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March 5, 2010  
HealthLeaders Media
Healthcare Must Expand Primary Care Models, Says Report
To strengthen and support primary care in the future, health leaders need to consider new ways to organize providers—including primary care physicians, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants—and to expand their roles in delivering care, according to new recommendations from a group of healthcare leaders convened by the Macy Foundation.
http://www.healthleadersmedia.com/content/PHY-247573/Healthcare-Must-Expand-Primary-Care-Models-Says-Report.html

March 5, 2010  
The Sacramento Bee
Sutter program targets frequent ER visitors
The mental patient in the midst of another anxiety attack. The homeless diabetic with recurring kidney problems. The drug addict with one in a series of infections. Specialists in Sutter General Hospital's emergency room in midtown Sacramento patched them up, sent them out the door and were never surprised when they returned, weeks or months later, sometimes dozens of times in a year. So Sutter found a better way of dealing with "frequent flier" patients.
http://www.sacbee.com/2010/03/05/v-print/2584195/sutter-program-targets-frequent.html

March 3, 2010  
Louisville Courier-Journal
Battle brewing over nurse practitioners
With a busy practice specializing in women's health, Melinda Staten of Louisville is an advanced registered nurse practitioner, not a doctor. And she doesn't want to be one. But the Kentucky Medical Association claims otherwise. It's fighting proposed legislation that would lift some limits on the ability of nurse practitioners to prescribe medication and perform other, mostly routine tasks such as signing a child's immunization certificate or certifying the need for employee sick leave.
http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20100303/NEWS0101/3030408/1008/NEWS01/Nurse+practitioners+push+for+fewer+limits

March 3, 2010  
Philadelphia Inquirer
Penn hospital sued over failure to admit patient
The Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania was sued in federal court yesterday for allegedly refusing to accept a patient because he lacked health insurance.  The lawsuit on behalf of Marcus Murray, 56, and his wife, Jean, claims that Penn initially said it would accept a transfer of the man from Underwood Memorial Hospital in Gloucester County. Murray needed emergency surgery to treat a tear in a major artery.
http://www.philly.com/inquirer/business/20100303_Penn_hospital_sued_over_failure_to_admit_patient.html

March 2, 2010 
BALTIMORE CITY PAPER
A Pattern of Failure
On March 3 and March 4, lawmakers and advocates for children’s welfare will go before the General Assembly to testify on a bill to strengthen the child-neglect laws in Maryland.  Proponents of the law, which include the Maryland State’s Attorneys Association, the  Maryland Emergency Nurses, and the Maryland Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, say that Maryland is the only state in the nation without a specific child-neglect law on the books.
http://www.citypaper.com/story.asp?id=19857

March 1, 2010 
HealthLeaders Media
ED Shooting Shows Why Confronting Hospital Violence Must Be A Priority
The Feb. 15 early morning shooting inside the emergency department of Scotland Memorial Hospital in Laurinburg, NC, provides an unwelcomed, frightening, and extreme example of the violence that healthcare professionals too often confront.
http://www.healthleadersmedia.com/content/HR-247246/ED-Shooting-Shows-Why-Confronting-Hospital-Violence-Must-Be-A-Priority

March 1, 2010 
Nurse.com
Top Issues Transform ED Nursing

Responding to trauma and disaster is the heart and soul of emergency nursing for many ED nurses. However, other top issues of the day, such as possible healthcare reform, patient safety, access to care and healthcare cost containment, go hand-in-glove with saving lives.
http://urgentmatters.org/e-newsletter/current_issue/perspectives_7.1?preview=1&psid=1&ph=143bhttp://news.nurse.com/article/20100301/NATIONAL01/103010001/-1/frontpage

February 26, 2010 
TCPalm.com - Stuart, Florida
Medical ethicist: Martin Memorial needs to be more open about emergency room photos
A nationally known medical ethicist said Friday that Martin Memorial Health System officials need to be more open about how they handled an investigation into photographs taken of a shark attack victim in the Martin Memorial Medical Center Emergency Department.
http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2010/feb/26/medical-ethicist-martin-memorial-needs-to-be/

