Is the Nursing Shortage Over?

Last week Virginia’s Healthcare Workforce Data Center presented a snapshot of the state’s nursing workforce and reported, “The current state of the economy is leading many nurses to remain in the workforce longer than anticipated. If they delay retirement by as few as two years, Virginia is more likely to meet 2013 – 2015 demand for licensed nurses.” However, let’s not be lulled into thinking... 

Tags: Carnegie Foundation, Nursing Shortage, Virginia, workforce

During Tough Economic Times Parents Find Ways to Focus on Child Health

As both the election buzz and economic worries grow, parents and schools still concentrate on their number one priority: the healthy, positive development of their children. To recognize their outstanding (and pretty creative) efforts, National PTA is awarding 22 local PTA schools with grants of up to $1,000 in honor of PTA Healthy Lifestyles Month, November. These PTAs are receiving cash awards to... 

Tags: Afton, Alabama, Alaska, Alpine, Alpine Elementary School, Anchorage, Bakersfield, Bellflower, Binghamton, Blanchard Elementary School, Buffalo, Butler Creek Elementary School, California, Department of Defense, District of Columbia, Elementary School, Ernie Pyle, Ernie Pyle Elementary School, Europe, food, Fortson, Georgia, Glenwood Elementary School, Gold River Discovery Center, Gresham, healthy food, Homer, Huffman Elementary School, Jan Harp Domene

HealthMarkets’ Subsidiary Introduces New Suite of Dental Insurance Products for Individuals of All Ages

HealthMarkets, Inc. (http://www.healthmarkets.com) announced today that its subsidiary, The MEGA Life and Health Insurance Company, has introduced a new suite of dental insurance products for individuals of all ages in 26 states. HealthMarkets, through its insurance subsidiaries, is a provider of health insurance products for the self-employed, individuals and families and small businesses. “Good... 

Tags: A.M. Best Company, Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, association group, Colorado, Connecticut, dental insurance products, District of Columbia, DLJ Merchant Banking Partners, Georgia, Goldman Sachs Capital Partners, Health Insurance Company, HealthMarkets Inc., Idaho, Indiana, insurance industry, insurance products, insurance subsidiaries, Iowa, Kansas, licensed insurance subsidiaries, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Mexico

Nursing shortage make hospital improve working condition

Nurse Jennifer Dimmick helped her 71-year-old patient, George Mulligan, struggle from a chair to his feet for his daily walk around the corridor outside his hospital room. In the days after Mulligan’s aortic valve replacement surgery, Dimmick was preparing him to care for himself after his discharge, showing him ways to lift himself while protecting his incision and playing videotapes about dressing... 

Tags: American Nurses Credentialing Center, bed sores, Cambridge, Connecticut, Connecticut Health Center, dry cleaning, Ellen Leone, George Mulligan, Hospital of St. Raphael, incision, Inova Fairfax Hospital, Institute for Healthcare Improvement, Institute of Healthcare Improvement, Jennifer Dimmick, Linda H. Aiken, Mary Kuncas, Massachusetts, movie tickets, Nursing job, Pat Rutherford, patient services, Pennsylvania, Peter I. Buerhaus, pharmaceutical and diagnostic costs, pneumonia, replacement surgery, St. Raphael, the Bahamas, the University of Pennsylvania

World Medical Association General Assembly

Delegates from more than 40 national medical associations attended the annual General Assembly of the World Medical Association in Seoul, South Korea, from 15 to 18 October. They discussed a number of issues, including the following: ANTIBIOTICS A new Statement was approved stating that antibiotics (Antimicrobial agents) should be available only through a prescription provided by licensed and qualified... 

Tags: Afghanistan, Albania, Angola, antibiotics, Canada, cardiovascular diseases, Cote d'Ivoire, Cyprus, Dana Hanson, food products, General Assembly, George Mason University in Virginia, hypertension, Mali, Management Change, mercury-containing products, New Brunswick, Poland, Senegal, Seoul, South Korea, Ukraine, Virginia, World Medical Association

PHC to Sell Pivotal Research Centers for $4.5 Million Net Cash Proceeds

PHC, Inc. d.b.a. Pioneer Behavioral Health, a leading provider of inpatient and outpatient behavioral health services, has signed a letter of intent from a major clinical research organization for the purchase of Pioneer’s Pivotal Research Centers. The proposed terms comprise $3.75 million in cash paid to Pioneer at closing, plus proceeds from receivables estimated at $1.0 million. The net cash... 

