Legislative Network for Nurses articles from November 2005

Legislative Network for Nurses archives from November 2005

Senate approves more funding for RN education programs.
November 7, 2005... Nursing workforce development programs would retain their $5 million increase over FY 2005 levels, if both houses of Congress agree on an FY 2006 appropriations bill like the one passed by the full Senate Oct. 27. Nurse groups told LNN that in...

Nursing, hospital groups call flu pandemic plan good first step.
November 7, 2005... The United States would be better prepared for a flu pandemic if a new strategy announced by President Bush is implemented, according to the Bush administration and health care groups. On Nov. 1, the president released a national strategy...

Study aims to show RNs in nursing homes can improve seniors' lives.
November 7, 2005... Nurses working in nursing homes may play an integral part in improving the lives of seniors if they focus on helping nursing home residents enhance their eyesight and hearing, Rachael Otto, a spokesperson for Saint Louis University, recently...

CCNE says only practice doctorates with DNP degree can be accredited.
November 7, 2005... In a move consistent with other health professions, the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education, the autonomous accrediting body of the American Association of Colleges of Nursing, has decided that only practice doctoral degrees with the...

AWHONN releases framework for near-term infant initiative.
November 7, 2005... Nurses will be able to provide better care for near-term infants, thanks to a new initiative from the Association of Women's Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses, Gretchen Wright, a spokesperson for the organization, recently told LNN. ...

Workforce shortage.
November 7, 2005... America's hospitals are in a fragile state, facing rising demand and constrained capacity, according to a new report recently released by the American Hospital Association. The report, entitled "The State of America's Hospitals: Taking the...

Performance reports.
November 7, 2005... The Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association recently announced the launch of a new national Network Hospital Measurement pilot program that will provide quarterly performance reports to hospitals and employers. The reports will be based on...

Health care quality.
November 7, 2005... A majority of Americans are well satisfied with the quality of care they personally received during the last two years, but tend to view cost as one of the least important factors when considering health care quality, according to the 2005...

Disaster recover plans.
November 7, 2005... A survey conducted by VHA Inc., among its member hospitals shows that nearly half of those who responded are planning to modify their disaster recovery plans in the wake of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. More than 350 hospital leaders and...

Electronic exchange of health information.
November 7, 2005... The federal government should develop a nationwide patient authentication standard that protects individuals' information and should lead an effort to offer financial incentives to providers in order to foster the electronic exchange of health...

Florida.(State News)(Lift Teams save staff injury costs)(Brief Article)
November 7, 2005... Florida: Tampa General Hospital has reduced its costs for staff injuries incurred in lifting and moving patients from more than $500,000 to only $26,000 in five years through an innovative injury-prevention program, even as its staff grew by 20...

Michigan.(State News)
November 7, 2005... Michigan: A two-year project to reduce medical errors and improve patient safety in Michigan hospital intensive care units has had positive results, according to project results released by the Michigan Health & Hospital Association's Keystone...

New York.(State News)
November 7, 2005... New York: The New York State Nurses Association recently released a report that documents a "chronic shortage" of RNs in hospitals operated by New York City's Health and Hospital Corporation. "We estimate that HHC has more than 1,000 nurse...

Wisconsin.(State News)(ban on overtime pay for nurses )(Brief Article)
November 7, 2005... Wisconsin: The Wisconsin state legislature is considering legislation that would ban mandatory overtime for nurses except in cases of unforeseen emergencies, according to the Janesville Gazette. It would prevent facilities from requiring nurses...

The American Nurses Association.(Opportunities)
November 7, 2005... The American Nurses Association is recruiting U.S. nurse experts to participate in the International Council of Nurses' Bank of Nurse Experts. Established in 1997, the ICN Bank of Nurse Experts provides ICN with access to the most current...

The Nursing Organizations Alliance.(Opportunities)
November 7, 2005... The Nursing Organizations Alliance is accepting applications for the Nurse in Washington Internship program, which provides nurses the opportunity to learn how to influence health care through the legislative and regulatory processes. The...

Reopening of health care facilities.(Resources)
November 7, 2005... The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has released guidelines for the remediation and reopening of health care facilities closed due to extensive water and wind damage, such as that inflicted by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. The...

Employment-based visas.(Legislation)
November 7, 2005... The Senate Judiciary Committee Oct. 20 adopted budget reconciliation legislation that would immediately increase the number of visas available to foreign nurses and other health care professionals in short supply in the United States. The bill...

Schwarzenegger backs down from bid to overturn California RN ratios.
November 21, 2005... Hospitals in California must continue to comply with new nurse-to-patient staffing ratios. The California Department of Health Services has withdrawn its appeal of a 2004 Sacramento Superior Court decision that invalidated an emergency...

AACN, Hartford announce awards for exceptional Gerontologic RN education.
November 21, 2005... The American Association of Colleges of Nursing and the John A. Hartford Foundation Institute for Geriatric Nursing soon will announce that they have recognized several institutions with their Awards for Exceptional Baccalaureate Curriculum in...

Baldwin bill aims to give VA nurses full pension benefits.
November 21, 2005... Nurses working for the Department of Veterans Affairs would get full pension benefits under a bill introduced Nov. 10 by Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.). Many retired VA nurses are currently denied full pension benefits, Baldwin said. ...

