SACRAMENTO — An effort to ease a shortage of primary-care doctors in some California communities by letting nurse practitioners operate more independently has flat-lined in the Legislature after a fierce lobbying battle. A bill by Sen. Ed Hernandez (D-West Covina) would have allowed nurse practitioners, who have more training than registered nurses, to practice without the direct supervision of a physician. The proposal failed in a committee Friday, under fire from the California Medical Assn., the powerful lobbying arm for the state's physicians. The organization teamed with some specialists and labor unions to mobilize lobbyists, engage doctors across the state and even dedicate Twitter accounts as it waged its campaign against the bill.
Anyone who has been in the work world for a while knows that now and then, tempers flare and civility suffers. But what if you were subjected to nastiness - insults, yelling, cursing, condescension, humiliating jokes, the cold shoulder - on a constant basis? Assessing the frequency and impact of verbal abuse in nurses' workplaces was one of the aims of the RN Work Project, a 10-year, multistate study of registered nurses' work life, funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation in Princeton. The study was launched in 2006 to better understand and avert nursing shortages, a periodic problem that reflects not only supply and demand, but also social, economic, and technological trends.
Those wanting to enter the thriving field of nursing have a range of options when it comes to acquiring the education, training and licensing required. Those hoping to become registered nurses typically take one of three paths, they earn a bachelor's of science degree in nursing, an associate degree in nursing or earn a diploma from an approved nursing program, in addition to acquiring the necessary licensing. Many nursing students opt to attend local two-year schools, such as Houston's San Jacinto College, to earn their associate degree in nursing. San Jacinto's degree program, which can be a three-, four- or five-semester program of study, includes classroom; laboratory work; and clinical training involving simulation labs using low- and high-fidelity manikins, and external clinical settings.
SAN FRANCISCO — California schools may give students insulin injections and other medications without having to call in licensed nurses, the state's highest court ruled Monday. "California law expressly permits trained, unlicensed school personnel to administer prescription medications such as insulin in accordance with the written statements of a student's treating physician and parents," Justice Kathryn Mickle Werdegar wrote for the California Supreme Court. The unanimous decision was a defeat for the powerful California Nurses Assn., which had argued that only licensed healthcare workers could administer medicine under a state law that bars the unauthorized practice of nursing.
The union representing thousands of nurses in Worcester is pushing a ballot initiative to mandate staffing levels at Massachusetts hospitals. The Massachusetts Nurses Association, which is affiliated with nurses at UMass Memorial Medical Center and St. Vincent Hospital, has long pushed for limits on the number of patients assigned to nurses during a shift. Staffing levels were at the heart of a contract dispute between UMass Memorial and its nurses this spring. Nurses at the hospital's University Campus nearly went on strike before coming to a last-minute deal that included higher staffing levels in exchange for lower pay raises.
Legislative leaders authorized the Kansas Board of Nursing to hire two additional investigators Monday, staff the board says is vital to handle the burgeoning number of nurses and complaints. Mary Blubaugh, the board's executive director, told the State Finance Council that the board has operated with five investigators since 2007. About 12,600 nurses have been added statewide since then, for a total of just more than 64,000. The five investigators have seen their caseloads grow from a manageable 240 to an unwieldy 455. "We just can't stay on top of the number of cases we're receiving," Blubaugh said.