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NEW PPS ARTICLE
FOUND IN WIDELY READ NURSING JOURNAL
submitted by Dorothy Woods Smith |
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Gail Guterl, an editor of Advances for Nurses is a polio
survivor! Her editorial in the Nov. 11, 2002 issue notes that 2002 was the
Year of the Polio Survivor. She points out that by the time most nurses
(average age 44.5 years) entered nursing school, polio had been conquered
for 20 years. She makes a very strong case for nurses to learn about
post-polio syndrome or sequelae (PPS).
Some key points include new symptoms in many of the estimated 1.6
million US polio survivors who thought polio was in their past, including:
new weakness in previously unaffected limbs; pain; and debilitating fatigue.
The most critical reason for health professionals to know about PPS,
however, is that with or without PPS, most polio survivors will enter the
health care system, and polio history may alter the selection of treatments
and the response of the patient. Her conclusion is that polio survivors
themselves are the best educators about the disease, and she encourages all
of us to share printed and electronic resources with those responsible for
our care.
Assistant editor Timothy Mercer wrote the lead article in that
issue, called "Knowledge is Power", subtitled "Why every nurse needs to know
about post-polio sequelae". Mercer quotes Dr. Julie Silver and Dr. Richard
Bruno among others, in a review of symptoms, pathophysiology, diagnostics,
and treatment. Education of polio survivors, their significant others, and
of their health care givers is emphasized not only for comfort and timely
recovery, but to avoid situations which can be life-threatening.
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