Legislative Network for Nurses articles from April 2005

Legislative Network for Nurses archives from April 2005

RNs encourage advance directives in aftermath of Terri Schiavo case.(registered nurses)
April 4, 2005... Nurses must be prepared to educate their patients on advance directives and other end-of-life care issues, due to the increased public awareness resulting from the Terri Schiavo situation. Although the Schiavo case raises complex and...

CMS amends hospital CoPs under medicare.(Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services)(hospital conditions of participation)
April 4, 2005... Nurses and other health care providers should have more time and energy to focus on patient care instead of being restricted by "overly burdensome regulations," the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said in a recent statement. CMS...

CMS gives RNs, other providers better access to hand sanitizers.(Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services)
April 4, 2005... Nurses and other health care providers will now be able to better protect themselves and their patients from bacterial infections, according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. CMS March 24 released an interim final rule that...

Survey says RNs enjoy interactions with peers; less satisfied with pay.(registered nurses)(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... Most nurses are highly satisfied with their interactions with other RNs, their professional status and their professional development opportunities, according to survey results recently released to LNN by the ANA. According to the RN...

ANA: Kansas decision jeopardizes teen health, patient confidentiality.(In the States; American Nuses' Association)
April 4, 2005... The confidentiality between health care providers and adolescent patients would be undermined if a mandatory reporting decision in Kansas is allowed to stand, according to the ANA. The ANA, along with the Kansas State Nurses Association,...

Nurse midwives in New Jersey help reduce cesarean sections.(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... Certified nurse-midwives in New Jersey are helping reduce the Cesarean section rate at one of the state's hospitals, according to a report published last week in the Plainfield Courier-News. While the Caesarean section rate for the state...

Mandatory error reporting.(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... A survey of hospital leaders published in the March 16 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association indicates that many have serious reservations about a mandatory error reporting system, saying it would discourage event reporting...

Electronic medical records.(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... Less than a third of the country's hospital emergency and outpatient departments use electronic medical records, and even fewer doctors' offices do, according to a report recently released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention....

Disinfectant products.(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... The LYSOL brand team of Reckitt Benckiser Inc. recently donated 500 cases of disinfectant products to more than 40 visiting nurse agency hospice centers and clinical sites. This past year, the Visiting Nurse Associations of America and the...

"New" generation of nurses.(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... Health care leaders should acknowledge the changing expectations of a "new" generation of nurses and adapt the workplace to accommodate them, according to the cover story of the March issue of Hospitals & Health Networks. Many hospitals are now...

Flu activity.(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... Flu activity in the United States appears to have peaked during February, declining for the fourth week March 13-19, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported. About 3 percent of patients seen by health care providers in the U.S....

Hospital quality of care.(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... Leaders of the Hospital Quality Alliance on April 1 unveiled a new "Hospital Compare" Web site designed to provide the public with useful and understandable information on hospital quality of care to assist patients, families and communities in...

National Hospital Week.(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... The 2005 National Hospital Week, A Calling to Care, will be celebrated May 8-14 across the nation. Sponsored by AHA, National Hospital Week provides an opportunity to recognize the 4.5 million people who work in hospitals nationwide. Contact:...

Abuse of detainees.(U.S. detention and interrogation facilities)(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... The ANA has received a response to its Feb. 3 letter to Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld supporting further investigation into possible actions of health care professionals in the abuse of detainees at U.S. detention and interrogation...

HIPAA regulations.(Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act)(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services March 25 published a notice describing the procedures for filing complaints about noncompliance with certain administrative simplification standards under the Health Insurance Portability and...

Stop smoking.(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services made final its proposal last year to start covering counseling for people who want to stop smoking. The benefit will cover up to eight counseling sessions per year but is available only to people...

Seizing hospitals beds.(Vail Products)(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... At the request of the Food and Drug Administration, the U.S. Marshals Service began seizing hospitals beds awaiting distribution by Vail Products of Toledo, Ohio. The Vail 500, 1000 and 2000 Enclosed Bed Systems are defective and have resulted...

California.(State News)(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... California: California has awarded $13 million in grants to support initiatives to train current and future workers for high-demand nursing positions. "Every effort must be made to help our hospitals and health care providers fill the nursing...

Florida.(State News)(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... Florida: More than 90 nurses representing the Nurse Alliance for Florida recently rallied in the state capitol in Tallahassee seeking support for a bill introduced in the Florida legislature to establish nurse staffing standards in the state's...

Illinois.(State News)(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... Illinois: The University of Illinois at Chicago College of Nursing and the first U.S. World Health Organization Collaborating Center for Nursing are hosting an upcoming conference titled "Optimizing Global Health through Nursing Science" on...

