Nursefriendly.com (homepage) Add URL Contact Us (Ask a Nurse) Linking Policy Top Nursing Topics: A to Z Nursing Topics About Nursing: Certified Nursing Assistants, CNAs Disabled Nurses Impaired Nurses LPNs, LVNs Registered Nurses Advanced Practice Nurses Clinical Nurse Specialists Nurse Practitioners Ask The Nurse Associations (Nursing) Authors (Nursing) Boards of Nursing Burnout (Nursing) Businesses (Nurse-Owned) Brainteasers Care Plans (Nursing) Careers In Nursing Case Studies (Malpractice) CEUs (Nursing) Commonly Used Drugs Chat (Nursing) Clothes (Nursing) Colleges (Nursing) Current Events, Nursing News Degrees in Nursing Discussions (Nursing) Drugs (Commonly Used) Education (Nursing) Employment (Nursing) Entrepreneurs (Nurse) Equipment (Medical) Forensic Nursing Gifts For Nurses Going Shopping Health & Wellness Health Insurance Healthcare Unions, Nursing Unions, Organized Labor History of Nursing Hospitals, Medical Centers Informatics Nurses Intravenous (IV) & Infusion Therapy Jobs in Nursing Jokes (Nursing) Journals (Nursing) Long Term Care, Nursing Homes Male Nurses Malpractice Cases Medical Centers, Hospitals Medical Equipment Medical Humor, Nursing Jokes Men in Nursing Nurse Training Nurse Entrepreneurs Nursing Associations Nursing Authors Nursing Burnout Nursing Care Plans Nursing Careers Nursing (CEUs) Nursing Boards Nursing Clothes, Scrubs, Uniforms Nursing Colleges, Schools Nursing Degrees Nursing Discussions Nursing Education Nursing Employment Nursing Entrepreneurs Nursing Gifts Nursing Homes, Long Term Care Nursing Informatics Nursing Jobs Nursing Jokes, Medical Humor Nursing Journals Nursing History Nursing Malpractice Cases Nursing News Nursing Pay Nursing Programs Nursing Refresher Courses Nursing Research Nursing Resumes Nursing Salaries Nursing Scholarships Nursing Schools, Colleges Nursing Scrubs, Uniforms Nursing Shoes Nursing Shortage Nursing Stories Nursing Students Nursing Uniforms Nursing Unions, Organized Labor, Healthcare Unions Nursing Wages Paychecks (Nursing) Prescription Drug Indexes Puzzles, Quizzes Refresher Courses Research (Nursing) Resumes (Nursing) Salaries (Nursing) Scholarships (Nursing) Schools of Nursing Scrubs, Nursing Uniforms Shoes (Nursing) Shopping (Going) on the Internet Shortage (Nursing) State Nursing Boards Student (Nursing) Training (Nursing) Traveling Nurses Uniforms, Scrubs, Nursing Unions (Nursing), Organized Labor, Healthcare Unions Wages (Nursing) Work At Home Opportunities

Gifts For Nurses, Search Our Site (Or the Web) Nursing Blog, Chat, Forum, Nursing Career Jobs, Nursing Degrees, Programs, Nursing Homes, NursingMail.com, Nursing Scrubs, Uniforms, Nursing Schools, Colleges, Scholarships (Nursing), Traveling Nurses Nursing Topics, A to Z: Nursing Degrees, LPN-RN, RN-BSN, RN-MSN, Associate, Bachelors, Masters and more! Free Downloads, Games, Software, and more! The Nursing news headlines shown above are provided courtesy of Medical News Today and are subject to the terms and conditions stated on the Medical News Today website. Nursing News from Medical News Today These resources are updated continuously: Nursing News, Allnurses.com:"Nursing News Read the lastest nursing news. You can also post news articles, all news articles will go live after staff has approved your postings. Please always include the source website. No commercial press releases please." Brian Short RN, Founder and CEO allnurses.com 612-816-8773 http://allnurses.com/forums/f195/ ****************************************************** Nursing News, Medical News Today:"The latest nursing news articles published daily. We gather all the latest articles & reports related to nursing and present them to an international audience of health professionals." Head Office from: PO Box 193, Bexhill-on-Sea, East Sussex, TN40 9BA. United Kingdom http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/sections/nursing/ ****************************************************** Nursing News, NurseZone:"Whether you're interested in the latest nursing news in the U.S. or what's happening in your homeland, NurseZone helps you stay in touch. Check out these resources: NurseZone.com NurseZone 12400 High Bluff Drive San Diego, CA 92130 Phone: (877) 585-5010 Fax: (866) 732-4535 E-mail: contact@NurseZone.com http://www.nursezone.com/international/nursingnews.asp ****************************************************** ****************************************************** Topix.net:"Nursing News continually updated from thousands of sources around the net." http://www.topix.net/nursing ****************************************************** Latest Nursing News:"Yahoo! News Search Results for nursing." http://www.travelnursesnow.com/news.php ****************************************************** ****************************************************** Kansas City Nursing News: http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?brd=1441&nr=1&nostat=1 ****************************************************** ****************************************************** May 10, 2007, American Journal of Nursing (AJN), Study finds decline in nursing faculty primary barrier to nursing program expansion:"Study suggests fewer nurses pursuing higher degrees may hamper efforts to address nursing shortage New York, NY (May 10, 2007) – A report published in the May issue of the American Journal of Nursing (AJN), based on the first study to examine educational mobility among nurses, found that nurses in North Carolina are not pursuing advanced degrees in sufficient number to meet the demands for nurses in faculty and advanced practice roles. The sample was comparable in demographic characteristics to the national pool of registered nurses as measured in the last National Nurses Sample Survey." http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2007-05/ajon-sfd051007.php ****************************************************** Florida: February 7, 2007: 2 Nurses Accused Of Withholding Medication At Nursing Home:"Two nurses who worked a Suwannee County nursing facility were arrested Wednesday, accused of several counts of neglect after an investigation found they withheld medication from elderly patients, according to the Florida Attorney General. Ashley Dawn Fralick, 27, and Melissa Elaine Bowen, 30, were both employed at the Good Samaritan Center Nursing Facility located in Dowling Park. "Knowing that elderly patients were denied essential medications is heartbreaking," Attorney General Bill McCollum said in a statement. "These victims rightly deserved and expected care and attention, but instead received neglect and abuse." http://www.news4jax.com/news/10957371/detail.html ****************************************************** Wed, July 5, 2006: Canada: Calgary: Attracting new grads, Salary and quality of life key to recruiting RNs:"Graduating from college is an exciting time, especially if you're a nurse. The nursing job market is wide open for new graduates with health regions across the nation hoping to grab the attention of these valuable, living resources. The Calgary Health Region is the fastest growing health region in Alberta -- reportedly with an annual growth rate of 26,000 people." http://calsun.canoe.ca/News/Alberta/2006/07/05/1669023-sun.html ****************************************************** June 26, 2006: Hawaii, Shortage of educators plagues isle nursing schools:""Without enough RNs, some health care providers (e.g., hospitals, nursing homes and home care agencies) may be forced to limit or discontinue services." Even if they continue to provide services, the center said, having fewer nurses could affect patient safety. The nursing shortage is a global crisis, with Hawaii's plight intensified by a population aging faster than the rest of the nation. While demands for care are increasing, baby boomers -- the bulk of registered nurses and nursing educators -- are retiring." http://starbulletin.com/2006/06/26/news/story02.html ****************************************************** March 20, 2006: Australia: Boom in nursing faces new hurdle:"THE University of Tasmania's nursing degree is soaring in popularity but there are concerns hospitals cannot keep up with the influx of trainees. A record 290 students have enrolled in the first year of the University of Tasmania's Bachelor of Nursing degree this year, which is 70 more than the usual intake. Overall, the degree has 790 enrolled this year compared with 694 last year. The Australian Nursing Federation yesterday welcomed the surge in interest in nursing, but warned it would be difficult to cater for the extra undergraduates needing clinical placements in hospitals." http://www.themercury.