Archive for the 'USA' Category
Mendocino College nursing program receives donations
Monday, February 19th, 2007The Mendocino College Nursing Program has recently received two donations from the local medical community.
In January, Frank R. Howard Memorial Hospital in Willits donated $3500 to the Mendocino College Licensed Vocational Nurse to Registered Nurse Bridge program.
This donation will be used to purchase educational equipment for the nursing lab on the Mendocino College Ukiah Campus.
The nursing lab has five patient simulation areas where students learn their nursing skills prior to work in the hospital.
Illinois Getting Ready to Change its Nursing law
Friday, February 16th, 2007The two most important changes are:
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Only nurses would be allowed to give out medications to patients.
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Advanced Practice Nurses, such as nurse practitioners, will be allowed to work without the direct supervision of a doctor.
To read more about these important changes that will affect all current and prospective nurses working in Illinois please click this
Maryland’s First CRNA and CNL Master’s Students Graduate from UMB Program
Tuesday, February 13th, 2007According to a 2003 survey of Maryland Hospital Association, there is 16.6% vacancy rate for CRNAs in the state. Fifteen of the 17 graduates were immediately offered CRNA positions in the Baltimore area.
“We are extremely proud of our nurse anesthesia graduates, who completed this rigorous 28-month, full-time program that included an 18-month, full-time clinical rotation,” said Lou Heindel, DNP, CRNA, assistant professor and director of the School of Nursing’s nurse anesthesia program.
New Nursing Undergraduate Program in Ohio
Friday, February 9th, 2007Colleges around the nation are reading the writing on the wall. Muskingum College of New Concord, Ohio has joined the ranks of higher learning institutions offering a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Nursing (B.S.N.) starting Fall 2008.
“The program, which expands the number of degree choices for students at Muskingum, will be offered to both traditional undergraduate students in either a residential or commuter setting, and also as part of the Muskingum Adult Program (MAP) to persons currently holding the R.N. licensure,” a university official said.
The program will combine Muskingum’s liberal arts and sciences classes with a structured nursing curriculum to build a comprehensive B.S.N. experience.
The clinical component is designed to exceed the required standards, and Muskingum College officials have reportedly begun discussions with both the Genesis Health Care System in Zanesville and the Southeastern Ohio Regional Medical Center in Cambridge to provide clinical opportunities for the students.
Physician and Nurse Supply Council Calls for Immediate Increase in Physician and Nurse Education
Thursday, February 8th, 2007“At current levels of training, these shortages will deepen and there will be too few physicians and nurses to meet the future needs of the nation,” said a press release issued by the Council. The Council called for immediate efforts to expand medical and nursing education.
Members of the Council, which is based at the University of Pennsylvania expressed concern that persistent shortages of nurses and physicians could have a number of adverse consequences, including the following:
* inadequate access to care, particularly in rural and inner city locations.
* lack of the necessary capacity for emergency preparedness.
* decreased ability to accomplish planned expansions of health care services, with attendant negative effects on local and national economies.
* increased dependence on foreign nurses and physicians.
National League for Nursing Concerned with Nursing Workforce Development program funding
Tuesday, February 6th, 2007The NLN expressed its dissatisfaction with the $44 million (or 29 percent) decrease for the Nursing Workforce Development programs authorized by Title VIII of the Public Health Service Act.
“As the nursing community has pointed out before,” said NLN CEO Dr. Beverly Malone, “More than three decades ago during another less serious nursing shortage, Congress appropriated $153 million for nurse education programs, worth more than $592 million in today’s dollars. And despite the critical need we face today, the Bush administration is proposing to spend only one fourth of what the federal government spent in 1974.”
The findings of a recent NLN/Carnegie Foundation National Survey of Nurse Educators suggest that Compensation, Workload, and Teaching Practices must be viewed as a call to action. In just one example, the study has found that one in five nurse faculty members said they were likely to retire from paid employment in five years or less; and almost one half of all nurse faculty (47.9%) said they were “likely” to retire in six to 10 years.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics has reported that nursing would have the greatest job growth of all professions in the United States in the years spanning 2002 to 2012. During this ten-year period, health care facilities will need to fill more than 1.1 million RN job openings.