Massachusetts.(State News)(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... Massachusetts: A recent public opinion survey shows that Massachusetts voters prefer the provisions in the proposed Patient Safety Act over government-mandated staffing ratios as a means to ensure safe nurse staffing by a margin of 56 percent...

Massachusetts: Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston is introducing "supermarketstyle" barcodes for medications and patients' wristbands, according to an article published recently in the Boston Globe.(State News)(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... * Massachusetts: Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston is introducing "supermarketstyle" barcodes for medications and patients' wristbands, according to an article published recently in the Boston Globe. Barcodes will be used on all medical...

Missouri.(State News)(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... Missouri: The Missouri Hospital Association is offering 83 two-year scholarships totaling $500,000 in 2005 for students in Missouri pursuing careers in nursing and the allied health professions. The scholarships are limited to students who are...

Nevada.(State News)(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... Nevada: A bill introduced in the Nevada legislature would bar employers from firing nurses who refuse an assignment they feel they do not have "the knowledge, skills or ability" to complete safely. Current law requires nurses to reject an...

New York.(State News)(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... New York: New York University recently announced that its Division of Nursing, currently in the Steinhardt School of Education, will become a new College of Nursing within the NYU College of Dentistry. Both nursing and dentistry will continue...

Oregon.(State News)(Oregon Nurses Association )(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... Oregon: The Oregon Nurses Association is lobbying for passage of a bill in the state legislature that includes several measures intended to improve safety for nurses in the workplace. SB 572 would require better data collection on assaults and...

The Corporation for National and Community Service.(Opportunities)(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... The Corporation for National and Community Service, a federal grant-making agency, is accepting applications for funding through The Professional Corps. Applicants must identify a community need that is not being met due to the lack of...

The 4th Annual Paul Ambrose Health Promotion Student Leadership Symposium.(Opportunities)(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... The 4th Annual Paul Ambrose Health Promotion Student Leadership Symposium will take place on June 24-26 in Washington, D.C. "This prestigious symposium strives to engage 45 graduate nursing, medical, graduate physician assistant, and PharmD...

Dr. Susan Bosher.(Opportunities)
April 4, 2005... Dr. Susan Bosher, associate professor at the College of St. Catherine, is preparing an anthology of essays on educating diverse nursing students. Bosher has issued a call for manuscripts on the topic of "Educating for the 21st Century:...

The Association for General and Liberal Studies.(Opportunities)(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... The Association for General and Liberal Studies and the Association for Integrative Studies will hold a joint conference Oct. 6-9 at the Hyatt Fair Lakes in Fairfax, Va., the American Association of Colleges of Nursing announced. This year's...

Health officials, Airlines work to stop spread of infectious disease.
April 18, 2005... Airline travelers, as well as the entire world population, may be better protected from infectious diseases thanks to the attention Congress, the administration and the airline industry are giving to stopping the spread of infectious disease...

Opportunity.
April 18, 2005... OPPORTUNITY. The application deadline for the new Cultural Competence Leadership Fellowship has been extended to the end of this month. This one-year professional development program, codeveloped by the Health Research and Educational Trust,...

World Health Day theme sparks bills to help mothers and their children.(Women's and Children's Health)
April 18, 2005... More mothers and their children would get the health care they need if several new bills recently introduced in the Senate become law, the Association of Women's Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses told LNN. In recognition of this year's...

FDA panel strikes down industry effort to bring back silicone breast implants.(Brief Article)
April 18, 2005... Women will be better protected from serious illness thanks to the Food and Drug Administration's recent decision to keep silicone gel-filled implants off the market, the National Organization for Women recently said. "Today's decision is a...

Telemedicine advocates want funds to enable education, assist in care.
April 18, 2005... Telemedicine advocates, including nurses, are urging the Federal Communications Commission to broaden the availability of funding aimed at equipping rural health care facilities with advanced telecommunications services. Additional funding...

RNs, other providers back Senate advance directive education bill.(registered nurses )(Brief Article)
April 18, 2005... Patients would have better access to information about their health care options near the end of life should they be unable to make health care decisions for themselves if S. 347, recently introduced by Sens. Richard Lugar (R-Ind.) and Bill...

ACNP announces prescription drug assistance partnership.(American College of Nurse Practitioners)(Brief Article)
April 18, 2005... More patients who lack prescription coverage will get the medicines they need through the public or private program that is right for them, a spokesperson for the American College of Nurse Practitioners recently told LNN. ACNP April 7...

Public image of nursing.(Brief Article)
April 18, 2005... The weekly British nursing journal, Nursing Standard, has produced a film designed to boost the public image of nursing in the United Kingdom. The film, "Quiet Power," was produced by documentary film maker Nick Shipley and features working...