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5936,18528915%255E3462,00.html ****************************************************** February 26, 2006: Australia: Police check plan for carers:"AGED care specialists will consider making police checks mandatory for all nursing home workers at an emergency summit in Canberra next month. The meeting of the Aged Care Advisory Committee (ACAC) was called after allegations four women aged in their 90s were sexually abused by a male staff member in a Victorian nursing home last year. Minister for Ageing Santo Santoro said the March 14 summit would look for solutions to allegations of abuse, including whether to introduce mandatory reporting of suspected abuse and protection for whistleblowers." http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,18279122-29277,00.html ****************************************************** February 16, 2006: Kentucky: A need for nurses: Recruiters making push to lure prospects into health care fields:"You know there's a shortage of health care professionals when the president and CEO of a major hospital takes the time to attend a health careers fair. But that's exactly what happened Wednesday when Harry Smith, head of Deaconess Hospital, came to Henderson Community College's annual fair in the campus Fine Arts Center." http://www.courierpress.com/ecp/gleaner_news/article/0,1626,ECP_4476_4470466,00.html ****************************************************** Thursday, February 16, 2006: South Carolina: Good faculty costly to hire:"Two recent Island Packet stories dealt with the acute national, state and local nursing shortage and with the desire to add a bachelor's degree nursing program to the University of South Carolina Beaufort curriculum. In both stories, mention was made of the need for nursing faculty. That need is only going to increase. The median age for nursing faculty is climbing closer to retirement age (I know, since I retired six years ago). Advanced degree registered nurses are more apt to choose areas of clinical practice over teaching positions. Why? As stated in one of the stories, nurses with a master's degree or doctorate "can make upwards of $100,000 in clinical settings." http://www.islandpacket.com/editorial/letters/story/5529075p-4979868c.html ****************************************************** 10/9/2005: Lax enforcement threatens nursing home residents:"How many more preventable deaths will it take before federal and state regulators and Congress crack down on nursing homes that are fire traps? Sixteen patients were killed in a nursing home fire in Hartford, Conn., in February 2003. Fifteen more perished at a Nashville facility seven months later. Neither had the sprinkler and alarm systems required by federal law for newer centers." http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/editorials/2005-10-09-nursing-home-edit_x.htm ****************************************************** October 1, 2005: The National League For Nursing Names 2005-2008 Centers Of Excellence In Nursing Education™ Four Nursing Programs Cited for Extraordinary Accomplishments:"Schools of nursing whose faculty members are doing outstanding work that sets them apart from others have received the prestigious Centers of Excellence designation, it was announced today at the NLN’s 2005 Education Summit. The NLN Centers of Excellence in Nursing Education™ program (COE) calls for schools to apply for a three-year designation based on their sustained demonstration of excellence in faculty development, nursing education research, or student learning and professional development. “The COE program was initiated in 2004 to publicly acknowledge nursing schools that distinguish themselves by outstanding achievement in the promotion of excellence in nursing education” said Dr. Ruth Corcoran, CEO of the National League for Nursing." http://www.emediawire.com/releases/2005/10/emw290263.htm ****************************************************** October 1, 2005: California: Grant to help ease nursing shortage:"A $1.1 million state grant to the College of the Desert should help alleviate the local nursing shortage. The college plans to create services that help more students complete the nursing program in four semesters. Eighteen other community colleges statewide also received grants from a $30 million program aimed at addressing California's shortage of registered nurses. It's a serious problem. The United States already is short almost 150,000 nurses. With retirements in the profession and the growing number of baby boomers who will need increased medical care in their retirement years, the nation soon may be short as many as 600,000 RNs. A four-fold increase in new nurses is needed locally through 2010, according to a report this spring from The Coalition to Address the Bedside Nursing Crisis in the Coachella Valley authored by local doctor Max Harry Weil." http://www.thedesertsun.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051001/OPINION01/510010319/1004 ****************************************************** October 1, 2005: Iowa: Nursing home where alleged rape occurred had no administrator:"An Adair nursing home where a nurse aid allegedly raped an elderly resident has been operating without a licensed administrator for more than a year. A spokesman with the Iowa Department of Inspections and Appeals says state law allows nursing homes to operate for no more than six months without a licensed administrator. An executive with Adair Community Health Center's home company, Gail Sheridan, says the company has been looking for a licensed administrator." http://www.kwqc.com/Global/story.asp?S=3924382&nav=7k7NJ1IJ ****************************************************** Saturday, October 1, 2005: Vermont: Long-closed nursing school still lives for alumni:"Sometimes what disappeared decades ago resonates as strongly as ever. Take the Fanny Allen Hospital School of Nursing, which folded in 1955. Graduates, who on Friday marked the 50th anniversary of the school's closing, say their lives are still greatly shaped by what they learned all those years ago. The most important lesson from the school, graduates unanimously said at the reunion, was how to be kind to people, whether they are patients, family, friends or strangers." http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051001/NEWS02/510010303/1007/NEWS05 ****************************************************** Saturday, October 01, 2005: Canada: Toronto: Four residents dead from respiratory illness outbreak at Toronto nursing home:"Toronto public health officials are investigating the deaths of four people from a "typical respiratory illness" at a senior's residence but say it is not SARS. The four victims were residents at the Seven Oaks Home for the Aged in the city's east end, said Dr. Barbara Yaffe, Toronto Public Health's director of communicable disease control. "We know from the testing that's been done so far that this is not influenza, we know this is not SARS, we know this is not avian influenza," said Dr. Allison McGeer, infectious disease consultant at Toronto's Mount Sinai Hospital." http://www.canada.com/news/national/story.html?id=e37504f1-ec84-44f2-beac-9f9b9040385d ****************************************************** September 30, 2005: Louisiana: Woman Escapes New Orleans Nursing Home To Fla.:"A woman who survived Hurricane Katrina's floodwaters in New Orleans is in Central Florida. Trishka Stevens, 75, escaped a nursing home where 34 other patients drowned. She wound up at Avante Nursing and Rehab Center in Mt. Dora, WESH 2 News reported. She was at St. Rita's nursing home in New Orleans on the day Katrina hit. "All of the sudden, the water was pouring through the air-conditioning unit. It looked like Niagara Falls. It was pouring in so fast," she said." http://www.wesh.com/news/5043774/detail.html ****************************************************** Wednesday, September 21 2005: Stop exodus of nurses, doctors, WHO urges Philippines:"News affecting OFW's. The country will continue to lose its doctors and nurses to higher-paying jobs abroad unless a wide-ranging solution is drawn up soon, a top World Health Organization (WHO) official said Monday. In the next 15 years, the United States will be opening its doors to around one million nurses and this would attract local health professionals, Dr. Jean Marc Olive, WHO country representative in the Philippines, said. Canada and Europe, already a favorite destination for Filipino nurses, are also expected to need "hundreds of thousands" of nurses to fill vacancies in their respective health care systems, Olive said." http://ofw.balita.ph/html/article.php/20050921004055668 ****************************************************** September 19, 2005: Illinois: Area nursing shortage keeps getting worse:"Chicago area hospitals are warning there's no end in sight to a six-year nursing shortage that could endanger patient care. "Imagine calling for a nurse and having no one respond because the staff is busy with other patients," the Metropolitan Chicago Healthcare Council warns in a stark new report. The report noted that studies have documented that inadequate staffing can increase the risk of medical errors." http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-nurse19.html ****************************************************** Sept. 18, 2005: Wisconsin: State facing health care worker shortage:"Wisconsin is facing a severe shortage of health care workers in the coming decades -- to the tune of about 10,000 health care jobs every year for the next 10 years -- state officials report. The report, released Sept. 13 by the state Department of Workforce Development, forecasts Wisconsin's total health care work force to grow 30.3 percent by 2012. The numbers include new jobs created to care for an aging population and to replace the existing work force as it reaches retirement." http://msnbc.msn.com/id/9395733/ ****************************************************** September 16, 2005: Wyoming: WY needs to improve working conditions to recruit nurses:"A survey of Wyoming nurses found that most think improving working conditions would do more to alleviate the current nursing shortage than recruiting would. The survey, presented Thursday on the opening day of Wyoming's second annual Nursing Summit at the University of Wyoming, found 81 percent of nurses surveyed thought improving workplace conditions should be the top priority for addressing the nursing shortage. Recruiting new nurses was a distant third. Wyoming is expected to have only 70 percent of the nurses it needs this year, and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services projects that the state might