Tags: Acquisition, behavioral health services, Bruce A. Shear, Conference Call, Detroit, FDA, healthcare, incident services, insurance, Las Vegas, Michigan, Nevada, outpatient behavioral health services, PHC Inc., Pioneer Behavioral Health, Salt Lake City, telephonic-based referral services, Utah, Virginia

Daily News: VA Expands Nursing Education Program

New partnerships between the Department of Veterans Affairs and “seven of the country’s finest nursing schools” will ensure “world-class healthcare for veterans,” according to a release from the VA. The five-year, $40 million VA Nursing Academy expands opportunities for nursing students at VA facilities, adds faculty at the schools to enroll more baccalaureate students... 

Tags: Connecticut, Department Of Veterans Affairs, Fairfield University, Florida, Gainesville, healthcare, Loyola University of Chicago, Medical University of South Carolina, Michigan, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Rhode Island College, Saginaw Valley State University in Michigan, Salt Lake City, San Diego State University, South Carolina, TAMPA, University of Detroit Mercy, University of Florida, University of Oklahoma, University of South Florida, University of Utah, Utah, VA Nursing Academy, Virginia, West Haven

The union representing registered nurses at the VA Medical Center

The union representing registered nurses at the VA Medical Center is planning to picket outside the Fort Hill Avenue facility later this month. They will protest what they say are unfair working conditions for the approximately 100 RNs who work there. At issue is mandatory overtime, methods of scheduling evening and overnight shifts, and the way nurses receive bonuses. In addition, some nurses with... 

Tags: Allen Chopik, American Federation of Government Employees, Canandaigua VA, Cheryl Vogel, Colleen Combs, Congress, Dan Ryan, federal law, Fort Hill Avenue facility, Medical Center, patient-nursing services, Patricia Lind, Registered Nurses, Rochester, Rochester General Hospital, shortage of nurses, VA medical center, Virginia

School of Nursing Dedicates New Nursing Education Building

Several hundred people filled the patio and spilled down the steps outside McLeod Hall Friday morning to celebrate the dedication of the University of Virginia School of Nursing’s new Claude Moore Nursing Education Building. Even the weather seemed to be in the spirit of the occasion, offering glorious skies and no hint of the forecasted arrival of Tropical Storm Hanna. The event had the atmosphere... 

Tags: Bowie Gridley Architects, California, Center for Nursing Historical Inquiry, Center for the Study of Complementary and Alternative T, Claude Moore, Claude Moore Charitable Foundation, Claude Moore Nursing, Claude Moore Professorship, Clinical Simulation Learning Center, DC, Dean Dorrie Fontaine, Dirtworks, Education Building, Health Foundation, Investment, James C. Roberts, Jeanette Lancaster, John T. Casteen III, Leigh B. Middleditch Jr., Martin Horn Inc., McLeod Hall, Medical School, Nursing Advisory Board, Nursing School, Rural Health Care Research Center, San Francisco, School of Medicine, self-care, SIMULATION

Registered nurse retired from registered nurse

Leah G. Kelly, a retired registered nurse in the Navy whose career spanned World War II to the 1960s, died of leukemia Sept. 1 at Charlestown Retirement Community. She was 90. Leah Grace Kelly was born in Federalsburg on the Eastern Shore and was raised in Virginia and in Cowentown, Cecil County. She was a 1936 graduate of Kenwood High School and earned a degree from the St. Joseph Hospital School... 

Tags: Bainbridge Naval Training Center, California, Cecil County, Charleston, Charlestown, Charlestown Benevolent Association, Cowentown, Eastern Shore, Japan, Kenwood High School, Leah G. Kelly, Leah Grace Kelly, Navy, Newport, Oakland, Olympics, Parkville, Protestant Episcopal Church, Retired Military Officers Association, South Carolina, St. Joseph Hospital School of Nursing, the Philippines, Tufts University, Virginia