Taking its cue from the Institute of Medicine's landmark Future of Nursing report, UnitedHealth will pay for 30 registered nurses to get their master's degrees and learn how to be educators themselves.
Patient deaths at VA hospitals in Denver and New York City, as well as an overall indictment of nurse competency and processes at Veterans Health Administration facilities in general, are reminders of the critical need for not only training—but retraining—nurses.
As industries go, the public's view of healthcare ranks it near the bottom. Nurses, however, are held in high regard for their perceived honesty and ethical standards.
Emergency department nurses get kicked, slapped, pushed, spit on, and yelled at every day. They need crisis prevention training and supportive leaders to stay safe from violence.
Concerned that patient safety initiatives are eclipsing concerns over workforce safety, a nursing leader is working to spread awareness about needlestick injuries and violence in the workplace.
Nurses see firsthand the amount of waste and use of environmentally unfriendly chemicals in their hospitals. It's no surprise then that nurse leaders are key to creating a culture of sustainability.
While the Missouri State Medical Association compares nurse practioners seeking legislative relief to "12-year-olds at a Justin Bieber concert," a senior nurse leader sticks to the data.
The nursing shortage is over, for now, but nurse leaders should not stop striving to improve the work environment, to retain their nurses, and to prepare for the next workforce shortage.
A Georgia hospital finds a cost-effective staffing solution in a self-scheduling system for nurses. Its key selling points are autonomy for nurses and an end to incentive pay and agency hires for the hospital.
A study finds that half of nurses experience blood exposure on their skin, eyes, nose, or mouth at least monthly when inserting peripheral IV catheters. And most go unreported.