have only half the nurses it needs by the year 2020." http://www.billingsgazette.com/index.php?id=1&display=rednews/2005/09/16/build/nation/48-nurses.inc ****************************************************** Sept. 15, 2005: Canada, Ontario: Sarnia: Not Enough Nurses:"The Ontario Nurses' Association (ONA) has launched a $2-million public affairs campaign to pressure the provincial government to invest in nurses and repair the crisis in quality patient care. "ONA has launched the 'Not Enough Nurses' campaign because nurses - and most importantly, their patients - know the government has yet to deliver on its campaign promise to hire 8,000 more nurses," said ONA President Linda Haslam-Stroud, RN." http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/September2005/15/c9219.html ****************************************************** Sept. 15, 2005: Canada, Ontario: Fact check: Nursing Initiatives:"The McGuinty Government is working to rebuild the nursing profession in Ontario - a profession which was put under great strain by previous governments. "Nurses are the backbone of our healthcare system," said Liberal MPP Peter Fonseca. "Our nursing strategy is helping nurses by investing in new full time jobs and workplace safety improvements." http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/September2005/15/c0257.html ****************************************************** ****************************************************** Wednesday, August 10, 2005: Australia: Opposition reveals nursing plan:"The NSW Opposition has announced plans to give nursing students more practical experience in hospitals. Under the plan, partnerships will be established with universities. They will allow nurses to spend two days a week in local hospitals like Wauchope, Macksville and Kempsey and three days a week studying. Oxley MP Andrew Stoner says the plan will give students a more realistic idea of the job. http://nursingdiscussions.com/1434050 ****************************************************** Tue, Aug. 09, 2005: Wisconsin: Workers at seven nursing homes authorize strike:"Employees of seven Extendicare Nursing Homes authorized their union's bargaining committee to call a strike on Tuesday after more than three months of negotiations. The 500 workers are members of Service Employees International Union Local 150 and work as certified nursing assistants, housekeepers, dietary aides and laundry workers. They are seeking better health insurance, higher wages, eight-hour shifts and continuity of care for residents, the union said." http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthsuperior/12342157.htm ****************************************************** Aug 8 2005: Great Britain: Specialist at the heart of community nursing:"KAREN HUGHES is a community nurse specialist in palliative care and the team manager for Newport. The 47-year-old has worked for St David's Foundation Hospice Care for the past six years. She said, "After a patient has been referred to our services by their doctor, district nurse, relative, or whoever, we will go along to them to carry out an initial first assessment, looking at all aspects of their case, including physical symptoms, emotional and spiritual needs and even financial aspects." http://www.nursingdiscussions.com/hughes ****************************************************** August 7, 2005: Cal State nursing program deemed 'impacted' by CSU officials:Cal State San Marcos will have the unusual opportunity to pick and choose which students are admitted to its new nursing program, based on their grades and other criteria. Nursing officials at the college received permission from Cal State officials in Long Beach last week to declare the nursing program ---- set to start in the 2006 fall semester ---- an "impacted" major. That designation will allow the college to rank applicants based on their grades in science classes and whether they have previous experience in health care." http://nursingdiscussions.com/2242 ****************************************************** Saturday, July 30, 2005: California: Board of Supervisors fear nurse shortage in Kern County:"The Kern County Board of Supervisors recently outlined what they referred to as nurse staffing shortages that threaten to interrupt operations at Kern County Medical Center. Although some KMC trauma patients have had to be diverted to other hospitals, authorities said no deaths have been reported. The nursing shortage is due in part, officials contend, to California AB 394. The statute, which was signed into law in October of 1999, established a call for minimum and specific nurse-to-patient ratios. After a long period of review, actual ratio numbers were formalized in January of 2004." http://www.ridgecrestca.com/articles/2005/07/24/community_events/local01.txt ****************************************************** July 29, 2005: Experts on global nursing shortage provide recommendations to stem crisis:"International nurse migration experts convened on July 9, 2005 at the Rockefeller Foundation Conference Center in Bellagio, Italy to examine the causes and consequences of the global nurse shortage and to consider strategies to mitigate its negative impact on the health of people around the world. The recommendations and presentations from the expert meeting can be found at http://www.academyhealth.org/international/nurses.htm" http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2005-07/a-eog072905.php ****************************************************** ****************************************************** Apr. 22, 2005: Florida: Panhandle nursing shortage halts admissions to state vets home:"A state veterans nursing home serving the Florida Panhandle has halted new admissions because of a staffing shortage, and some employees say they are working too many hours. As a result, the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration, or AHCA, has begun an investigation of the Clifford Chester Sims State Veterans Nursing Home in this Panama City suburb. It is one of six homes run statewide by the Florida Department of Veterans Affairs." http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/mld/ledgerenquirer/news/local/11462935.htm ****************************************************** April 19, 2005: Massachusetts: Nursing school enrollment dropping nationwide:"Despite efforts by the University of Massachusetts and the federal government, the shortage of nurses is worsening here and across the country and could be five times worse in 15 years. Undergraduate enrollment in nursing on this campus doubled this academic year compared to last year, according to Eileen Breslin, dean and professor of the UMass School of Nursing. Beginning this year, a class of nurses is graduating every December and May. "The fact of the matter is we are preparing more nurses now than in the history of our country at UMASS and across the United States," Breslin said." http://www.dailycollegian.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2005/04/19/42647dec27b4a ****************************************************** April 18, 2005: Virginia: Nurse-midwives bring personal touch to births:"A half-mile away, the world's most modern war machines scream down the runway while Kristi Norcross practices a skill as old as life itself. "The first recorded midwives are in Genesis," she said while standing on the second floor of Langley Air Force Base Hospital, where she had a hand in delivering five babies on a recent Wednesday. Genesis 35:17 "And it came to pass, when she was in hard labor, that the midwife said to her: Fear not; for now thou shalt have another son." http://www.dailypress.com/news/local/dp-84325sy0apr18,0,7477806.story?coll=dp-news-local-final ****************************************************** 18/04/2005: Africa: Beware 'fake' nursing colleges:"The department knew of at least five such colleges in Mthatha, Lusikisiki, East London, Zwelitsha and Engcobo. Kupelo said many of the students were desperate and unemployed, with their families at times resorting to selling livestock to pay fees. He said the fake colleges were not registered with the South African Nursing Council, and warned prospective students they would not be employed if the colleges were not registered and the courses offered accredited." http://www.news24.com/News24/South_Africa/News/0,,2-7-1442_1691802,00.html ****************************************************** April 18, 2005: Africa: Nambia: First Lady Concerned About Nursing Shortage:"Pohamba, a practising registered nurse, also encouraged the newly capped nurses and educators to be steadfast in service delivery of the highest standards. She continued: "I am particularly concerned about the shortage of nursing staff in hospitals and health centres throughout the country. As a professional registered nurse, I have first-hand experience. I know how it feels when our nursing staff work under pressure due to a shortage of personnel. However, the shortage of nurses is being addressed collectively by Unam and the Ministry of Health. It is a welcome effort and must be earnestly pursued so that we can prudently serve our nation." http://allafrica.com/stories/200504181333.html ****************************************************** 4/18/05: Great Britain: Doctors sick of an unhealthy situation:"British doctors are pressing for an end to what they see as the wholesale poaching of medical and nursing staff in Africa and Asia. They say higher salaries and better working conditions in the West have stripped Aids-plagued countries of essential medical and nursing manpower. The result is an ever-widening gap in the quantity and quality of medicine between