February 25, 2010 
KMGH -- Denver
Violence Concerns Colorado Hospital Administrators
The Colorado Hospital Association wants to increase the punishment for harming an emergency worker, like a doctor, nurse or paramedic. The organization has been making an appeal to local lawmakers.
http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/22677321/detail.html

February 25, 2010 
Urgent Matters E-Newsletter
Silent No More: Ending Violence Against Nurses in the Emergency Department

The kick came suddenly and without warning. Late one evening in the emergency department (ED) of a large, level I trauma hospital in Dallas, my best friend, and fellow nurse, was alone with a recently arrived psychiatric patient when she felt the blow. Like a wrecking ball to the gut, the force of the patient’s foot sent her flying across the room and into a wall.
http://urgentmatters.org/e-newsletter/current_issue/perspectives_7.1?preview=1&psid=1&ph=143b

February 25, 2010 
Urgent Matters E-Newsletter
An Underutilized Resource: Nurse Practitioners in the ED
The reality of today’s health care delivery system is that an increasing amount of care administered in the nation’s emergency departments (ED) is not urgent or emergent. More and more, ED patient populations are comprised of individuals who are presenting with conditions that don’t require the expertise of physicians.
http://urgentmatters.org/e-newsletter/current_issue/innovations_7.1?preview=1&psid=1&ph=143b

February 25, 2010 
Des Moines Register
Waukee nurse finds tough, grateful patients in Haiti
Brenda McGraw has been a part of disaster medical teams before, but when she was told last month that she was going to Haiti to help earthquake victims, she knew the trip would be different from any other.
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20100225/NEWS/2250311/1001/NEWS/Waukee-nurse-finds-tough-grateful-patients-in-Haiti

February 25, 2010 
Green Bay Press Gazette
Nurse delivers dose of reality on risky driving
Lisa Koehler visits teenagers in their driver's education classes with the hope that she will never see them again.
http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/article/20100225/GPG0101/2250621/1207/GPG01

February 24, 2010 
DeWitt Era-Enterprise - AR
Hospital starts charging for trips to the ER
 
Like so many other hospitals in the country, DeWitt Hospital has a mounting problem with bad debt. A new policy is meant to try to address one cause of this bad debt by imposing a $50 fee on all emergency room visits.
http://www.dewitt-ee.com/articles/2010/02/24/news/doc4b85684dc45eb989200522.txtWND

February 24, 2010 
HealthLeaders Media
Hospital Leaders Give Strategies to Remove ED Bottlenecks
Appointing emergency room "czars" to manage hospital beds, placing patients in recliners if they don't need an ED bed, and contracting with whole physician groups to take responsibility for ED calls are three strategies that can help hospitals remove bottlenecks that waste acute care resources.
http://www.healthleadersmedia.com/content/LED-247042/Hospital-Leaders-Give-Strategies-to-Remove-ED-Bottlenecks##

February 23, 2010 
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
Nurses often assaulted at work
Many nurses are assaulted by the very patients they're trying to help. Workplace violence is one of many issues more than 400 nurses and nursing students will talk about with lawmakers Wednesday at the Statehouse.
http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2010/02/23/nurses-often-assaulted-at-work.html?sid=101

February 22, 2010 
9NEWS -- Denver, CO
Armed man arrested inside hospital ER
A former nurse armed with two handguns went into a hospital's emergency room asking for treatment Monday morning before being taken into custody.
http://www.9news.com/news/article.aspx?storyid=133223&catid=339

February 22, 2010 
Kaiser Health News
Doctor Shortage Fuels Nurses’ Push For Expanded Role
There are no doctors in rural Tyrrell County, N.C. There is only Irene Cavall, a licensed nurse practitioner and the sole source of primary care for 4,000 residents spread out over 600 square miles.
http://www.kaiserhealthnews.org/Stories/2010/February/22/nurse-practitioners.aspx

