Schools tackle nursing shortage

January 30, 2012 By Leave a Comment

(DelMarvaNow) By the end of 2013, the Margaret H. Rollins School of Nursing at Beebe Medical Center expects to double its class size as a result of a major expansion that aims to alleviate the nursing shortage on Delmarva.

Made possible by a $3 million donation, the project will include construction of a new building and renovations to the old structure in which the school is currently housed. Work is expected to begin this spring and wrap up within 18 months.

Upon completion, the school will gradually increase its single class size from 30 to 60 students, according to the school’s director, Connie Bushey.

In Delaware, a state study conducted in 2000 projected that 50 percent more nurses will be needed in 2020 due to population increases and nurses leaving the field. However, due to the economic downturn, medical professionals haven’t been so quick to retire, Bushey said. [Read more...]

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Study Finds 55 Percent of Nurses Are Overweight or Obese

January 30, 2012 By Leave a Comment

(ABC News) Researchers at the University of Maryland’s School of Nursing found that 55 percent of the 2,103 female nurses they surveyed were obese, citing job stress and the effect on sleep of long, irregular work hours as the cause.

The study, which measured obesity using estimates of body mass index, found that nursing schedules affected not only the health of the nurses but the quality of patient care.

“Health care professionals are often involved in providing advice or care to patients that relates to things that aren’t totally under control in their own lives. It’s not uniform for health care professionals to eat well or avoid tobacco,” said Dr. David Katz, the director of the Yale University Prevention Research Center. [Read more...]

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When it hurts to help; Professor wants more workplace safety training to prevent gun violence for nurses

January 12, 2012 By Leave a Comment

(Ball State Daily News) Nursing programs around the nation are missing a key component, according to a study done by a professor who advocates for stronger programs on safety and gun violence.

For assistant professor JagdishKhubchandani, the issue hit home when a colleague was shot by her patient. He and the woman were planning to conduct a study together on gun violence against nurses.

“Unfortunately, she is no more now,”Khubchandani said. “She was shot by a patient, who was so psychotic he killed the best physician he ever got.” [Read more...]

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46-year-old nursing student graduates with a 4.0 GPA

January 12, 2012 By Leave a Comment

(NeoshoDailyNews) While graduating from a nursing program with a 4.0 grade point average is a large feat for any traditional college student, for recent Crowder College graduate, Denisa Simpson, the experience was anything but traditional.

Simpson, 46 of Webb City, said college was never something she had planned on doing.

“It wasn’t really a thing they pushed when I was growing up,” Simpson said. [Read more...]

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Nurse attacked by patient should sue her own employer, assailant: Court

January 11, 2012 By 1 Comment

(Business Insurance) A nurse who was attacked by a patient brought to the hospital by police should receive workers compensation or sue her assailant rather than suing the municipality employing the police officers, the Nebraska Supreme Court says.

In a ruling Friday, the high court said the city of Bellevue, Neb., and its police department are not liable for Jan Ginapp’s injuries, which took place at Midlands Hospital in Papillion, Neb. [Read more...]

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NY bill would require 4-year registered nursing degrees, raising concern amid nurse shortage

January 5, 2012 By Leave a Comment

 

(Washington Post) New registered nurses would have to earn bachelor’s degrees within 10 years to keep working in New York under a bill lawmakers are considering as part of a national push to raise educational standards for nurses, even as the health care industry faces staffing shortages.

The “BSN in 10” initiative backed by nursing associations and major health policy organizations aims to attack the complex problem of too few nurses trained to care for an aging population that includes hundreds of thousands of nurses expected to retire in the coming years. But some in the health care industry worry that increased education requirements could worsen the problem by discouraging entrants into the field. [Read more...]

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Four-year degree requirement for new registered nurses up for debate

January 3, 2012 By Leave a Comment

(McKnights) New York lawmakers are debating a bill that would require all new nurses to get a bachelor’s degree within 10 years of earning their two-year associate’s degree.

New York legislators have received support from nursing associations and health policy groups for a proposed “BSN in 10” initiative, the Associated Press reported. The statewide requirement is intended to address a pending nursing shortage, and boost the skills for a workforce that soon will be caring for a rapidly aging population, policy experts say. [Read more...]

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When Nurses Catch Compassion Fatigue, Patients Suffer

January 3, 2012 By 1 Comment

(Wall Street Journal) As a nurse in the cancer center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis, Wilhelmina Roney, 26, sometimes feels overwhelmed by demands from patients, even though she tries her best to care for them. During a rough week, patients may die in such quick succession that she barely has time to cope.

INFORMED

Wilhelmina Roney prepares a treatment for patient Frank Ratino at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis, which offers a program to help nurses fight compassion fatigue. [Read more...]
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Nurses graduate into tough job market

January 3, 2012 By 1 Comment

(Lohud.com) Although Matthew Jaen graduated among the top nursing students in his class last year, he has yet to find full-time employment.

“I thought it would be fairly easy to get a job,” said the 30-year-old Bronx resident, who graduated in May from the Cochran School of Nursing at St. John’s Riverside Hospital in Yonkers. “There is a need, but hospitals aren’t willing to hire.”

Jaen has been looking for full-time hospital work since February. For now, he works 22 hours a week with a home health-care agency, taking care of a 3-year-old boy with a respiratory condition, and what he earns goes to helping his grandmother, he said. [Read more...]

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