developed and developing countries." http://www.telegraph.co.uk/global/main.jhtml?view=DETAILS&grid=&targetRule=10&xml=/global/2005/04/18/helf1.xml ****************************************************** Sunday, April 17, 2005: California: Nursing shortage to get worse:"Dropout rates increase for student nurses. Aggravating California's critical nursing shortage, nearly a quarter of all students studying to be nurses in Los Angeles community colleges dropped out in 2003-04 more than 35 percent higher than the statewide average. College officials say the drop-out rate is so high that it is becoming one of the most significant bottlenecks in an already-strained system that produces two-thirds of the state's nurses." http://www.presstelegram.com/Stories/0,1413,204~21474~2821778,00.html ****************************************************** Sat, April 16, 2005: Canada: Nurse practitioners key to health backlog:"Wait times for health care would be greatly reduced if governments pushed to integrate nursing practitioners as part of the overall medicare system, the Canadian Nurses Association said yesterday. CNA president Lucille Auffrey urged the feds and provinces yesterday to move on plans to bring forward legislation that would recognize licensing and education requirements for NPs." http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/EdmontonSun/News/2005/04/16/999913-sun.html ****************************************************** 16 April 2005: Great Britain: Prison nurse tells of fight to save Shipman:"Paramedics not called to attend to mass killer. A NURSE told a court of her frustration that prison bosses failed to call an ambulance after mass murderer Harold Shipman was found hanged in his cell at Wakefield Jail. Annette Loftus described how she spent more than half an hour trying to resuscitate the former GP. But when she asked prison officer David Cooper when the emergency services would arrive, he told her a duty doctor had been summoned instead." http://www.leedstoday.net/ViewArticle2.aspx?SectionID=39&ArticleID=1001419 ****************************************************** April 15th, 2005: Alaska: Shoppers at job fair find work on offer:"It's a buyer's market" for potential employees, said William Perket, human resources director for the consortium, which serves Natives in 18 Southeast communities. "There's a critical shortage of nurses nationwide." Alaska training and education programs are ramping up to fill the need, but the years it takes to train for professional positions such as registered nurses means plenty of competition among employers today." http://www.adn.com/news/alaska/story/6381110p-6259637c.html ****************************************************** April 12, 2005: Male nurse who allegedly fondled male patients to stand trial:"A male nurse accused of fondling three male patients at different hospitals while they were medically incapacitated must stand trial on six felony counts of sexual battery, a judge ruled Tuesday. Julius Villareal, 32, faces up to nine years in prison if convicted, said Deputy Attorney General David Songco. Department of Justice Special Agent Kevin Coughlin testified during a preliminary hearing that a man told him that Villareal gave him an unrequested sponge bath last June 8 at Kaiser Permanente Hospital." http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/20050412-1312-malenurse.html ****************************************************** Sun, Apr. 10, 2005: California hospitals try to meet nurse ratio:"California hospitals are struggling to meet a new, first-in-the-nation requirement that they have one nurse on duty for every five patients at all times, and officials say most institutions are falling short. Some hospitals have tried to close the gap by hiring nurses from outside agencies and making staffers work more hours. Others are closing beds or keeping people longer in the emergency room to prevent other parts of the hospital from becoming overcrowded." http://www.myrtlebeachonline.com/mld/myrtlebeachonline/news/nation/11358309.htm ****************************************************** April 10, 2005: Wisconsin: Nursing Aide Charged With Sexual Assault:"A nursing assistant at St. Mary's Hospital in Madison is charged with felony sexual assault for a massage that crossed the line. But state officials said the alleged incident involving Michael Reveles, 44, might never have happened if his previous employer had followed state law. The University of Wisconsin Hospital fired Reveles over similar allegations involving two female psychiatric patients four years ago. The hospital was required to report the incidents to state regulators -- but never did so." http://www.channel3000.com/news/4364664/detail.html ****************************************************** 10-Apr-2005: Great Britain: Nursing vs Social Care:"Hundreds of elderly and vunerable patients may be being forced to pay for their long-term care unlawfully. A Channel 4 News investigation has uncovered more than 30 people across the country who claim they were told to pay for social care, which the Government refuses to fund. However they say they're actually paying for Nursing care, which a court ruling has declared should be free. Along with a growing number of patients - they've accused the NHS and social services of tricking them out of the treatment they should be entitled to." http://www.channel4.com/news/2005/04/week_1/10_care.html ****************************************************** April 10, 2005: Philippines: Abolish Nursing Board, says Pasig congressman:"Rep. Robert Jaworski Jr. of Pasig City on Sunday called for the abolition of the three-year-old Nursing Board owing to its reported prejudice against upstart nursing schools that were often denied their licenses to operate. He filed House Bill 3706 seeking to repeal R.A. 9173, the Philippine Nursing Act of 2002 creating the Board of Nursing, which was mandated to "assume the responsibility of protecting, improving and professionalizing the nursing vocation." http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/storypage.aspx?StoryId=2364 ****************************************************** Wednesday, April 6, 2005: California: Hospitals scrambling to meet nurse ratio:"California hospitals are struggling to meet a new, first-in-the-nation requirement that they have one nurse on duty for every five patients at all times, and officials say most institutions are falling short. Some hospitals have tried to close the gap by hiring nurses from outside agencies and making staffers work more hours. Others are closing beds or keeping people longer in the emergency room to prevent other parts of the hospital from becoming overcrowded." http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/apscience_story.asp?category=1500&slug=Nurse%20Law ****************************************************** April 6, 2005: New study spotlights shortage of nurses in Tennessee:"The Tennessee Hospital Association and other health care officials today released a study highlighting a statewide nursing shortage. It was blamed primarily on a lack of faculty and classroom and training space at nursing schools." http://www.volunteertv.com/Global/story.asp?S=3171527 ****************************************************** April 6, 2005: Tennessee: Nursing Shortage Caused by Lack of Professors:"A new report says the nursing shortage is getting worse. Hospitals and doctors offices are afraid that by the year 2020, 47 percent of nursing jobs will go unfilled. So what's the cause? As Volunteer TV’s Jeff Williamson explains, it's not a lack of students." http://www.volunteertv.com/Global/story.asp?S=3171330&nav=4QcHYJoL ****************************************************** 4/5/2005: Tennessee: Lack of Nursing School Training Space Leads to Shortage:"The country continues to face a critical nursing shortage even though more young people are applying to nursing school. The Tennessee Hospital Association announced Tuesday that hundreds of nursing school applicants who could ease the shortage are turned away from programs because of a lack of classroom training space. In Tennessee alone, 384 nursing instructors are needed to meet the nursing education needs." http://www.newschannel5.com/content/news/10244.asp ****************************************************** Monday, April 4, 2005: Alaska: Nursing school mix-ups draw complaints:"Not long ago, the University of Alaska Anchorage was heavily recruiting students for its nursing program, and the response has been overwhelming. Now some students say that UAA’s growing pains have thrown their lives off track. “Unorganized and inconsistent” -- that’s the complaint from several UAA students who say they were unfairly denied seats in the 2006 nursing program at the university." http://www.ktuu.com/CMS/templates/master.asp?articleid=12762&zoneid=4 ****************************************************** April 3, 2005: Florida: Bill prescribes nurse staffing By Brian Bandell:"As hospitals warn of a nursing shortage in Florida, a labor union is becoming more aggressive in supporting a bill that would require hospitals to hire more nurses. A union representing thousands of nurses is backing bills in the Florida House (HB 1117) and Senate (SB 1176) that would set a strict nurse-to-patient ratio in hospital departments and ban mandatory overtime." South Florida Business Journal http://msnbc.msn.com/id/7378192/ ****************************************************** April 03, 2005: Great Britain: Ooh matron, this is a new breed of nurse:"NURSES are to try to rebrand their profession, updating the old Carry On film image of battleaxe or bimbo to emerge as modern professionals