Approaching Death – A nurse goes from the ER to a hospice, and changes the way she thinks about life and its end

A child is dead.

There is a terrifying, soul-piercing scream that a mother makes when she loses a child. This scream is so universal that everyone, in every corner of the emergency department, knows what has just happened when they hear it. [Read more...]

N.J. Nursing Initiative addresses shortage of nurses, faculty for nursing programs

An innovative experiment in proactivity is starting to pay off.

A hybrid of philanthropy, business and government that coalesced in 2009, the New Jersey Nursing Initiative has supported 61 nurses in their quest for master’s and doctoral degrees with tuition and a $50,000 stipend. [Read more...]

On the rise: Team-based care coordination model takes off

(Nurse.com) While the patient-centered medical home concept is not new, passage of the Affordable Care Act has elevated the idea of a whole-person orientation to care that’s delivered in a more coordinated way to engaged patients.

“It’s a team-based approach to management of our patients,” said Felice Lewaine, RN, medical home care coordinator at two primary care offices with Hunterdon Healthcare in Flemington, N.J. “I’m making sure all of the care is coordinated to help patients manage their health.”  [Read more...]

Americans accepting of physician assistants, nurse practitioners

(Town Talk) About half of U.S. consumers prefer physicians for primary health care, but patients are willing to see physician assistants and nurse practitioners to secure timely access to care, a study by the Association of American Medical Colleges says.

About 60 percent of study respondents preferred seeing a physician assistant or nurse practitioner to address a worsening cough if they could be seen the same day. Twenty-five percent preferred an extra day’s wait to see a physician, according to the study in the June edition of the journal Health Affairs. [Read more...]

NC woman recalls ‘The Forgotten War’ as nurse

(WRAL-TV) Things happened fast for Virginia Graves in 1951.  She graduated from Presbyterian Hospital’s nursing school, enlisted in the Army Nursing Corps, went through basic training at Fort Sam Houston and as a second lieutenant receiving her orders in Tokyo, Japan, she learned she was headed to Korea. [Read more...]

On a mission to treat the wounded in Vietnam

(Buffalo News)Ever since she was a young girl, Cheryl A. Johnson had dreamed of being a nurse.

Her dream took her to the Vietnam War, where there were more than enough opportunities to ply her skills as a healer. [Read more...]

Nurses at western Pa. hospital authorize strike

(abc27) Nearly all of the more than 500 nurses at a western Pennsylvania hospital have authorized their union to call a strike if they can’t reach a new contract by the time their current deal expires June 30. [Read more...]

With nurses at risk of compassion fatigue, hospitals try to ease their stress

(Washington Post) Jan Powers, a clinical nurse manager in the pediatric oncology unit at the Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, remembers how hard it was for her team after the death of a child. They met with an art therapist, who brought clay.

“There was a lot of pounding and kneading, and while we made our pots and whatever, people started to talk,” she said of the session last summer. “When your hands are occupied and you’re not in the spotlight, it’s easier to say things like ‘I feel really bad’ or ‘This child touched my heart and I’m grieving.’ It gives staff a chance to create out of something that is hurtful and painful.” [Read more...]

The doctor will see you now. Or the nurse. Or the physician assistant.

(Washington Post) Here’s one question that keeps health policy wonks up at night: As millions of Americans gain health insurance coverage over the next decade, who will see them?

It may well not be a doctor: The Association of American Medical Colleges projects that the United States will have 91,500 too few physicians to treat the country’s medical needs. It might be a physician assistant or a nurse practitioner. States like California are moving forward on legislation that would give providers like this stronger abilities to practice independently, with less physician oversight. [Read more...]

Pa. Watchdog: Check discipline listings for your dentist, doctor, nurse or other professional online

(Daily Local) Several months ago, police say, Cheryl A. Laing, 45, and Jessica Gullickson, 24, both of Broomall in Delaware County, were working overtime at a dentist’s office on Old Lancaster Avenue in Bryn Mawr,Montgomery County. [Read more...]