Legislative Network for Nurses articles from November 2004

Legislative Network for Nurses archives from November 2004

You've got a friend in Congress.(Slants & Trends)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... YOU'VE GOT A FRIEND IN CONGRESS. Nurse education advocates still have loyal supporters in the Senate. Sens. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) recently circulated a letter to their colleagues on the Appropriations Committee...

Hospital emergency visits on rise.(Slants & Trends)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... HOSPITAL EMERGENCY VISITS ON RISE. More Americans are turning to hospitals for care, continuing a trend seen over the last several years, according to Hospital Statistics 2005, a reference source on hospitals published by the American Hospital...

No nurse draft in effect but government develops plan.
November 1, 2004... Nurses are pleased the government has no plans to start drafting nurses and other health care personnel into the military; however, there was some concern after an Oct. 19 New York Times article "exposed" a confidential report detailing how...

N.Y. nurses model plan for universal health care benefit.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... Advanced practice nurses are key to implementing a universal health care plan. A recent report released by the Columbia School of Nursing details a proposal for an essential health benefit plan that could be made available to all Americans,...

AACN designates DNP as highest education level for clinical practice.(American Association of Colleges of Nursing)(Doctor of Nursing Practice)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... The Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) degree has been designated the highest level of preparation for clinical practice by the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN), a spokesperson for the organization recently told LNN. At its...

HHS releases additional guidance to providers on flu vaccine shortage.(BPI special report: flu vaccine shortage)
November 1, 2004... Nurses and other health care providers should opt to receive the FluMist spray vaccine, which is recommended only for healthy people aged 5-49, and reserve the injectable vaccine for those who need it most, including young children, seniors and...

Congress gets access to flu vaccine; nurses stand behind CDC guidance.(Special report: flu vaccine shortage)
November 1, 2004... Nurse groups, such as the Emergency Nurses Association (ENA) and the Visiting Nurses Associations of America (VNAA), and have told LNN they are supportive of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC's) efforts to ensure that...

VNAA secures flu vaccine for high-risk home care patients.(Special report: flu vaccine shortage)(Visiting Nurse Associations of America)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... Visiting nurses will have the opportunity to help their high-risk patients avoid getting the flu. The Visiting Nurse Associations of America (VNAA) told LNN it has acquired 500,000 doses of the influenza vaccine for Visiting Nurse Agencies...

Emergency providers recommend 'crisis summit' for vaccine shortage.(Special report: flu vaccine shortage)
November 1, 2004... Nurses and other critical care providers should be immunized against the flu so they are not stricken in the midst of a national epidemic. This is just one of the recommendations the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) developed at...

AAOHN changes focus from getting flu shots to other prevention methods.(Special report: flu vaccine shortage)(American Association of Occupational Health Nurses)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... Occupational health nurses are shifting the focus from employee flu-immunization efforts toward educating employees about smart and healthy behaviors that could help them avoid the flu this season, the American Association of Occupational...

Medicare changes flu shot policy to increase access.(Special report: flu vaccine shortage)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... Medicare carriers will reimburse beneficiaries for flu shots administered by health care providers who are not enrolled with the Medicare program, regardless of whether the claim is submitted by the beneficiary or provider, according to a...

Majority of pharmacists report price gouging by flu vaccine distributors.(Special report: flu vaccine shortage)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... More than half of the 677 pharmacy directors surveyed by the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists last month reported being contacted by pharmaceutical distributors offering the flu vaccine at vastly inflated prices. Most...

Patient safety.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... The World Health Organization has launched an international partnership aimed at improving patient safety globally. Partners in the World Alliance for Patient Safety, including the Department of Health and Human Services, will focus their...

Musculoskeletal disorders.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... The American Nurses Association (ANA) recently presented the Handle With Care campaign, a national initiative focused on the prevention of back injuries and other musculoskeletal disorders among nurses, at the annual national meeting of the...

Nursing and Midwifery.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... Jean Yan has been appointed as Chief Scientist for Nursing and Midwifery at the World Health Organization (WHO) headquarters in Geneva. Yan is currently Human Resource Development and Health Services Advisor at the Pan American Health...

Hospital Quality Alliance.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... The American Hospital Association (AHA) and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) are urging hospitals taking part in the Hospital Quality Alliance, formerly known as the Quality Initiative, to preview their quality data from...