who are as likely to be giving injections as emptying bedpans. The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) has employed an award-winning documentary cameraman to produce a film, being released this week, which it hopes will alter the public perception of nursing." http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2087-1552189,00.html ****************************************************** 3 April 2005: Saudi Arabia: 300 Nursing Students Left in the Lurch:"More than 300 women became victims of an education scam when they discovered that their nursing diplomas were worthless in the job market. The nursing students had graduated from an illegal medical institute, paying SR48,000 for the two-and-a-half-year course. But no health facility would accept their unrecognized diploma, Al-Watan newspaper reported." http://www.arabnews.com/?page=1§ion=0&article=61483&d=3&m=4&y=2005&pix=kingdom.jpg&category=Kingdom ****************************************************** Sat, Apr. 02, 2005: Kentucky: A hospice nurse sees life's ebb every day:"Hospice nurse Sarita Goins swoops in to the couch where Patricia Feltner spends her days and nights for a hug from the bald woman in pink polka dots. "Hi, darling," Goins almost sings. "You look pretty." "I've tried to get pretty for you guys," says Feltner, whose green eyes are luminous against her pale, translucent skin." http://www.kentucky.com/mld/kentucky/11292903.htm ****************************************************** April 1, 2005: Connecticut: Union reaches agreement with four nursing homes:"A tentative agreement has been reached with the union representing workers at four nursing homes run by Spectrum Healthcare, which had been the target of strike threats. The agreement, reached early Friday, calls for a four-year contact and wage increases averaging 16 percent over the life of the contract, the New England Health Care Employees Union, District 1199, announced. Earlier this week, workers at the four homes as well as eight owned by ICARE Management had authorized the union to call a strike." http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/connecticut/ny-bc-ct--nursinghomes-cont0401apr01,0,3815002.story?coll=ny-region-apconnecticut ****************************************************** Monday, March 28, 2005: California: Education can solve nursing shortage:"WE hear a lot of grumbling about nursing ratios at hospitals, and nurses unions and hospital associations are at odds over whether a nursing shortage currently exists. But with the courts overturning Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's delay of implementing the ratios, it's clear more nurses will be needed to meet the 1-to-5 nurse-to-patient general hospital staffing required under the second phase of a law passed in 1999." http://www.whittierdailynews.com/Stories/0,1413,207~12044~2786518,00.html ****************************************************** 03/28/2005: Pennsylvania: Experts predict nursing shortage:"Editor's note: This story is the first in a two-day series examining the shortage of nurses predicted in Pennsylvania in the next five years and how local hospitals are addressing staffing issues.More students than ever are selecting nursing as a career, but the Pennsylvania Workforce Investment Board is still predicting a shortage of 17,000 nurses in the state by 2010. "This is the third shortage I've lived through," said Rebecca Amberosini, the chief nursing officer at Uniontown Hospital, the largest of the three hospitals in Fayette County." http://www.heraldstandard.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=14230942&BRD=2280&PAG=461&dept_id=480247&rfi=6 ****************************************************** March 21, 2004: California: Nurses union to be on guard despite recent court victory:"Despite winning a court victory this week in its fight against Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to implement a nurse staffing law, the Oakland-based California Nurses Association isn't letting up on its relentless campaign against the governor. The 60,000-member union says it will expand its efforts and vigorously protest the governor's proposals to overhaul the state's pension system and change redistricting rules. "We believe our new role is to work with other groups that are under attack, such as teachers," said Deborah Burger, president of the California Nurses Association. "It would be shortsighted for us to stop now." http://www.insidebayarea.com/oaklandtribune/localnews/ci_2615410 ****************************************************** Thursday March 17: California Hospital Association Files Appeal Seeking to Overturn Nurse Ratio Ruling:"The California Hospital Association (CHA) has filed an appeal seeking to overturn a recent ruling by the Sacramento County Superior Court that invalidated common-sense modifications to California's nurse-to-patient ratio regulations. The appeal was filed with the 3rd District Court of Appeal in Sacramento. In addition to the appeal, CHA also has asked the Appellate Court to immediately stay the lower court's ruling during the appeals process." http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/050317/sfth084_3.html ****************************************************** March 17, 2005: New York: Jury convicts nurse of molesting comatose patient:"A licensed practical nurse was convicted Wednesday of molesting a comatose woman at Monroe Community Hospital. The jury found 46-year-old Michael Edwards of Irondequoit guilty of first-degree sexual abuse and a misdemeanor charge of willful violation of health laws." http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/newyork/ny-bc-ny-brf--nursecharged0317mar17,0,6314602.story?coll=ny-region-apnewyork ****************************************************** Tuesday, March 15, 2005: California: New nurse-to-patient ratios go into effect:"Hospitals became subject Monday to controversial legislation that requires them to adopt lower nurse-to-patient ratios. Superior Court Judge Judy Hersher had ruled March 4 that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's administration had illegally tried to block more stringent nurse-to-patient ratios from taking effect at the beginning of the year. The judge signed the order Monday, making it official. Hospitals will now have to have one nurse for every five patients on medical and surgical wards, as opposed to a nurse for every six patients, the previous minimum." http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/03/15/BAG73BP9SK1.DTL&type=health ****************************************************** Mar. 6, 2005: Nurses in high demand in Arizona:"Arizona ranks at the bottom of the 50 states for nurse-to-population ratio. The shortage of skilled nurses is particularly acute in forensic nursing and home health, experts say. According to Kathy Player, dean of the Ken Blanchard School of Business at Grand Canyon University in Phoenix, the average age of a nurse today is 48, and fewer than 9 percent of all RNs are younger than 30. Education requirements for nurses vary. While a registered nurse can obtain a degree in two years, bachelor's and master's degrees in nursing also are offered at Grand Canyon and other universities in Arizona." http://www.azcentral.com/business/articles/0306jobsmain06.html ****************************************************** March 02, 2005: Canadians quench Enloe nurse drought:"To make up for America's nursing shortage, Canadian nurses have migrated to Enloe Medical Center. Of the 400 nurses at Enloe, 30 are from Canada. There are many reasons for hiring foreign nurses, especially those from Canada, said Charlene Davis, director of recruitment at Enloe. "Of course, we are in the middle of an extreme nurse shortage, but many nurses are not able to find steady work in Canada," Davis said. "The United States isn't graduating enough nurses to keep up with those that retire." http://www.orion-online.net/vnews/display.v/ART/2005/03/02/422533f2d2599 ****************************************************** Monday, February 28, 2005: A male nurse's perspective:"The debate surrounding gender in the medical field is highly sensitive and controversial. But when most people think about the inequalities within the sciences, they tend to forget that the odds can be stacked against men, too. Right here at Boston College, a small group of men is venturing into a field largely dominated by women - nursing. Male nurses are few and far between within the halls of Cushing, but they are successful in their endeavors to break the gender barriers, and they are leaving their mark on their fellow nurses-in-training." http://www.bcheights.com/news/2005/02/28/Features/A.Male.Nurses.Perspective-879090.shtml ****************************************************** Monday, February 28, 2005: Pennsylvania: Dialysis nurse keeps patients upbeat:"Wisecracks fly freely between Bill Wareham and his patients at Allegheny Valley Dialysis Center. Wareham is a nurse at the center in the Heights Plaza Shopping Center, Harrison, and he keeps the banter coming. If you came in for treatment out of sorts, a few hours later, you will leave with a smile on your lips. He talks with one patient about politics. To another, baseball." http://pittsburghlive.com/x/tribune-review/trib/newssummary/s_308437.html ****************************************************** February 26, 2005: Huge Medical Personnel Loss to West Hurting Africa:"The International Organisation for Migration (IOM), a global body that tracks labour migrations and coordinates refugee evacuation, relocation and repatriation logistics reported in Ethiopia recently that the developing world (Sub Saharan African, parts of Asia and Latin America) is losing a staggering $552 billion in medical personnel streaming into Europe and North America. That colossal figure was derived from tallying the cost it would have taken the West - reckoned at $184, 000 - to train each of the three million health professionals from the developing world, now working there. The statistics are breathtaking: Just four countries alone; South Africa, Nigeria, Zimbabwe and Ghana registered a combined loss well in excess of 26,000 nurses and 3,300 doctors in 2002/03 to Britain." http://allafrica.com/stories/200502250950.html ****************************************************** Feb 25 2005: United Kingdom: Volunteering ended Harry's bar to nursing job:"A loyal and hard-working volunteer at a Birmingham hospital has been offered the chance of a full-time career in the NHS. Harbaksh Kaur, of Handsworth Wood, had previously trained as a nurse in India after studying at the University of Punjab. But when the 26-year-old came to Britain in 2003, she found her hard-earned qualifications would not help her get a job as a nurse in this country." http://icbirmingham.