America’s Three Million Nurses are Changing Healthcare in Dramatic Ways

(Brandenton Herald) With more than three million nurse professionals in the United States alone, nursing is the largest segment of the healthcare industry and touches every facet of care from the doctor’s office to home care to hospitals. And as the nation continues its historic effort to overhaul healthcare, nurses have been implementing their own brand of healthcare overhaul as well.

“Over the past decade, nurses have been quietly working to redefine and expand their roles to the point where today they are impacting healthcare in ways most consumers aren’t even aware,” says Dr. Courtney Lyder, dean and professor of the UCLA School of Nursing. “Nurses have been championing quality-of-care improvements, spearheading research innovation, advocating for patient rights and generally challenging the status quo. Simply put, their impact has been enormous and will continue to be so over the coming decades.” [Read more...]

Nurses report quality of 
care is better with EHRs

(ONA) Results of a large study show that nurses working in hospitals with basic electronic health records (EHRs) consistently reported less frequent problems with poor patient safety and other quality-related outcomes than did their counterparts in hospitals without EHRs.

Ann Kutney-Lee, PhD, RN, and Deena Kelly, MS, RN, both of the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing in Philadelphia, analyzed nurse and hospital survey data from 16,352 nurses working in 316 hospitals in four states. The investigators reported in the Journal of Nursing Administration(2011;41[11]:466-472) that they found nurses in hospitals with fully implemented EHRs were significantly less likely to report unfavorable patient-safety issues, frequent medication errors, and low quality of care, suggesting that the level of detail available in the EHR may allow for more comprehensive unit-transfer reports and discharge summaries to outside providers. [Read more...]

Blair County nursing homes listed among Pennsylvania’s finest

(Altoona Mirror) Four Blair County nursing homes were ranked among the 98 best in Pennsylvania.

U.S.News & World Report ranked Hollidaysburg’s Garvey Manor and the Presbyterian Village at Hollidaysburg, and Martinsburg’s Homewood at Martinsburg and The Village at Morrisons Cove as some of the best nursing homes in the state, according to findings from the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

The homes were judged on state health inspections, the average number of hours of care recieved each day per resident from the nursing staff, and care received based on the percentage of vaccinations given and the percentage of residents with such ailments as bed sores and urinary tract infections. Fire safety deficiencies are also calculated. [Read more...]

Are nurses too busy to check on patients?

(Pittsburgh Tribune Review) During a recent visit to a hospital to see one of my relatives, it struck me as odd that I sat there for nearly an hour and never saw a nurse come into the room.

I peeked out the door a few times and saw several nurses at the nurses station. They were clearly busy: talking to doctors and charting on computer terminals. But were they too busy to check on the patients they were caring for? [Read more...]

Caps on Overtime Found to Reduce Nurses’ Hours

(Medscape Today) State laws against mandatory overtime hours for nurses are effective, researchers reported in an article published online August 29, 2011, in Nursing Outlook.

“Nurses routinely work long shifts, often as long as 12 hours straight,” said Carol Brewer, PhD, RN, FAAN, a professor at the School of Nursing, University at Buffalo, New York, in a news release. “These laws were intended to prevent hospitals from piling mandatory overtime on top of such shifts, a practice that research shows can increase the likelihood of mistakes.” [Read more...]

Hahnemann boosts use of registered nurses in bid to improve care

(Philly.com) In a move that defies conventional wisdom, Hahnemann University Hospital is replacing less expensive workers with people who are paid more.

Michael Halter, the hospital’s chief executive officer, believes that ultimately the change will earn Hahnemann more money and customers, and create a more loyal staff when the labor market becomes competitive again.

Halter said a pilot study done on one nursing unit found that using all registered nurses to care for patients instead of a combination of nurses and nursing assistants led to higher-quality care, and greater patient and nurse satisfaction. As a result, the entire hospital is transforming to the all-RN model. Halter thinks the move will pay off financially as insurance companies change reimbursement policies to reward quality. [Read more...]

When Nurses Catch Compassion Fatigue, Patients Suffer

(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...]

New Simulation Man offers real-life training

(The Herald News) Mary Gniady did not know the name of the man she rescued Wednesday. As an advanced practice nurse, she had a job to do, and she quickly went to work.

“I am alive!” the man responded excitedly after Gniady performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation.

Actually, she still does not know the man’s name. That will have to wait. [Read more...]

Nurse practitioners could fill doctor gap, association president says

(The Daily News) For everyone in Kamloops who doesn’t have a family physician, there is another argument for putting nurse practitioners in positions of primary care.

That chronic doctor shortage was among points made by Judith Shamian, president of the Canadian Nurses Association, on a visit to the city that culminated with a dialogue session at TRU Monday.

Shamian and her staff are on a cross-country tour, consulting with students, faculty and people in the health-care field as a lead-up to the next federal-provincial health accord. [Read more...]

Why I Love My Job: Maria Rosario “Charo” F. Lazana, BSN, RN, OCN

(AJC.com) Job: Clinical nurse supervisor, 5 Tower Oncology, Northside Hospital-Forsyth

Northside Hospital Maria Rosario “Charo” F. Lazana is a clinical nurse supervisor at Northside Hospital-Forsyth.

What I do: “I provide direct patient care and supervise the nursing operation of 5 Tower.”

How I got into this: “I was a BMT [bone marrow transplant] nurse [at BMT of Northside Atlanta] for 7 years and my nursing goal is to have a management position.

“When Niti [my previous manager] told me about the clinical supervisor job opening, I immediately applied because I know this is what I want, and Niti is such a great manager; she will bring the best in me. So this is really a great opportunity for me.” [Read more...]