!

OK, now that I'm off the soapbox on that one...

What she, along with Christy Turlington, did bring my attention to (I sort of already knew this from nursing school, but it's not hammered home enough) is that the United States has one of the highest infant and maternal mortality rates (particularly among women of color) IN THE WORLD!  And we're a first world country, people!!

Amnesty International created this graphic to raise awareness and I'm going to repost it because I think it should be plastered everywhere.  This is something that needs attention, and we need to work to correct it.  Mothers in the country should not be dying from pregnancy and the things that follow it.  It's simply not good enough.  We need better care.

You can read all about it in this article here.

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Graphic courtesy of Amnesty International

Party with a Purpose

It's official...I've lost my mind!

I just signed up to run my first 5K, AND I'm doing it the day AFTER NCLEX and the day before my IV Certification course...it's insane...

BUT...I figure if I don't just sign up and DO IT, then I'm never going to do it.

The timing may not be the best, but the Party with a Purpose race benefits all local children's charities, and my friend Julia (who runs marathons, talk about intense!) is going to run with me to pace me.

Not gonna lie, I'm kinda excited!