nurse

Medical testing board to offer doctor of nursing certification

Wed, 11 Jun 2008 06:59:55 -0400

Starting in the fall, doctor of nursing practice graduates will be able to take a certification test that proponents predict should become the standard for DNPs. The test, which is being developed by the National Board of Medical Examiners, is based on the physician licensing exam. Such DNPs are comparable to primary care doctors in their diagnostic and disease management skills, proponents say. Physician groups, meanwhile, have suggested that while such certifications are good, DNPs should still be part of a team under physician supervision.
The certification drive comes as DNP graduation rates have started to climb. About 200 nursing schools are expected to offer a two-year DNP degree by 2015, or more than double the programs now in operation.

To learn more about the certification:
- read this AMNews article

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Study: Acute shortage of adult primary care MDs coming

Thu, 01 May 2008 06:59:54 -0400

A new study appearing in the journal Health Affairs attaches some numbers to a problem we all see coming--the growing U.S. shortage of primary care physicians. According to the study, by 2025 the U.S. will see a shortage of 35,000 to 44,000 family or general internal medicine physicians who care for adults. Worse, with population growth and an aging population figured in, existing family physicians and general internists will see their workloads grow by a substantial 29 percent by 2025 (versus 2005 levels) if nothing is done.

To learn more about the study:
- read this Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report item
- check out the study abstract

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ALSO NOTED: Physician shortage in Silicon Valley; Catholic Healthcare East takes over NJ health system; and much more...

Mon, 14 Jan 2008 06:59:50 -0500

> In part due to the high cost of living there, Silicon Valley is facing a particularly critical physician shortage. Article

> Catholic Healthcare East has finalized plans to take over Newark, N.J.-based Cathedral Healthcare System. Article

> Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina has decided to waive co-pays on all generic medications used to treat several common chronic conditions. Article

> A federal judge has signed off on a class-action suit alleging that the VA violated federal laws and veteran civil rights by delaying and denying benefits. Article

And Finally... Frustrated by ongoing gaps in care, a New Orleans nurse has turned her own home into a free clinic. Article

Trend: Hospitals investing in patient lifting devices

Tue, 11 Dec 2007 06:59:55 -0500

In some cases under threat of legislation, hospitals are increasingly investing in patient-lifting and sliding equipment. Such equipment is helping nurses avoid on-the-job injuries and lowering worker's compensation claims, observers say. The equipment, which includes overhead lifts, lifts that help patients sit and stand and special sheets that make it easier to reposition or move patients, is helpful not only in protecting nurses from routine injuries, but also dealing with the growing population of extremely obese patients they treat. The equipment can be pricey--costs may hit $5,000 for each overhead lift, and the slider sheets can cost $60-odd dollars each--but they can save millions by avoiding nurse injuries and lost time on the job.

While many of these investments are voluntary, they may not be in the future. For example, in New Jersey, the state's legislature should soon vote on a bill which would require hospitals and nursing homes to keep manual lifting by employees to a minimum. Similar laws are in place in seven other states.

To find out more about lifting equipment use in hospitals:
- read this piece in the Philadelphia Inquirer

Related Article:
Study: Obesity has impact on EDs. Report

Employer group backs higher pay for primary care

Wed, 07 Nov 2007 06:59:58 -0500

A powerful healthcare standards group plans today to launch an initiative promoting a new model for primary care which would help employers and health plans identify high-performing primary care physicians. The plan, backed by National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA), mirrors pay-for-performance plans already in force among some health insurers.

Under its proposal, participating health plans would pay high-ranked primary care physicians more for office visits, and would also offer a system for paying physicians and nurse coordinators for communicating with patients by phone and e-mail outside of their usual office hours. In addition, it would compensate PCPs for managing chronic conditions effectively and using e-prescribing.

While NCQA's proposals may not be in and of themselves unusual, the fact that the group is throwing its weight behind this proposal is significant, as large employers take its recommendations very seriously. IBM, for example, has come out in support of these proposed payment changes. "We are empowering doctors once again to have a doctor-patient relationship," said Dr. Paul Grundy, IBM's director for Health Care Technology and Strategic Initiatives. "We don't want to buy the kind of care we're getting any more."