Nursing information technology.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... Eighteen organizations representing nurses who work in nursing information technology have formed the Alliance for Nursing Informatics, which will collaborate on public policy and standards activities and the dissemination of best practices....

Family-centered care.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... A video produced by the American Hospital Association (AHA) recently received a top award at a Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center festival recognizing films for their "power to teach and lead improvement in health care." The short film,...

The American Society for Healthcare Risk Management (ASHRM) recently presented Kathy Rapala, RN, director of risk management and patient safety at Clarian Health Partners in Indianapolis, with its first Todd Pickett National Patient Safety Award.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... The American Society for Healthcare Risk Management (ASHRM) recently presented Kathy Rapala, RN, director of risk management and patient safety at Clarian Health Partners in Indianapolis, with its first Todd Pickett National Patient Safety...

Maryland.(State News)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... Maryland: The University Of Maryland School Of Nursing is launching an Institute for Nurse Educators this fall to address the growing shortage of nursing faculty in Maryland and across the country. "The institute will centralize nurse education...

Nevada.(State News)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... Nevada: The Orvis School of Nursing at the University of Nevada, Reno (UNR) was awarded a three-year, $219,000 grant from the Department of Health and Human Services to recruit additional nurses into the Nurse Educator graduate program at UNR...

North Carolina.(State News)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... North Carolina: East Carolina University has been selected as the first recipient of the "Best Nursing School or College for Men" award by the American Assembly for Men in Nursing (AAMN). This award recognizes a nursing institution that has...

Tennessee.(State News)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... Tennessee: Austin Peay State University is now enrolling students in the School of Nursing's new online MSN program, which is designed to address the needs of the working nurse and provides the opportunity for "anytime, any-place coursework."...

The United States Pharmacopeia.(Funding Opportunities)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... The United States Pharmacopeia (USP) is now seeking candidates for its 2005 internship and fellowship programs. USP's programs provide students in the health field with the opportunity to conduct research and work in support of USP's...

The American Association of Colleges of Nurses.(Funding Opportunities)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... The American Association of Colleges of Nurses (AACN), with funding provided by the Helene Fuld Health Trust, is now requesting applications for the fourth offering of its executive leadership institute for new and aspiring deans. The...

Congressional elections prove successful for nurse advocates.(2004 Election)(Brief Article)
November 15, 2004... Although the American Nurses Association (ANA) had endorsed Democratic presidential nominee Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), the group is celebrating a number of victories in the 2004 election. Many advocates of health care and nursing priorities...

RN union advocates for health care before election votes are counted.(Brief Article)
November 15, 2004... All Americans will have access to affordable, quality health care, if nurses and other health care professionals represented by the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) have anything to say about it. The organization did not wait for...

Bush vows to move on malpractice reform; RN groups remain divided.
November 15, 2004... Medical malpractice reform may become a reality if President Bush gets his way. At a news conference Nov. 4, President Bush said he plans to move quickly to get legislation passed in Congress that would limit noneconomic awards in medical...

Emergency regulations may change California's nurse staffing ratios.
November 15, 2004... Nurses in California blasted Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger for his Nov. 4 decision to adopt emergency regulations that would change California's 1999 law requiring minimum registered nurse-to-patient staffing ratios, an action that...

Reduced doses of flu vaccine may be given to providers in the future.(Flu Vaccine Update)(Brief Article)
November 15, 2004... Nurses may be among those recommended to receive reduced doses of the flu vaccine in future flu seasons. The reduced doses may be as effective as full doses among healthy, younger adults, suggesting it may be possible to stretch supplies of the...

Vaccinations and the elderly.(Brief Article)
November 15, 2004... Nurses and other providers caring for the elderly should make sure the seniors they care for receive their flu vaccinations. Regular annual flu vaccinations reduce seniors' risk of death by at least 24 percent, compared with seniors who do not...

More vaccine coming.(Brief Article)
November 15, 2004... Nurses and other providers without flu vaccine should contact their state health departments, as 10.3 million remaining doses of flu vaccine will be distributed to departments nationwide over the coming weeks, according to a plan announced Nov....

Study says environmental health training is lacking in RN education.(Nursing Education)
November 15, 2004... Nurses and doctors need more environmental health training to prevent, recognize and treat diseases caused by environmental exposures, says a new study funded by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS). Experts recommend...

