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March 15, 2010
Fort Worth Business Press
Nursing residency programs aim to teach, retain workers
Nursing is a profession that requires a formal education as well as experience to really do well. Locally, health systems have found unexpected benefits to starting formalized residency programs, like the new nurses spreading knowledge from different units into other units, as at Texas Health Fort Worth.
http://www.fwbusinesspress.com/display.php?id=12151

March 15, 2010
7thSpace Interactive (press release)
Nonurgent patients in the emergency department? A French formula to prevent misuse
Overcrowding in emergency department (EDs) is partly due to the use of EDs by nonurgent patients. In France, the authorities responded to the problem by creating primary care units (PCUs): alternative structures located near hospitals.
http://www.fwbusinesspress.com/display.php?id=12151

March 15, 2010
Washington Post
Project to get transplant organs from ER patients raises ethics questions
In the hope of expanding a controversial form of organ donation into emergency rooms around the United States, a federally funded project has begun trying to obtain kidneys, livers and possibly other body parts from car-accident victims, heart-attack fatalities and other urgent-care patients.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/14/AR2010031402906.html?hpid=topnews

March 13, 2010
Minneapolis Star Tribune
Reinventing care for poor means relying less on ER
Even before getting legislative approval, hospitals are rushing to create a new health system for the poor.
http://www.startribune.com/politics/state/87598852.html?page=2&c=y

March 12, 2010
University of Michigan Press Release
Some older ER patients are getting the wrong medicines, U-M study finds
A University of Michigan study recently published in Academic Emergency Medicine says that it is common for patients 65 and older to receive potentially inappropriate medications when treated in an emergency room.
http://www2.med.umich.edu/prmc/media/newsroom/details.cfm?ID=1520

March 12, 2010
KTNV - Las Vegas
Man says he waited in UMC emergency room for 10 hours
59 year old Milton Thompson is diabetic. He's had nine prostate surgeries and on Monday, he began bleeding profusely from catheters in his stomach and genitals.
http://www.ktnv.com/Global/story.asp?S=12127407

March 10, 2010
BALTIMORE CITY PAPER
Child-welfare advocates and prosecutors weigh in on a bill that would make child neglect a felony in Maryland
Lisae Jordan can tell stories about child abuse and neglect that would make most people's stomachs churn. Children tied to chairs by parents and not allowed to get up to go to the bathroom, so they're forced to urinate on themselves. Kids locked in closets during the day, or locked out of their homes altogether by their parents, with no place to go.
http://www.citypaper.com/news/story.asp?id=19908

March 8, 2010
WRAL - Wilson, NC
Wilson hospital's Medicare certification in danger after fight
A fight in the emergency room waiting room could cost Wilson Medical Center its Medicare certification. The state Division of Health Services is evaluating the hospital’s operations after the Feb. 18 fight.
http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/7189696/

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

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