“It is painfully apparent,” said Dr. Malone, “that nurses need to be fearless advocates for increased funding for workforce development if we are to have a chance to meet our health care needs in the coming years.”
The American Nurses Association Announces Support for the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act of 2007 (H.R. 3)
Friday, January 12th, 2007The American Nurses Association (ANA) has announced its support
for the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act of 2007 (H.R. 3) which
promotes the ethical use of stem cells for research and therapeutic
purposes that impact health. ANA endorses the federal funding of stem
cell research conducted within strict scientific and ethical guidelines.
In addition, ANA said it will work to advance public policy on stem cell
research that considers ethical and health care issues.
The Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act of 2007 expands federally
funded embryonic stem cell research, provided the cells meet the following
requirements: (1) the stem cells were derived from human embryos
donated from in vitro fertilization clinics for the purpose of fertility
treatment and were in excess of the needs of the individuals seeking
such treatment; (2) the embryos would never be implanted in a woman
and would otherwise be discarded; (3) the individuals seeking fertility
treatment donated the embryos with written informed consent and
without receiving any financial or other inducements to make the donation.
Click here for more
More Men Embracing Nursing as Career
Friday, January 12th, 2007However, that picture is changing thanks to strong job stability, good pay and benefits, and the chance to work at the forefront of emerging technologies while saving lives.
More and more men are coming around to the conclusion that saving lives at a hospital is as good and noble a public service as many other public service jobs that were traditionally dominated by men, including volunteer firefighting and law enforcement.
The 3-day 12-hour shifts might not be easy for some. But the rewards certainly justify the sacrifice.
Tennessee Hospital unveils new ER
Tuesday, January 9th, 2007Humboldt, TN - Call it an emergency makeover.
The Humboldt General Hospital on Sunday held its grand opening to showcase a newly designed 8,000 square foot emergency room.
The new look has been a long time coming, said Renate’ Crone, director of the ER.
“It has been 15 years since the ER has been updated,” Crone said. Now, Crone said the new ER is three times the size of the old one. Registered nurse Ruth Ann Slayton can vouch for that.
Orienting the “New Guy” in Rehab
Monday, December 25th, 2006Especially if these are his credentials:
“He went to nursing school 10 years ago, flunked the NCLEX, worked in retail management 10 years, studied for the NCLEX out of a book, took it and passed it. Bam! He’s a nurse and he’s orienting on my unit. He didn’t know he needed to have a stethoscope. Or a drug book/PDA pharm reference. He did show up wearing scrubs, though. You, too, can be a licensed RN by studying books, I guess.”
Click here to read the rest of an RN’s frank observations.
Patient/RN Ratios ~ You believe in them?
Friday, December 22nd, 2006Colorado Blizzard Blues
Friday, December 22nd, 2006What do you do when you have to show up for work at the hospital and there’s two feet of snow outside your door?
How do you drive to work? How early you get up? How much sleep (or cups of coffee) you need?
A great journal entry from a fellow nurse in Denver tells it all, just the way it is
Nurses and TV Shows
Friday, December 8th, 2006I can hear some of you saying “relax Sage, it’s just a TV show” and you’re probably right as well. But what do you think when in a show like The Heart Attack Grill the waitress is called “Nurse”? C’mon! Is it that easy to become a nurse? Is that the image the producers of the show are hinting at? Or am I just being extra sensitive about it? I don’t know…
As at least one nurse blogger has raised the issue, there might be even legal ramifications of such portrayals because in a lot of states it is illegal for people who are not certified as nurses (RN, LPN or LVN) to call themselves nurses.
I think the way we are portrayed in other TV shows like ER and Grey’s Anatomy also leaves much to be desired. I usually end up asking myself — “but why?”
Blogger Brooke from Ohio puts it nicely: “So for one thing, it’s insulting to be portrayed as just fetchers and handmaidens for the physicians. It undermines our status as a valuable part of the health care team.”
Nursing Scholarships Awarded to Charles County MD Students
Wednesday, November 29th, 2006Nursing Scholarships Awarded to Charles County Students
LA PLATA, Md. - The Charles County Commissioners today announced that scholarships totaling $7,000 have been awarded to County residents for the 2007 Nursing/Allied Health Scholarship Program.