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/post/tm_objectid=15230293&method=full&siteid=50002&headline=volunteering-ended-harry-s-bar-to-nursing-job-name_page.html ****************************************************** February 24, 2005: Indiana: Nursing shortage affects IUSB students:"There is not only a nursing shortage but now it appears there is also a shortage of prospective nursing students and it's the patients who could suffer in the long run. Many of students who apply at IUSB for the nursing program are very aware of the nursing shortage. For them it means job security in this tough job market. Student Gideon Nemdeuh decided to go into nursing to help people." http://www.wndu.com/news/022005/news_40570.php ****************************************************** Thursday, February 24, 2005: Nurse Weingarten offers HOPE to tsunami victims:"The volunteers on the USNS Mercy sleep in triple-bunk beds; most have not set foot on land since arriving in Indonesia. They live and work on a hospital ship off the coast of Banda Aceh, providing medical care to tsunami victims there. Robin Weingarten of Somerville has worked in the USNS Mercy's Intensive Care Unit since Feb. 1. She decided to volunteer when Massachusetts General Hospital, where she works as a nurse, sent out an e-mail informing employees about Project HOPE, a health organization recruiting medical workers. "I've never been this far away from home before," she said. "You know, going half a world away to work on a naval ship, it was definitely different." http://www2.townonline.com/somerville/localRegional/view.bg?articleid=191354 ****************************************************** 24 February 2005: United Kingdom: Bungling nurse struck off:"A nurse has been struck off the register for risking patients' health after ignoring bosses' orders to keep away from the drip feeds. Maureen Zulu, 43, tried to put antibiotics through a patient's blood transfusion line while working at St Mary's Hospital in Paddington, in 2002. The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) heard how staff caught Zulu as she was about to put the antibiotics in the wrong tube. When questioned she asked: "Where am I supposed to put it?" http://www.hammersmithtimes.co.uk/content/hammersmith/times/news/story.aspx?brand=WMTOnline&category=news&tBrand=northlondon24&tCategory=newshmst&itemid=WeED24%20Feb%202005%2014%3A51%3A29%3A813 ****************************************************** February 23, 2005: Maryland: Nurses push lawmakers for staffing standards:"Claiming that Maryland's severe shortage of nursing professionals could be hurting patient care, nurses yesterday urged lawmakers to institute minimum nurse-to-patient ratios for hospitals. Hospital administrators, however, said the ratios would handcuff their ability to be creative and flexible in scheduling nurses. The bill would require hospitals to submit their nurse staffing plans to the state. The ratios would vary by unit. For example, one nurse would be required for each patient in the operating room, while one nurse would be needed for every six postpartum patients. If a facility doesn't comply, or its staffing levels aren't adequate, it could face fines or loss of its license." http://www.hometownannapolis.com/cgi-bin/read/2005/02_23-15/GOV ****************************************************** 2/23/2005: West Virgnia: Nursing Shortage Appears Over:"Efforts by an 11-county consortium seem to be paying off, statistics show. Efforts by a consortium to head off a potential nursing shortage in southeastern West Virginia are paying off. The number of nursing graduates in the 11-county region served by the Region One Workforce Investment Board grew from 139 in 2003 to 176 in 2004. Another 648 nursing students are expected to graduate by 2008." http://www.wboy.com/story.cfm?func=viewstory&storyid=1072 ****************************************************** Sunday, February 20, 2005.: Australia: NSW begins drive for more nurses:"The New South Wales Government has announced a new recruitment plan to address the shortage of nurses in the state hospital system. The Government is hoping its new strategy will result in more than 1,800 additional nurses coming into the system over the next two years. For the first time, every graduate of the trainee enrolled nurses course will be offered jobs in a public hospital." http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200502/s1306672.htm ****************************************************** 2/20/2005: Philippines: Hopes rise for Pinoy nurses seeking employment in US:"There is hope for thousands of Filipino nurses whose visa applications to work in the United States have been frozen. Two Democrats in the US House of Representatives have filed bills seeking to make it easier for Filipino nurses to enter the US while the Philippine embassy in Washington is lobbying strongly for their passage. The embassy on Friday unveiled what it said was a three-pronged strategy to promote the continued deployment of Filipino nurses to the US. It said it would make official representations with the State Department to stress that since the US has an acute need for nurses that the Philippines can readily supply, both governments can pursue a "win-win" solution to the problem." http://www.philstar.com/philstar/News200502206601.htm ****************************************************** February 19, 2004: Florida: Nurse charged with sex abuse:"An ex-nurse at Broward General Medical Center was accused of sexually abusing an injured patient who could not move or yell for help. A former male nurse at Broward General Medical Center in Fort Lauderdale has been arrested and charged with sexually abusing an incapacitated patient. Police believe Caleb Gutierrez Rasay, 35, performed oral sex on the adult male patient, and inappropriately touched the patient while he was injured and unable to move, Fort Lauderdale police Sgt. Andy Pallen said." http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/10939547.htm?1c ****************************************************** Sat, Feb. 19, 2005: Ohio: School nurses unprepared for attacks on students:"Long associated with treating playground scrapes and tummy aches, school nurses nationwide say they need to be more prepared for emergencies such as terrorist attacks. Many are trying to work around tight school budgets and a lack of respect as front-line responders to get the training they need to prepare for the worst. "Because of 9/11, so many things have changed," said Kathy Steffey, a school nurse at Lakeview High School in Cortland. "We have to be prepared for almost anything." Nearly half of the nurses who responded to a National Association of School Nurses survey listed emergency preparedness as their highest priority." http://www.ohio.com/mld/beaconjournal/news/state/10943934.htm?1c ****************************************************** February 19, 2005: Washington State: Nurse Sentenced For Rape Of Disabled Girl:"An eight-and-a-half-year sentence for a registered nurse who raped his disabled patient. The 12-year-old victim is mute and a quadriplegic who needs around the clock attention. Her family hired Raymond Hughes to care for her, but back in April, her mother found evidence of the rape." http://www.kxly.com/common/getStory.asp?id=42458 ****************************************************** February 19, 2005: Australia: Nurse shortage to reduce new hospital's hours:"When it opens next month, the Casey Hospital will only take emergency patients for 12 hours a day. A new hospital's emergency department will open next month, but for only 12 hours a day as the hospital is having difficulty recruiting nurses. The Casey Hospital in Berwick, which has been gradually opening services since last year, will have an emergency department staffed only from 8am to 8pm when it opens on March 15. The hospital, part of the Southern Health network, yesterday confirmed it was short of emergency nurses, but hoped its emergency department would open around the clock in a few months." http://www.theage.com.au/news/National/Nurse-shortage-to-reduce-new-hospitals-hours/2005/02/18/1108709433273.html?oneclick=true ****************************************************** February 18 2005: Great Britain: Foreign nurses are here to stay:"Maria Gonzales - who prefers to use a pseudonym - a nurse at Kingston hospital, in south London, thought her elderly patient wanted to buy something when she said: "I want to spend a penny." Maria, who speaks excellent American English, is not the only one who has never heard such expressions as "I am feeling a bit peaky." The shortage of nurses in Britain is serious." http://www.greatreporter.