Sunday, November 25, 2007

Once More: Your Byline Means You Wrote It

And if you didn’t, it’s plagiarism. Real newspapers fire reporters for doing it.

But the weekly tab “Feeling Fit,” overseen by Editor Dawn Krebs of the Charlotte Sun, has made a cottage industry of the practice.

Today, it’s a double-header. The first example is the work (if we allow that using an affiliated hospital's Web page word for word is actual work) of Danielle Dreher. Joining her in the double-header is Glenna Schnebly, R.N., a local nurse working at Charlotte County’s Home Health Network. Schnebly copies her discussion of wound control for diabetics pretty much straight from Find Articles dot com, a Web site that published a fuller version of essentially the same article back in 2004 with Mary Ellen Postheur's byline.

Exhibit One is a story about bar-code scanners that can reduce medication errors. If Sun Editor Krebs had done a Google search using nearly any phrase in the story submitted by the hosptial's professional publicist, with no more trouble on her part than a click on the search button, the search engine would have yielded two Web pages with copy identical to Dreher’s article (further mis-identified as "Special to Feeling Fit").

The news appears in no-byline pieces posted on the Web some weeks ago by two affiliated hospitals, Brooksville Regional Hospital, Brooksville, Fla., and Spring Hill Regional Hospital, Spring Hill, Fla. I suspect that because everyone involved is an HMA-affiliated hospital, there has been some file sharing.


How easy -- and honest -- it would be to say these affiliated hospitals are all making the same announcement about a golly-gee-whiz device, and report it as news affecting three businesses, one of which serves the local area. That way the local editor doesn't get caught publishing rave-review quotes by local hosptial administrators that have already been attributed to half a dozen other people in far and distant cities.

Readers hate reading stuff in the newspaper that's so clearly space filler plucked from the Web. And they hate seeing articles labeled "special to" that aren't. And speaking of stuff plucked from the Web ...

Similar Game, Different Plagiarist

In this case, there's no "we're all in the same marketing program" kind of excuse. Glenna Schnebly, R.N., copies an article from Find Articles dot com, which offers “free and premium articles.” The one Schnebly chose to copy is posted on the Web with the byline of Mary Eller Posthauer. Here’s the comparison.

How Important is Blood Glucose Control in Wound Management?
By Glenna Schnebly Glenna Schnebly RN, BSN, a member of Home Health
Network.

A person with a poorly controlled blood glucose level and poor eating habits is at risk for numerous physiologic problems.

An elevated blood glucose level creates a negative effect on the wound healing process by not allowing glucose to diffuse easily through the pores of the cell membrane, thus creating a dehydrating effect by increasing osmotic pressure in the extracellular fluids causing water to transfer out of the cells.

Both extracellular and intracellular dehydration can occur, which affects the healing time of skin. Also, an elevated blood glucose level damages both the blood
vessels and the nerves. It places the person at risk for developing peripheral vascular disease.

Are there more infections with people who have elevated blood glucose?

Poor glycemic control, which impairs the body's ability to eliminate bacteria, leads to an increase in infections. Urinary tract, respiratory, and soft tissue infections are particularly common in people with diabetes. Soft tissue infections of the lower extremities
and gangrene are serious complications, which sometimes lead to amputations.

How does this happen? Hyperglycemia decreases oxygen to the tissues. Delivery of leukocytes and antibiotic agents to the wound is a impaired because
of the lack of blood flow. Oxygen is necessary for granulation tissue growth during wound healing.

How does this affect nutritional status?

Hyperglycemia can cause neuropathy or damage to the intestinal nerves, causing diarrhea, vomiting or bloating, all of which affect the overall nutritional status of the person with diabetes.

What steps can be taken to help improve nutritional status?

A consult with a dietician and a registered nurse, both certified diabetes educators, needs to be arranged. They meet with the patient and establish treatment goals that include diet, medication management, blood glucose monitoring and appropriate skin care.


And here is the original from Find Articles dot com. The brick-red text is the cut-and-paste portion that Schnebly used. Note that every sentence she used appears in exactly the same order in the original. The numbers refer to footnotes in the original.

Risks from Hyperglycemia
By Mary Ellen Posthauer

A patient like Mr J who has a poorly controlled blood glucose level and poor eating habits is at risk for numerous physiologic problems.1 An elevated blood glucose level creates a negative effect on the wound healing process, causing wounds to heal slowly.2-8 This is especially a problem for patients with diabetes. Combined with medication, dietary intake plays a significant role in the repair of wounds because the diet also provides protein, calories, fluids, and other nutrients. When the blood glucose level is elevated, glucose docs not diffuse easily through the pores of the cell membrane. This creates a dehydrating effect: The increased osmotic pressure in the extracellular fluids causes water to transfer out of the cells.

Loss of glucose in the urine causes osmotic diuresis, increasing urinary losses of electrolytes and water. Both extracellular and intracellular dehydration can occur, which affects the healing time of the skin.9 An elevated blood glucose level also damages both the blood vessels and the nerves. In addition, it places the patient at risk for developing peripheral vascular disease.

[snip two paragraphs]

Poor glycemic control-which impairs the body's ability to eliminate bacteria-leads to an increase in infections.5, 11-14 Urinary tract,15 respiratory,16 and soft tissue infections arc particularly common in people with diabetes.17,18 Soft tissue infections of the lower extremities and gangrene are serious complications.19 In addition, hyperglycemia decreases oxygen to the tissues. Delivery of leukocytes and antibiotic agents to the wound is impaired because of the lack of blood flow. Oxygen is necessary for macrophage mobility and growth of granulation tissue during wound healing.

Hyperglycemia can cause neuropathy or damage to the intestinal nerves, causing diarrhea, vomiting, or bloating, all of which affect the overall nutritional status of the patient with diabetes.20

Nutrition Strategies Because Mr J has had problems adhering to his diet and monitoring his blood glucose level, his health care provider schedules a consult for Mr J and his family with the dietitian and a registered nurse, both certified diabetes educators. They meet and establish treatment goals that include diet, medication management, blood glucose monitoring, and appropriate skin care.

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