February 19, 2010 
Longview Daily News
St. John nurse gets hard look at devastation in Haiti
When Matt Luce arrived in Haiti two weeks ago, he thought he'd be treating people with wounds from the devastating earthquake. That was not the case.
http://www.tdn.com/news/local/article_b98ca58a-1dcc-11df-acb7-001cc4c002e0.html

February 18, 2010 
The Lake Oswego Review
Keep the message going’
Lake Oswego’s Anne Blaufus, a nurse, is back home following a chaotic and sobering trip to help earthquake victims in Haiti.  Anne Blaufus says the recent catastrophe in Haiti is “by far the worst” human disaster she has ever seen.
http://www.lakeoswegoreview.com/news/story.php?story_id=126644794209079900

February 18, 2010 
New York Times
7 Secrets of the Emergency Room
What’s the worst thing you can say to the nurse in an emergency room?  This and other questions are answered in an informal survey of doctors, nurses and paramedics, who offer their own insights into the inner workings of hospital emergency rooms.
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/02/18/7-secrets-of-the-emergency-room/

February 18, 2010 
Healthcare Technology Online
McKesson And Emergency Nurses Association Unveil ED Benchmarks Collaborative
With the increasing demand for emergency department (ED) services amidst decreasing availability of inpatient beds, crowding has become an issue for EDs across the nation. Coupled with limited access to timely, evidence-based benchmarks supported by national-level data, hospitals are finding it increasingly difficult to provide optimal care for their ED patients.
http://www.healthcaretechnologyonline.com/article.mvc/McKesson-And-Emergency-Nurses-Association-0001?VNETCOOKIE=NO

February 17, 2010 
Florida Times-Union
March planned to support nurse-to-patient ratios
A state lawmaker from Northeast Florida said Tuesday he plans to back a bill that aims to cap the number of hospital patients under a nurse’s care at any one time.
http://jacksonville.com/business/2010-02-17/story/march_planned_to_support_nurse_to_patient_ratiosWN

February 15, 2010 
Newswise (press release)
Wake Forest Baptist Graduates First ED Academy Class
Two years ago when the Emergency Department at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center had 25 open nursing positions and no applicants, officials knew something had to be done.  Thus, the ED Academy was born.
http://www.newswise.com/articles/wake-forest-baptist-graduates-first-ed-academy-class

February 15, 2010 
DOTmed.com
NIMH Funding Study to Identify, Reduce Suicide in ER Patients
The National Institute of Mental Health is funding a grant to increase suicide detection and prevention in emergency room patients who present suicide risk factors. The NIMH says the study will begin in June 2010, in eight different sites in the nation, and should enroll around 1,420 participants over five years.
http://www.dotmed.com/news/story/11410/

February 14, 2010 
Winston-Salem Journal
Forsyth ER studies handling of mental patients
Determining the most effective way of handling a mentally ill patient in the emergency room has vexed law-enforcement, health-care and mental-health officials for years.  A pilot program at Forsyth Medical Center is showing promise for resolving one of the biggest obstacles -- determining how long a law-enforcement officer is needed to guard a patient.
http://www2.journalnow.com/content/2010/feb/14/forsyth-er-studies-handling-of-mental-patients/

February 11, 2010 
New York Times
When the Nurse Is a Bully
It was the end of my shift, and I listened as one of my co-workers was being hassled over the phone for the second time that day. The computer wouldn’t release a patient record, and a nurse in another department was blaming her. “Why are nurses so mean to each other?” I blurted out. “Well yeah,” my co-worker said, “It’s that whole ‘Nurses eat their young’ thing.”
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/02/11/when-the-nurse-is-a-bully/

February 11, 2010 
The Los Angeles Times
Texas jury acquits nurse who filed anonymous complaint to state board about doctor's practices
A Texas jury acquitted a nurse on Thursday who filed an anonymous complaint to a state board about a doctor who she said had improperly encouraged patients to buy herbal medicines and wanted to use hospital supplies to perform a procedure at a patient's home.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/wire/sns-ap-us-texas-nurse-acquitted,0,1220344.story