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=349 ****************************************************** February 17, 2005: Massachusetts: Local teen part of nursing shortage solution:"Carolyn Fisher of Westwood was recently selected to participate in the National Youth Leadership Forum on Nursing from Tuesday, Feb. 15 to Sunday, Feb. 20, in Boston. Having demonstrated academic achievement and an interest in the nursing profession, Fisher will join more than 200 outstanding high school juniors and seniors from across the United States at the Forum on Nursing. "As the baby boomer generation ages, we are seeing large numbers of people retiring, which leaves fewer people to provide nursing care to more and more people who require it. The United States is currently facing a shortage of nurses in monumental proportions," said Donna Snyder, executive director of NYLF. "The National Youth Leadership Forum on Nursing seeks to change that trend by introducing students like Carolyn Fisher to the many challenges and opportunities that await in the nursing profession." http://www2.townonline.com/westwood/artsLifestyle/view.bg?articleid=186972 ****************************************************** February 17, 2005: Washington State: Nursing career and programs in hot water:"According to an article in The Washington Post, last year about 13 percent of U.S. nursing jobs went unfilled. Even more alarming is the fact that as the baby boomer generation ages, the amount of patients in need of care will increase dramatically, thereby requiring a proportionate number of nurses. With current trends, nursing jobs are not being filled quickly enough to meet this demand. Although Congress passed the Nurse Reinvestment Act last July to help pay for nursing programs and forgive education loans for trainees who agree to work in areas with shortages, the government has not appropriated money to the fund. To combat the nursing shortage, many hospitals are strengthening recruiting efforts by selling themselves through advertisements, job fairs and offering signing bonuses. However, critics are skeptical that recruitment alone will fix the problem." http://www.spectator-online.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2005/02/17/42159d59e7321 ****************************************************** Wednesday February 16, 2005: Washington State: Nurses Outraged at Proposed Cuts in Nursing Staff by Sacred Heart Medical Center:"The more than 1250 registered nurses, represented by the Washington State Nurses Association (WSNA), at Sacred Heart Medical Center are outraged by the announcement regarding proposed cuts in nursing staff by the Hospital. The proposed staffing guideline changes will impact all in-patient units and will result in a reduction of budgeted staff positions including registered nurses at the bedside and other staff. "While we do not yet know the full impact of the proposed guideline changes and potential layoffs and exactly how many RNs will be affected, the bottom line is that there will be fewer registered nurses at the bedside caring for our patients," said Marty Avey, RN, local unit chair. She continues, "Our primary concern is the quality of care that our patients will receive as a result of the cuts in nursing staff." http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/050216/sfw128_1.html ****************************************************** February 3, 2005: Vermont: Help on Way for FAHC Nursing Shortage:"Some help is on the way to help fill a nursing shortage at Vermont's largest hospital. Fletcher Allen Health Care has signed a contract with North Country hospital to hire registered nurses. North Country has experienced intermittent periods where they have had a surplus of nurses. This new agreement provides North Country nurses with the opportunity to work temporarily at Fletcher Allen. The program is expected to start by mid-February." http://www.wcax.com/Global/story.asp?S=2897403&nav=4QcSVwcI ****************************************************** January 20, 2005: Nurses Who Smoke Create Workplace Issues That Must be Addressed:"Smoking among nurses was described as an integral part of their work routine, affecting management of patient care and timing of breaks," the study states. "The perception that smokers take more and longer breaks, and were less available for patient care, was an important theme in discussions with both smokers and former smokers, and clearly created conflict in the work environment." Whether accurate or imagined, these perceptions create dissension, resulting in what one nurse in the study characterized as "a war between the smokers and the non-smokers." http://www.newswise.com/articles/view/509330/ ****************************************************** January 18, 2005: Nature and Prevalence of Errors in Patient Care:"A Penn School of Nursing study provides the first detailed description of the nature and prevalence of errors by hospital staff nurses. During a 28-day period, 393 registered nurses kept a detailed journal of their errors and prevented errors, referred to as near-errors. Thirty percent of the nurses reported at least one error during the 28-day period, and 33 percent reported a near-error. Although the majority of errors and near-errors were medication-related, the nurses also reported a number of procedural, transcription and charting errors. The findings were presented in the November issue of the journal Applied Nursing Research and are derived from a previous study that examined staff nurse fatigue and patient safety." http://www.upenn.edu/almanac/volumes/v51/n17/rr.html#patient ****************************************************** January 18, 2005: Florida: Slowly running out of nurses, Limited-access programs produce limited grads:"Saeeda Lakhani wants to go abroad and "do volunteer work." And in order to get there, she decided to become a nurse. She admitted the path to becoming a nurse has been "rough and very hard." But she has stuck with the program. "Nursing is one of the best ways to help out people," she reasoned. Lakhani, who will graduate from UCF's nursing program in May, is among thousands of students across the nation who want to help out their fellow human beings by becoming a nurse. But this dream will not come true for all of them, and the reason is far more complicated than a low GPA or the type of nursing program." http://www.ucfnews.com/news/2005/01/18/News/Slowly.Running.Out.Of.Nurses-834642.shtml ****************************************************** January 18, 2005: New York: United Hospital closing means more nurses for other hospitals:"Even before Catherine Kelly has worked her last day as an emergency room nurse at New York United Hospital Medical Center in Port Chester, she has begun her new job at a neighboring hospital. As United Hospital prepares to close, Kelly was able to secure a post in the emergency room at White Plains Hospital Center, where she started the orientation process last week. She plans to work her shifts at the two hospitals around one another until United shuts its doors. "I've had many, many job offers, I will be honest," said Kelly, a 42-year-old resident of Rye who said she wanted to remain with a hospital close to home. "Being an R.N., you are very fortunate." http://www.nynews.com/newsroom/011805/a0118nurses.html ****************************************************** January 17, 2005: California: Nurses headed to Sacramento:"Group opposes Schwarzenegger's changing of part of safe staffing law. Lobbying in Sacramento for safe staffing ratios has become somewhat of a hobby for registered nurses in San Bernardino and Riverside counties. Much to their chagrin, they'll be flying to the state's capital again today. This time it won't just be on the Capitol's steps. About 1,000 Southern California nurses 100 to 200 from local medical facilities hope to testify before the state's Department of Health Services. The nurses want to keep intact a provision of the 1999 safe staffing law that requires a one-nurse-per-five-patient ratio on medical and surgical floors." http://www.sbsun.com/Stories/0,1413,208~12588~2659011,00.html ****************************************************** January 17, 2005: Canada: Ontario: Government announcement sanctions nursing layoffs:"While Health Minister George Smitherman announced $200 million in transitional funding today to help hospitals balance their budgets, he acknowledged that hospitals would be allowed to cut the equivalent of 757 full-time nurses. "The Minister is sanctioning hospitals to lay off nurses in the midst of a chronic nursing shortage - this despite his mantra to protect patient care," said Irmajean Bajnok, the acting director of the Registered Nurses' Association of Ontario (RNAO). "How can you possibly protect patient care by laying off nurses? This will send a chill through the profession and send nurses packing, either to other jurisdictions or to other professions," she said." http://www.cnw.ca/fr/releases/archive/January2005/17/c3791.html ****************************************************** Monday, January 17, 2005: Canada: Quebec: Nurses struggle to make the grade:"So why can't nurses do it? Mainly, it's a matter of time and money, say nurses and their advocates. Nurses are mostly women who are raising families. They earn less than most members of the 44 other professional orders required to write the test. If they do have the time, they might not have the money for sessions with private French tutors, which can cost between $40 and $150 an