Critical access hospitals.(Brief Article)
April 18, 2005... The American Hospital Association this month urged the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission not to underestimate the importance of the critical access hospital program to preserving access to health care in rural America as it prepares a June...

Health care coverage.(statistics)(Brief Article)
April 18, 2005... More than one in four American workers under age 65 will be uninsured in 2013 (nearly 56 million people), 11 million more than in 2003, due to workers' increasing inability to afford health insurance, according to new projections posted...

Specialty and general hospitals.(Brief Article)
April 18, 2005... Specialty heart hospitals do not provide better or more efficient cardiac care than general hospitals, suggests a study in the New England Journal of Medicine. The authors of the study examined-claims data for nearly 43,000 Medicare...

Reducing waste.(Brief Article)
April 18, 2005... The Hospitals for a Healthy Environment program recently recognized more than 70 hospitals, health systems and health care organizations for outstanding achievement in reducing waste, virtually eliminating mercury and minimizing the use of...

Men in nursing.(Brief Article)
April 18, 2005... A recent survey of men in nursing by Bernard Hodes Group examined the reasons men enter the field and their views on effective recruitment approaches for men. Most respondents said the ability to help people and make a meaningful contribution...

Avian influenza.(Brief Article)
April 18, 2005... The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases has begun fast-track recruitment for a trial to investigate the safety of a vaccine against H5N1 avian influenza. Sites in Rochester, N.Y., Baltimore and Los Angeles will enroll a total...

Behavioral disorders in people with dementia.(Brief Article)
April 18, 2005... Certain drugs used to treat behavioral disorders in people with dementia should be viewed with caution, says the Food and Drug Administration. A class of "atypical" antipsychotic drugs, including Risperdal, Clozaril and Symbyax, has been...

The Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions Committee has approved S. 544 to improve patient safety.(Brief Article)
April 18, 2005... The Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions Committee has approved S. 544 to improve patient safety. The bill would create patient safety organizations recommended by the Institute of Medicine. Similar legislation was approved last year but...

Arizona.(State News)(hospitals management)(Brief Article)
April 18, 2005... Arizona: A two-part reality television series starring health care professionals at Arizona hospitals as they go about their daily lives recently premiered in Phoenix. "htv: Arizona's Healthcare Heroes" was produced by Cox Media in partnership...

California.(State News)(funding for nursing education)(Brief Article)
April 18, 2005... California: Republican California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has announced a $90 million public-private partnership to expand nursing education and attack the state's growing nurse shortage on a variety of fronts. "With up to a four-year wait...

Georgia.(State News)(disaster preparedness toolkits )(Brief Article)
April 18, 2005... Georgia: Georgia hospital workers soon will receive a disaster preparedness toolkit from the Georgia Department of Human Resources designed to encourage them to participate in preparedness activities and become familiar with their hospital's...

Maryland.(State News)(Brief Article)
April 18, 2005... Maryland: Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing faculty member Marie Nolan will lead a team of Johns Hopkins investigators in a $2 million study to determine how potential kidney donors make their donation decision and how kidney donors...

South Carolina.(State News)(Brief Article)
April 18, 2005... South Carolina: At a ceremony at Roper Hospital in Charleston, Republican Gov. Mark Sanford recently signed legislation aimed at reigning in soaring medical liability premiums. The law caps non-economic damages in medical liability lawsuits at...

Workplace advocacy.(Resources)
April 18, 2005... The Center for American Nurses will be holding an audioconference seminar series on workplace advocacy. "Workplace Advocacy, Strategies, and Tools" is designed for nurses who require the skills but can not afford to leave the workplace to...

Pain management and plastic surgery.(Resources)(Brief Article)
April 18, 2005... Nursesbooks.org has partnered with the American Society of Pain Management Nurses and the American Society of Plastic Surgical Nurses to produce two new standards in growing areas of nursing practice: Pain management and plastic surgery. Pain...

Breast, cervical and prostate conditions.(Resources)
April 18, 2005... The National Cancer Institute has updated its patient education booklets, Understanding Breast Changes, Understanding Cervical Changes, and Understanding Prostate Changes. The booklets are designed to reduce the anxiety patients often feel when...

Preventing medical errors.(Resources)(Brief Article)
April 18, 2005... The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality on April 12 unveiled an online clearinghouse for resources on improving patient safety and preventing medical errors. Users of AHRQ's Patient Safety Network, or PSNet, can customize the site to...

Patient assistance programs.(Resources)(website for health system pharmacists )(Brief Article)
April 18, 2005... The American Society of Health-System Pharmacists has launched an online resource designed to help hospital and health system pharmacists assist low-income patients in accessing patient assistance programs offered by drug makers. The site...