February 10, 2010 
NurseZone.com
Nursing Research: Exploring the 'Caring Science,’ Improving Practice
From pediatrics to geriatrics, nursing researchers explore some of the most important issues affecting our health. Their findings may lead to major changes in clinical practice, elevating patient care at the bedside and beyond.
http://www.nursezone.com/Nursing-News-Events/more-news/Nursing-Research-Exploring-the-Caring-Science%E2%80%99-Improving-Practice_33434.aspx

February 10, 2010 
Nurse.com
States Consider Merits Of Mandated Staffing Ratios
Data from the first two years after ratios were enacted so far show no improvement in certain nursing-related outcomes in California hospitals. Though some studies show ratios have increased the number of nurses in the state’s hospitals, improved the skills mix, and may have contributed to greater nurse satisfaction, the jury still is out on whether ratios actually improve patient care, researchers say.
http://news.nurse.com/article/20100210/NATIONAL02/102080086/-1/frontpage

February 10, 2010 
The Wichita Eagle  
Seat belt law aims to save lives, money
Allowing law enforcement officers to pull over drivers for not wearing seat belts would save lives and money, supporters of a primary seat belt proposal said Tuesday.
http://www.kansas.com/news/legislature/story/1174231.html

February 10, 2010 
HealthLeaders Media
Joint Commission Issues Interim Staffing Effectiveness Standards
Originally introduced by The Joint Commission in July 2002, staffing effectiveness is the appropriate level of nurse staffing that will provide for the best possible outcome of individual patients throughout a particular facility.  When first introduced, hospitals were required to track two human resource indicators and two patient outcome indicators, track data, and determine the variation in performance caused by the number, skill mix, or competency of staff.
http://www.healthleadersmedia.com/page-2/HR-246346/Joint-Commission-Issues-Interim-Staffing-Effectiveness-Standards

February 10, 2010 
CBS 7 News
Day 3: Winkler Co. Nurse Trial 2/10/10
Day three in the trial of a former Winkler County Memorial Hospital nurse included more revealing testimony from key figures in the case.  From Judge Rex warning the audience once again, to testimony from the Sheriff, the hospital administrator and nurses inside the hospital, day three of the trial saw heated direct and cross examinations of seven witnesses with the prosecution and defense getting to the heart of the issue.
http://www.cbs7kosa.com/news/details.asp?ID=17861

February 10, 2010 
The New York Times
Medical Justice, West Texas-Style
A nurse is on trial in a West Texas criminal court after she submitted an unsigned complaint to a state medical board expressing concern about the quality of care provided by a doctor in the county hospital where she worked. The nurse, Anne Mitchell, has been accused of “misuse of official information,” a third-degree felony in Texas, which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $10,000 fine.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/10/opinion/10wed3.html

February 9, 2010 
The New York Times
Bills Stalled, Hospitals Fear Rising Unpaid Care
President Obama says he aims to keep trying. But what happens if the health care legislation cannot be revived, and tens of millions of uninsured Americans continue without coverage?
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/09/health/policy/09hospital.html?pagewanted=2

February 8, 2010 
Salt Lake Tribune
Utah House panel favors bill relaxing child safety seat law
Child safety concerns and states' rights collided Monday in the Legislature over Rep. Chris Herrod's proposal to relax requirements for some children to be strapped into child safety seats.
http://www.sltrib.com/News/ci_14359710

February 8, 2010 
HealthLeaders Media
Can Nurses Drive Health Reform?
Upon release last month of a Gallup Survey of opinion leaders about nursing leadership, Risa Lavizzo Mourey, MD, president and CEO of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), said the organization commissioned the survey because of the importance related to "expanding the leadership of nurses and tapping into all the wisdom and expertise that nurses have [which] is critical to healthcare reform and the healthcare system."
http://www.healthleadersmedia.com/page-2/NRS-246169/Can-Nurses-Drive-Health-Reform

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