AACN explores impact of simulation technology on RN education quality.(American Association of Colleges of Nursing)(Brief Article)
November 15, 2004... Simulation technology may become the new wave in nursing education. A spokesperson for the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) told LNN that the organization has received new funding to investigate the use of simulation...

Massage.(Brief Article)
November 15, 2004... * A national survey released by the American Massage Therapy Association shows that consumers feel massage is second only to medication for pain management and relief. The survey revealed that 90 percent of consumers believe that massage...

Emergency nurses.(Brief Article)
November 15, 2004... * The Emergency Nurses Association (ENA) Nov. 3 announced the creation of the Academy of Emergency Nursing to honor emergency nurses who have made substantial contributions to the profession. The academy's first inductees will be named at the...

Palliative care services.(Brief Article)
November 15, 2004... * People with terminal conditions should be able to die at home with dignity, said researchers in the Nov. 6 issue of the British Medical Journal. Although 65 percent of people with cancer want to die at home, only about 30 percent are able to...

National Hospice Month.(Brief Article)
November 15, 2004... * November is National Hospice Month, and the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO) marks the 26th anniversary of National Hospice Month by reporting that more than 950,000 dying Americans received care from the country's...

Labor-HHS funding bill.(Brief Article)
November 15, 2004... * The American Hospital Association (AHA) Nov. 3 urged congressional appropriators to adopt a fiscal year 2005 Department of Labor-Health and Human Services funding bill that blocks enforcement of the "75%" inpatient rehabilitation rule while...

Patient safety.(Brief Article)
November 15, 2004... * Nurses around the world will be able to keep their patients safer, thanks to an initiative from the World Health Organization (WHO). The WHO and its partners recently announced the launch of the World Alliance for Patient Safety--a series of...

Nursing shortages.(Brief Article)
November 15, 2004... * The International Council of Nurses, the Florence Nightingale International Foundation and the Burdett Trust for Nursing have released The Global Shortage of Registered Nurses: An Overview of Issues and Actions. The document provides a global...

Information kit.(Resources)(Brief Article)
November 15, 2004... * "The Seven Steps to Successful Notification" is an information kit that addresses the issue of notifying families when someone is hospitalized. It is a product of The Next of Kin Project, an organization founded by a family that was notified...

"Diabetes Survival Guide".(Resources)(Brief Article)
November 15, 2004... * A number of recent reports indicate that people with diabetes are not meeting recommended goals for blood glucose, blood pressure and cholesterol levels. During American Diabetes Month in November, the American Diabetes Association, the...

Hospital Survey.(Resources)(Brief Article)
November 15, 2004... * The American Hospital Association (AHA) Nov. 10 joined the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) in unveiling a new AHRQ tool to help hospitals evaluate their progress in creating a culture of safety. The Hospital Survey on...

California.(State News)(Brief Article)
November 15, 2004... * California: San Jose State University has announced grants totaling $5.5 million from the San Francisco-based Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation to fund two programs in its school of nursing. The Bachelor of Science in Nursing Boot Camp will,...

New Jersey.(State News)(Brief Article)
November 15, 2004... * New Jersey: The New Jersey Hospital Association (NJHA) and other groups Nov. 10 unveiled a voluntary system of 10 common codes that hospitals and other health care providers in the state can use to designate emergency situations in their...

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.(Funding Opportunity)(Brief Article)
November 15, 2004... * The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has announced that it is accepting applications for its Executive Nurse Fellows Program. The program offers leadership development for nurses who have senior executive roles in health services, public health...

Nurse education fares well in 2005 Omnibus spending bill.
November 29, 2004... While nursing workforce and development programs did not get the increases nurse advocates had hoped for in the Fiscal Year (FY) 2005 omnibus spending bill passed by Congress Nov. 20, nursing programs still fared well, Robert Rosseter, director...

House bill expands capacity for nursing school enrollment.(Brief Article)
November 29, 2004... Schools would be able to accommodate more nursing students if a bill introduced by Reps. Nita Lowey (D-N.Y.) and Lois Capps (D-Calif.) becomes law. The Nurse Education, Expansion and Development Act of 2004 (H.R. 5234) would authorize...

Senate bills to improve pain, hospice care must include nurses, HPNA says.
November 29, 2004... Health care providers may be better able to care for dying patients if two bills introduced Nov. 16 become law, according to Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), author of the bills. Nurses are hopeful the bills will move palliative and hospice nursing...