To learn more about employer P4P initiatives:
- read this piece from The New York Times

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Trend: Primary care doctors create own prepaid plans. Report

Study: Nurse-driven heart failure support boosts compliance

Tue, 06 Nov 2007 06:59:54 -0500

A new study suggests that if heart failure patients get intensive support from a heart failure nurse and a multidisciplinary team, they're more likely to comply with key non-medical interventions like salt and fluid intake restrictions and regular weigh-ins. The study looked at 1,023 heart failure patients, average age 71, treated at 17 hospitals, and divided them into groups getting standard cardiologist visits only, cardiologist visits plus education and counseling from a heart failure nurse, and intensive counseling from a heart failure nurse, dietician, social worker and physiotherapist.

During the study, researchers found that patients receiving support improved their compliance over their status prior to the study in several key areas. For example, 90 percent of support group patients met fluid restrictions, compared with 67 percent prior to the study, while there was no change in the control group. Meanwhile, patients in the support group were also more aware of symptoms of worsening heart failure, researchers found.

To learn more about the study:
- read this HealthDay News piece

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WI nurse residency program boosts retention

Tue, 16 Oct 2007 06:59:54 -0400

While doctors get to go through a residency program and gradually assume the mantle of full decision-making responsibility, most nurses move from student to caregiver practically overnight. In Wisconsin, however, a group of 40 hospitals have begun working to support new nurses during their first, critical years and boost their skills more quickly.

The Wisconsin Nurse Residency Program, which was developed in cooperation with Marquette University, pairs new nurses with veterans who coach them, mentor them and help them begin their professional development. It also offers them monthly meetings which give them a chance to vent.

To date, the residency program has boosted nurse retention to 90 percent for the first two years, as opposed to the 50 percent typical elsewhere in the country. And it's a real bargain, too. Running such a program for 10 new nurses costs about $52,000, while losing and replacing a single nurse typically costs $65,000.

To learn more about the program:
- read this Milwaukee Journal Sentinel piece

Related Articles:
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California nursing shortage looms. Report
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PA launches nurse training initiative. Report
Study says pay is key to solving nurse shortage. Report

Many Los Angeles hospitals in financial trouble

Mon, 24 Sep 2007 06:59:56 -0400

Apparently, a frightening percentage of hospitals in the Los Angeles metro are fighting for their lives. According to a new analysis, almost two dozen hospitals in the area are in the red and could face bankruptcy or closure. These hospitals represent about 15 percent of the beds in the metro, so if any meaningful number of them were to go offline, the stress to the region's already overburdened health system could be immense.

Metro LA has already struggled to cope with the loss of several community clinics in hospitals, most recently the troubled Martin Luther King Jr.-Harbor Hospital. King/Harbor's closure added 47,000 new patients to the existing hospitals' patient load. With public facilities like King/Harbor in trouble or closing, the number of uninsured patients heading to private hospitals has climbed substantially. Add in lower rates to smaller hospitals, mandated nurse-to-patient ratios and the need for capital investment to earthquake-proof facilities, just to name a few stressors, and you have a situation likely to deteriorate, observers say.

To find out more about the hospitals' situation:
- read this Los Angeles Times article

Related Article:
Connecticut hospital finances bleak. Report

Trend: Mo. nurses create rural clinics

Thu, 30 Aug 2007 06:59:54 -0400

Out in the hinterlands of rural Missouri, doctors are scarce. Increasingly, the state's advanced practice nurses are jumping into the gap, creating rural clinics of the sort typically run by country doctors. All evidence suggests the clinics are very busy, too. When one nurse, Laurie Beach, opened up a clinic in remote Pilot Grove, she attracted 9,000 patients within two years, far more than she needed to make money on her venture.

While the volume of nurse-run Missouri clinics appearing isn't exactly a tidal wave--in fact, one expert projects the number of clinics is roughly a dozen--it is a significant development. For one thing, it suggests there may be remedies for doctor shortages which don't rely on physicians. It also suggests that the retail clinic model, which puts nurses in charge of primary care, may be more credible to patients than some critics think.

To learn more about this trend:
- read this article from The Associated Press

Related Articles:
Pa. law will expand nurse-practitioner role. Report
AMA wrongly opposes letting nurses do more. Editorial

ALSO NOTED: Tenet offers more hospital ownership stakes; Sutter nurses consider strike; and much more...

Tue, 28 Aug 2007 06:59:50 -0400

> Tenet is continuing its program of offering ownership interests in its hospitals, this time at Houston Northwest Medical Center. Article

> Nurses at five Sutter Health hospitals are poised to strike in the near future. Article

> Two healthcare facilities in the Buffalo, N.Y. area are hoping to get certified as "nurse magnets" by an affiliate of the American Nurses Association. Article

> Growing rates of patient obesity are changing the ways hospitals design their new facilities. Article

And Finally ... Now here's a charisma summit for you. Article