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Readers will likely notice changes in this week’s issue of the Kansas City Nursing News.

The Nursing News expanded to 24 pages and will remain this size each week. The Nursing News will now be delivered at a higher postal status, which will ensure more dependable delivery.

Kansas City Nursing News readers will likely notice changes in the Nursing News this November.

Nursing News will call its readers this month to update mailing information. Only readers who say they wish to continue receiving the Nursing News will remain on the mailing list.

In high school I checked out a book about shorthand because I thought the skill might help me in my future career as a journalist.

I never actually learned shorthand, though those of you who have had a face-to-face interview with me or sat next to meet at a conference or hospital event might think otherwise. The chicken scratch I scribble on my “professional reporter’s notebook” may look like shorthand but it is in fact just poor handwriting.

It’s been quite awhile since I took a philosophy class.

During college I always considered myself the philosophical type, but as a journalist I focus not on abstract ideas but concrete truths.

When I found myself at a philosophical lecture this week my mind began to spin. I went to the lecture expecting to hear about health care policy; instead the dialogue revolved around quality of life and what makes us human.

I love candy. Chocolate, gummy, sweet, salty, peanut-filled, I eat them all. I also enjoy sipping on lattes and nibbling on snacks between meals.

Apparently, my teeth don’t enjoy any of these activities. Today, I received news from the dentist that I have yet another cavity. For the record, it has been years since I have had a cavity. I admit that I did fall off the I-floss-everyday bandwagon, but I thought that my teeth were mature enough to handle some sweets in between flossing.

My friends and I tend to get pretty superstitious during March. When we get together to watch basketball games, it’s easy to see why they call it March Madness.

Last year, my friends and I watched each game that the University of Kansas played in the same house in designated seats. One woman wore the same shirt for every game and would not wash the garment until the tournament concluded; another did not shave her legs until after the championship game.

Superstitions can be comical at times, but these little compulsions can also be a comfort in times of stress. When things around us don’t make sense, sometimes the nonsense of superstitions keeps us grounded.

Nurses will finally get their chance to shine during prime time in 2009.

NBC decided to pilot the dramatic comedy “Mercy,” which revolves around the friendship of three nurses.

These days it seems like I can’t avoid talk of economic woes.

I turn on the television and it’s on the news; I pick up the newspaper and it’s on the front page; I stand in line at the grocery store and it is the topic of conversation.

The abilities of cell phones seem to increase daily. I can’t watch television for more than 15 minutes without learning about a new application that I could download to my iPhone, if I indeed had an iPhone.

Kansas State Nurses Association will sponsor its 33rd annual Day at the Legislature this Thursday.

The event gives nurses a crash course on legislation that effects their profession and the patients for which they care.

But the event serves as much more than a seminar on litigation. I attended the Day at the Legislature for the first time last year, just a few weeks after I started at the Nursing News.