DAY 15: Just Ask Elaine Plummer RN

 

I am Nominating  Elaine Plummer  for a Health Activist Award bit.ly/haaw for http://info.wegohealth.com

Nursing for  Elaine is not just a job where she puts in her time and then takes off her nursing hat off when she goes home. No, nursing is a vocation, a calling to be always available to help and serve 24/7. Elaine  nurses like she mothered. Once a mother always a mother? Well for Elaine, once a nurse always a nurse.

What does this woman do in her free time? What is her hobby? Why blogging about women’s health at Blogher, what else? She is always exploring  new  creative avenues to become more effective. Recently she started using video clips inserted into  some blogs because she feels she can engage her audience when they can see her face and hear her voice. She is a woman who has tapped into the power of social media to reach hundreds  if not thousands of women with health questions. Most often the questions are about that taboo subject-menstruation.

As a nurse, Elaine has a professional obligation to give factual information in an unbiased way but  she loves her association with Tampax and Always because it gives her  access to so many women with unanswered questions.  http://www.always.com/en-us/home.aspx.  Many of the questions she gets from teens have to do with helping them find the most comfortable (and discreet) product for them or what pad should they use when playing sports or taking dance.  Teens also ask questions about when to change their pad or how to feel fresh when on their period.  Women may ask about their changing protection needs due to a heavier flow during perimenopause.  Also, a woman recently asked her if she should see her doctor because she started spotting between periods.  She said YES!

This site allows women to have their answers immediately and not waiting for a response.   Of course,  she, along with the other experts, are there to discuss any and all questions by email, along with follow-up requests for information or to just confirm what someone may already know – kind of like a second opinion from someone you trust.

As anyone who reads Elaine’s bio on BlogHer knows, this woman is  a registered nurse, a women’s health expert.  She  spends a lot of professional time answering health related questions from a variety of professionals as well.  Also, she is the one everyone in her circle contacts when they have health questions. Even when she does not know the facts, she researches them and then relates them in a way that is more understandable than just reading the medical literature. Elaine  really cares  about and loves people.

“It isn’t a matter of telling anyone what to do – far from it.  It is about providing factual information about health so decisions about how to manage it for one’s self, is made using the best information possible. I decided to post on blogher.com because it is a place where women and teens go to ask questions about puberty, periods, menstrual health and menopause and to talk to each other about their questions and concerns. ”

Elaine concludes her biography by inviting anyone with questions to, “Please feel free to ask away!”