Elsevier, the leading global publisher of scientific, technical and medical information products and services, is pleased to announce that the AORN Journal, the official journal of the Association of periOperative Registered Nurses (AORN), has expanded its editorial content and redesigned the layout of its print format. These changes reflect AORN’s commitment to their mission and [...]

As president of the G-8 in 2010, Canada will champion a major initiative to improve the health of women and children in the world’s poorest regions,Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper writes in a Toronto Star editorial. Canada will lay out its plans as president of the G-8 and host of June’s G-20 summit when global leaders meet this week at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Harper says.

According to Harper, “The world’s poor have been hit hardest by the global economic downturn, and in these difficult times we must address their pressing needs.” He continues, “Each year, it is estimated that 500,000 women lose their lives during pregnancy or childbirth,” adding that “an astonishing nine million children die before their fifth birthday.” Harper writes, “This is simply not acceptable.” The United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals called for reducing the number of pregnancy-related deaths by 75% by 2015, according to Harper. “It now appears this target will go unfulfilled,” he says, adding, “What makes it worse is that the bulk of deaths during pregnancy — experts claim as many as 80% — are easily preventable.”

The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners has joined the ACT Division of General Practice ( ACTDGP), the Australian Medical Association (AMA) and the Pharmacy Guild in opposing the establishment of stand alone nurse practitioners working from pharmacies in the ACT.

The organisations are calling on the ACT Assembly to put the ACT Health Chief Executive’s approval of five stand alone nurse practitioners positions on hold until the community is assured that such positions will do no harm.

RACGP NSW and ACT Faculty Chair Dr Elizabeth Marles said it was concerning that there has been no consultation with the general practice community or the GPs in the local area prior to these positions being approved.

Dallas businessman Mike Roberts flew to Haiti on his company jet Monday with two doctors, a nurse and a load of medical supplies. His aim was to help in any way he could.
One of his first tasks was to comfort a dying boy.

“I have seen 3 people die in my first 5 hours. One was just a boy – he slowly died of respiratory failure. As he gasped for air he rarely took his eyes off me,” Roberts said in an e-mail message Tuesday evening.

More than 1,500 registered nurses from across the U.S. have responded in less than one day to the call by the nation’s largest organization of registered nurses for volunteers to provide assistance to residents of earthquake devastated Haiti -leading the RNs to now issue an urgent appeal for the public to support these efforts with donations of funds to support travel costs and medical supplies on their upcoming emergency nursing mission.

More than 700 registered nurses from across the U.S. have responded in just a few hours to the call by the nation’s largest organization of registered nurses for volunteers to provide assistance to residents of earthquake-devastated Haiti – and the RNs are now issuing an urgent appeal for the public to support these efforts with donations of funds to support travel costs and medical supplies on their upcoming emergency nursing mission.

The promise of the future has arrived, said Karen Higgins, an RN from Massachusetts, and one of three newly elected presidents of the NNU, “with all the unlimited potential, creativity, vision, and power represented” by the delegates in the room, and the 150,000 members of the founding organizations.

NNU unites three of the most active, progressive organizations in the U.S.-and the major voices of unionized nurses-in the California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee, United American Nurses, and Massachusetts Nurses Association.

Responding to the publication of NHS 2010-2015: From Good to Great, Janet Davies, Executive Director of Nursing at the Royal College of Nursing, said:
“There is much to welcome in today’s announcement on the future plans for the NHS. In today’s tough economic climate, it is absolutely right that we target resources at the frontline. We know that demand for healthcare is increasing and that is why we cannot afford to cut nursing numbers to meet efficiency savings. The need for people-centred, quality care depends upon the current and future supply of skilled healthcare workers.

The NMC is responsible for the quality assurance of nursing and midwifery education and for ensuring that supervisors of midwives and the local supervising authority are meeting requirements. We need reassuring that Basildon and Thurrock University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is providing a quality learning environment for nursing and midwifery students and a safe clinical environment for patients and the public

Firms that supply temporary nurses to the nation’s hospitals are taking perilous shortcuts in their screening and supervision, sometimes putting seriously ill patients in the hands of incompetent or impaired caregivers,” ProPublica and The Los Angeles Times report. “Emboldened by a chronic nursing shortage and scant regulation, the firms vie for their share of a free-wheeling, $4-billion industry. Some have become havens for nurses who hopscotch from place to place to avoid the consequences of their misconduct.