ANA campaign encourages RNs to get vaccinated for flu virus.(Vaccinations)
November 21, 2005... Health care workers--especially nurses in hospitals, physician offices, long-term care facilities and community settings such as schools--should get a flu vaccine to protect themselves, their patients and family members against the virus, the...

Visiting RNs applaud CDC's whooping cough vaccination recommendation.
November 21, 2005... New recommendations made this fall by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices for vaccination of adults against pertussis, commonly called whooping cough, were welcomed by the Visiting Nurse...

IOM report makes recommendations for improving care to cancer survivors.
November 21, 2005... Nurses must play a major role in improving the quality of care for cancer survivors, Pearl Moore, chief executive officer of the Oncology Nursing Society, recently told LNN in response to a new report from the Institute of Medicine. The report,...

AHA opposes JCAHO plan to sell hospital data.
November 21, 2005... The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations is in danger of undermining its integrity as an accreditor if the organization is not dissuaded from becoming a "purveyor of performance data analysis," the American Hospital...

Mental or substance abuse problems.
November 21, 2005... * A new report from the Institute of Medicine outlines a strategy for improving quality in health care for mental or substance abuse problems and illnesses. Like the IOM's 2001 report, Crossing the Quality Chasm, the new report envisions a...

Hospital care.
November 21, 2005... * Americans used more hospital care in 2004 than 2003, according to the 2006 edition of AHA Hospital Statistics, which was recently released by the American Hospital Association. Hospital admissions increased to 35.1 million, average length of...

Maternal and child health.
November 21, 2005... * The cesarean delivery rate increased by 6 percent in 2004 to 29.1 percent of U.S. births, according to preliminary 2004 data on maternal and child health recently released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Preterm births...

Ernest Amory Codman Award.
November 21, 2005... * The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations has announced the organizational and individual recipients of the Ninth Annual Ernest Amory Codman Award to recognize excellence in the use of outcomes measurement to achieve...

Emergency care.
November 21, 2005... * Growing pressures on hospital emergency departments, from persuading specialists to provide on-call coverage to dealing with a growing number of patients with serious mental illness, could compromise access to emergency care and add to rising...

Health care safety net.
November 21, 2005... * At a policy briefing examining the latest health coverage trends and the implications for the country's health care safety net, the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured highlighted five reports that profile the growing uninsured...

Medical abbreviations.
November 21, 2005... * The Institute for Safe Medication Practice has been advocating abandoning what it calls one of the most common but preventable sources of medication errors--the use of ambiguous medical abbreviations and dose designations. The ISMP recently...

Pay-for-performance.
November 21, 2005... * Pay-for-Performance programs can improve both medical care and quality of life by giving health care providers a financial incentive to seek measurable improvements in the health of their patients, a study recently reported. But it warned...

Medical, medication or test errors.(World News)
November 21, 2005... * One-third of patients with health problems in the United States report experiencing medical, medication or test errors, the highest rate of any nation, according to a new Commonwealth Fund international survey whose results were published in...

Access to medicines.(World News)(Brief Article)
November 21, 2005... * United Kingdom Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt has proposed allowing qualified nurses and pharmacists to prescribe nearly all medicines in the national formulary for all medical conditions as a means to allow patients to get quicker and more...

Louisiana.(State News)
November 21, 2005... * Louisiana: The Department of Health and Human Services Nov. 17 announced agreements with the Southern Governors' Association and Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals to promote the widespread use of electronic health records in the...

The Health Resources and Services Administration.(Opportunities)
November 21, 2005... * The Health Resources and Services Administration has released information and application materials for FY 2006 nursing program grants authorized under Title VIII. These include the Comprehensive Geriatric Education program and the Nurse...

Hospitals for a Healthy Environment.(Opportunities)
November 21, 2005... * Hospitals for a Healthy Environment is accepting applications from hospitals that are recycling, eliminating mercury and implementing other environmental programs. The annual awards program recognizes environmental excellence in health care....

The Robert Wood Johnson Executive Nurse Fellows Program.(Opportunities)
November 21, 2005... * The Robert Wood Johnson Executive Nurse Fellows Program is seeking applicants for an advanced leadership program for nurses in senior executive roles in health services, public health and nursing education who aspire to help lead and shape...

The AANA Journal.(Opportunities)
November 21, 2005... * The AANA Journal is in search of authors for the "Legal Briefs" column. Contact: Sally Aquino, American Association of Nurse Anesthetists, (847) 655-1142, saquino@aana.com.

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.(Opportunities)(Brief Article)
November 21, 2005... * The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has launched the Interdisciplinary Nursing Quality Research Initiative, which is designed to generate, disseminate and translate research to improve the quality of care provided in hospitals. INQRI will...

National Nurse Anesthetists Week.(Resources)
November 21, 2005... * The American Association of Nurse Anesthetists recently announced that the seventh annual National Nurse Anesthetists Week will be celebrated Jan. 22-28, 2006. AANA has available free promotional packets, including posters, ad slicks,...

HLA Competency Directory.(Healthcare Leadership Alliance)(Brief Article)
November 21, 2005... * The Healthcare Leadership Alliance recently launched the HLA Competency Directory. This searchable reference tool is designed to support educators and health care leaders in developing the managerial expertise to meet the challenges of...

Appropriations bill.(Legislation)
November 21, 2005... * The House Nov. 17 voted 209-223 to reject a conference agreement on the Labor-Health and Human Services appropriations bill for fiscal year 2006. Meanwhile, the American Hospital Association urged congressional appropriators to reconsider...