OAL approves emergency rules, may weaken nurse staffing ratios.(Office of Administrative Law)
November 29, 2004... California's law mandating new minimum nurse-to-patient staffing ratios in hospital medical-surgical units may not go into effect on Jan. 1, 2005, as originally mandated. California's Office of Administrative Law (OAL) has approved the state's...

HHS says RNs can help Americans quit smoking with new initiatives.(Brief Article)
November 29, 2004... Nurses and other health care professionals must educate their patients who smoke about new initiatives from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), said HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson. Thompson Nov. 10 announced a series of initiatives...

New medicare benefit.(Brief Article)
November 29, 2004... Nurses and other health care providers who care for Medicare patients will soon be able to provide more covered preventive services. HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson recently announced a campaign designed to maximize preventative health care....

Nursing workforce growing, but shortage still looms, study says.(RN Employment, Pay)
November 29, 2004... Hospitals and other health care facilities hired about 205,000 nurses between 2001 and 2003--potentially the largest two-year increase in nursing employment since before Medicare was launched in 1965--and young nurses and nurses older than age...

RN salaries on the rise while LPN salaries flat, study says.
November 29, 2004... Nurse salaries are generally on the rise, according to the results of Nursing 2004's annual salary survey. The survey polled more than 1,700 participants. The overall average annual income reported by survey respondents in 2004 is $54,574,...

Workplace violence.(Brief Article)
November 29, 2004... American Nurses Association (ANA) President Barbara Blakeney Nov. 17 represented nursing interests on a panel of national leaders during the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) conference titled, "Partnering in...

Skin disease.(Brief Article)
November 29, 2004... Health care professionals strive to understand what patients go through with their dermatologic diseases, but they may not ask the patient, "What is it like living with this condition?" Dermatology Nursing journal addresses this question with...

Medical errors.(Brief Article)
November 29, 2004... Americans are more sensitive to the issue of health care quality and safety five years after the Institute of Medicine's landmark report on medical errors, findings of a national survey released Nov. 17 by the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF)...

Maryland.(State News)(Brief Article)
November 29, 2004... Maryland: Two new week-long education programs--the Nurse Educator Academy and the Patient Safety Academy--are the latest in a series of Johns Hopkins Nursing offerings developed through a partnership between Johns Hopkins University (JHU)...

Oklahoma.(State News)(Brief Article)
November 29, 2004... Oklahoma: Beginning Nov. 18, 13 hospitals in the Oklahoma City area and 18 hospitals and three nursing homes in Missouri, Illinois and Wisconsin no longer allowed patients, visitors or employees to use tobacco on their campuses. The...

Pennsylvania.(State News)(Brief Article)
November 29, 2004... Pennsylvania: The Pennsylvania Workforce Investment Board recently submitted to the governor 15 recommendations for expanding the capacity of the state's nursing education system to meet the growing demand for nurses, the American Hospital...

State 30/J-1 Visa Waiver Program.(Legislation)(Brief Article)
November 29, 2004... The House voted 407-4 Nov. 17 to pass S. 2302, an American Hospital Association-backed bill extending the State 30/J-1 Visa Waiver Program for two years. The measure passed the Senate last month and now goes to the president for his signature....

The Medicare Ambulance Payment Reform and Rural Equity Act.(Legislation)(Brief Article)
November 29, 2004... Rep. Thomas Reynolds (R-N.Y.) Nov. 19 introduced The Medicare Ambulance Payment Reform and Rural Equity Act. The bill is intended to aid rural area emergency medical personnel and providers. The bill would alleviate Medicare payment inequities,...

Virtual clinic.(Resources)(Brief Article)
November 29, 2004... The "Smoking Cessation for Pregnancy and Beyond: Proven Strategies to Help Your Patients Quit" program is now available for nurses, physicians, and other health care providers who assist female patients in quitting smoking, in particular,...

Web site.(Resources)(Brief Article)
November 29, 2004... Iowa State University Extension and Iowa State's College of Family and Consumer Sciences sponsor a Web site offering tips and online resources for safe food handling. The Web site contains more than 600 frequently asked food safety questions...

Nursesbooks.org of the American Nurses Association has released Florence Nightingale Today: Healing Leadership and Global Action.(Resources)(Brief Article)(Book Review)
November 29, 2004... Nursesbooks.org of the American Nurses Association has released Florence Nightingale Today: Healing Leadership and Global Action. The book includes commentaries on and the full text of two of Nightingale's shorter works: her annual formal...