We all know about it: there is a shortage of experienced nurses across the United States. The nursing shortage is real, as the demand for nurses continues to exceed the supply. It affects everyone, but the nursing shortage is felt particularly acutely in states such as Florida, Georgia, Texas, Virginia, Arizona, California, and Hawaii. There is one group […]
Nurses, like everyone else, are subject to health problems. In fact, they may be more prone to health problems, given their long hours, shift work, odd eating patterns and high stress levels. According to an article from Nurse.com, many healthcare institutions are searching for ways to improve the health of their employees, not just because […]
Higher nurse workloads due to inadequate staffing have a direct impact on patient outcomes after surgery, a new study has found. The large-scale study from the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing showed that higher nurse workloads negatively impacted all patients, but interestingly, older black patients were three times more likely than older white patients […]
California has a strict nurse-to-patient ratio law, but since there haven’t really been any penalties for failing to adhere to it, the law has been hard to enforce. A measure to give the department of public health more authority to crack down on hospitals that don’t obey the law has been vetoed by Governor Jerry […]
Consider the following scenario: It is a typical busy morning on the ward. The unit is full to capacity. One of the nurses called in sick prior to the beginning of the shift, and thus far no replacement has been found. The other nurses have had to pick up the slack, increasing their patient load […]
The role of the case manager in home care is taking on greater importance and urgency, according to this article on Nurse.com. The Affordable Care Act is a big part of why, as it requires a greater level of coordination with its measures to control costs, improve transitions to home care, and prevent readmissions. For […]
Are nurses at the manager level barriers to the implementation of nursing care based on best practice? A survey published in the Journal of Nursing Administration seems to suggest so. The survey, which was answered by 1,015 American Nurses Association members, found that there many barriers to the implementation of evidence-based practice are still present. […]
There has been more and more emphasis on increased education for nurses. It’s becoming increasingly common for employers to require that nurses go back to school to receive more education. Nurses are also calling for their peers to gain more education as a way to make their voices heard. The MSN degree — a master’s […]
More than 120,000 nurses now work outside the profession, according to Florida Today. While this might seem like a problem, especially against the background of the nursing shortage, nurses in Florida don’t see it that way. The expansion of the field beyond bedpans and blood pressure checks allows RNs to utilize their knowledge and experience […]
When nurses are happier and healthier, their patients have better medical outcomes. So it makes sense that the opposite is true as well — that unhappy, burned-out nurses have patients who are at higher risk for health-care associated infection rates. Burned-out nurses thus can cost hospitals millions of dollars annually. A recent study summarized by […]
