Worldwide Stew

Do we ever really say goodbye? On grief and spores.

As a youngster, I used to enjoy stomping down on mushrooms growing in our yard. Sometimes, when I jumped on them particularly ferociously, I could see some sort of powder fly out.

Years later, I learned that the flying powder was spores. Spores are one way that nature keeps things alive. It’s like Nature’s filing system. When I stomped on those mushrooms, the powder from under the mushroom’s head and gills generated those puff-clouds, which were then carried off by the breeze into the world. Those spores ensured that my pre-stomped mushroom endured.

I am not so special

Guru (noun) 1: a personal religious teacher and spiritual guide in Hinduis 2a: a teacher and especially intellectual guide in matters of fundamental concern has been a guru to many young writers b: one who is an acknowledged leader or chief proponent became the guru of the movement c: a person with knowledge or expertise : expert a computer guru

This is a continuing riff on gurus and specialness. Today, I wanted to write about the personal specialness we sometimes attribute to ourselves.

How an AI Conversation Taught Me About Caring for Patients

I’ve been using Claude.ai (an AI by Anthropic) as a thinking partner for a couple of years now. I’m transparent about this collaboration in my work, partly because arthritis makes extended typing difficult, but more importantly because something genuinely interesting emerges in our conversations that I couldn’t access alone.

Yesterday, we were discussing Schrödinger’s cat, and Claude offered an insight that stopped me in my tracks.

You probably know the physics thought experiment: a cat in a sealed box exists in quantum superposition—simultaneously alive and dead—until someone opens the box and observes. The observation itself collapses the wave function, forcing reality to choose one outcome.

Just Fly

Just Fly
by Mike Davis

Padding along the trail,
We ambled toward the car,
Dog’s nose pressed to ground,
Human noses pressed forward,
Next stop, the car.
My mind focused on that next thing.

Then, the screech of a red-tailed hawk,
My eyes peered around me.
Where does that clear,
Piercing, cry come from?
And there, off to the right
Riding the air currents
Along the length of the creekbed

Verbal Order Read Back

When a doctor or Advance Practice Provider (like a Physician Assitant or Nurse Practitioner)issues a verbal order, the person taking the order is usually supposed to read it back to confirm understanding. Clinicians often feel its unncessary: We’re in a hurry.We’ve got things to do.

Verbal order readback (VORB) is an invitation. It’s an invitation to reduce confusion or dispel doubts. With VORB, the person receiving the order and the person giving the order have the opportunity to dance. Do you understand what I want? Do I understand what you’re reporting? We get to do this before we step on each other’s toes. Or, more importantly, before we hurt the patient or family.