hour. Since the firings of Eulin Gumbs, 43, and Elizabeth Davantes, 47, both registered nurses at the Jewish General Hospital, were publicized Jan. 4, nurses' stories have begun to come out." http://www.canada.com/montreal/montrealgazette/news/story.html?id=08b10668-001d-49dc-9c88-a597de022ab4 ****************************************************** Monday, January 17, 2005: Guam: Win-win. Program to train nursing assistants is of benefit to all:"Guam Memorial Hospital has historically had a problem recruiting and retaining nurses. Right now, the hospital is short about 18 licensed practical nurses and 27 registered nurses. "We're still losing one or two nurses for every two to three nurses that we recruit," said Lillian Posadas, GMH assistant administrator of Nursing Services earlier this month. In an effort to alleviate the shortage, and to groom future nurses, the Allied Health Program was created by Guam Community College, the Agency for Human Resources Development and Guam Memorial Hospital. The program comprises 24 high school students, who will receive 480 hours of training through August. They earn academic credit and are paid, as well." http://www.guampdn.com/news/stories/20050117/opinion/1876871.html ****************************************************** Monday, January 17, 2005: Canada: Quebec: Nurses need help funding French lessons:"Health professionals working in public institutions in Quebec need to be able to work in French. Nobody with any common sense would challenge this general assertion, and indeed it has not been seriously challenged. But now let's try another general assertion: Quebec is short of nurses, and needs all of them it can get. This one is equally impossible to challenge. These two truisms bump up against each other in the case of nurses such as Elizabeth Davantes, Joan Mitchell, and Eulin Gumbs, experienced nurses who lost their jobs at the Jewish General because they were unable to pass a French test required of everyone who comes to Quebec to work in any of 47 professions. Two of the three women are now in the Employment Insurance system. The third is working in a fast-food joint." http://www.canada.com/montreal/montrealgazette/news/editorial/story.html?id=40de9a25-72a3-4dba-bfbe-62d0405962cf ****************************************************** Sunday, 16 January 2005: Self-Care: Why Is It So Hard?:"Although self-care activities should be common sense, "nurses often tend to put everyone else's needs ahead of their own [and are] so caught up in their professional life and its demands that they don't seem to have the time or energy to take care of themselves" (Swanson, 2004, p. 8). Some work environments actually seem to promote self-neglect. Such environments are recognizable by "hall talk," which goes something like this: "Oh, I'm just frantic this week; I have so many deadlines I couldn't accomplish them if I cloned myself 10 times.""I know what you mean, I haven't eaten dinner with my family once this week, and tonight will be no exception.""My work weeks typically average 55 to 60 hours, and I still can't seem to get on top of the demands." http://www.rednova.com/news/display/?id=119442 ****************************************************** Sat Jan 8, 2005: L.A. Hospital Suspends Nurse After Death:"A patient died at a troubled hospital after an intensive care nurse ignored her worsening condition and alerted doctors only after the woman went into cardiac arrest, Los Angeles County health officials said. Alarms on the patient's vital-signs monitor were either turned off or lowered before she died Nov. 18 at Martin Luther King Jr./Drew Medical Center, the officials said. The 47-year-old woman had been suffering from pneumonia and sepsis." http://www.optonline.net/News/Article/Feeds?CID=type%3Dxml%26channel%3D32%26article%3D13456873 ****************************************************** January 4, 2005: Australia: Rejected as nurse for bad writing:"STEPHANIE Goldner admits her handwriting is messy - but never thought it could cost her a job. Ms Goldner, from Avalon on Sydney's Northern Beaches, is reeling from failing an entrance exam to become an enrolled nurse - because her handwriting was deemed not up to scratch. "They said my arguments were well-developed, I had answered the questions well but my handwriting was too messy," the 23-year-old said yesterday. "He [an exam assessor] said, 'I can see why they failed you. It wasn't for your content, your writing's pretty hard to read'." http://www.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,11842481%255E421,00.html ****************************************************** Monday, January 03, 2005: Arizona: Nursing grads face burnout as business shifts by Beth Cochran:"Twenty-five years ago, Donald Daien graduated summa cum laude from ASU's nursing college. With diploma in hand, the idealistic student ventured into the world to comfort sick people. "People are most important to me so I decided to do something to help others...and chose nursing because it afforded the most direct and continuous patient contact," Daien said. "I felt that I could really make a difference as a nurse." At first things went well. Daien worked at Arizona State Hospital, Phoenix Camelback Hospital, Maricopa Medical Center and St. Luke's Hospital, among others." http://www.statepress.com/issues/2005/01/03/news/690721 ****************************************************** Sunday, January 2, 2005: Door closes on direly needed foreign nurses:"Until recently, U.S. hospitals saw Filipino nurses like Stephen Frani, who immigrated in October 2003 to work at St. Vincent Infirmary Medical Center in Little Rock, as a promising way to counter the nationwide nursing shortage. On Saturday, the gates closed. On Jan. 1, the U.S. State Department stopped granting fasttrack work permits to immigrants from the Philippines, India and China. Those countries had filled their employment-related visa quotas for the first time in many years, after the State Department began processing labor-certification applications more rapidly." http://www.nwanews.com/story.php?paper=adg§ion=Business&storyid=103706 ****************************************************** Jan. 1, 2005: Texas: Criminal checks lax in nursing, probe finds:"Many convicted of sex and drug offenses are still in the field, in violation of law. Scores of licensed nurses in Texas are convicted drug and sex offenders, and some of them are working in violation of state law, a newspaper investigation has found. An analysis by the Dallas Morning News found that 57 licensed Texas nurses are felony sex offenders, including 31 who are listed in the state sex-offender registry. About 140 nurses have felony drug records, and only about half of them hold current nursing licenses." http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/metropolitan/2973420 ****************************************************** December 27, 2004: Wyoming: State struggles to end nursing shortage:"Even though the number of people entering the field of nursing is holding steady, retirements and other departures are causing a net drop in available nurses statewide. "I've been here 21 years, and I believe there's only been one year we couldn't say there was a shortage," said Phyllis Bell, vice president of human resources at United Medical Center-West. A shortage of about 400,000 nurses nationwide will peak in about five years, she said. But in Wyoming, it will be especially acute. Cheryl Koski, executive director of the State Board of Nursing, said Wyoming will have a 60 percent shortage of nurses by 2020." http://www.billingsgazette.com/index.php?id=1&display=rednews/2004/12/27/build/wyoming/30-nursing-shortage.inc ****************************************************** Sunday, December 26, 2004: Job growth expected to continue:"Along with a nationwide shortage of nurses, hospitals throughout the United States are scrambling to find pharmacists willing to fill their around-the-clock needs as more of them are drawn to the relatively normal hours at retail outlets like Wal-Mart and Fred Meyer, Harrison said. Another problem area for hospital recruiters is specialty positions, such as critical care nursing. "It just seems like we are going more and more into an era of specialties; it fine-tunes that recruiting need," she said." http://www.alaskajournal.com/stories/122604/loc_20041226006.shtml ****************************************************** December 23, 2004: Strain of patient care cited by lawyer:"Caring for Alzheimer's patients can be difficult and frustrating. That fact should be considered in the case of a nursing home worker who allegedly abused several people in her care, the worker's lawyer says. But lawyers in the state attorney general's office have said there's no excuse for the actions of Bernadette Stackpole, 53, a former nursing assistant at the Franklin Skilled Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, who faces charges of physical and sexual abuse of four patients." http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2004/12/23/strain_of_patient_care_cited_by_lawyer/ ****************************************************** December 22, 2004: Illinois Nursing Association Unanimously Backs Patient Access To Medicinal Cannabis:"The Illinois Nursing Association (INA) supports the use of medical marijuana by qualified patients, and is calling upon Congress to reclassify cannabis so that doctors may prescribe it, according to a resolution passed unanimously by the organization earlier this month. "It is the position of the Illinois Nurses Association to: Support the right of patients to have safe access to therapeutic cannabis under appropriate prescriber supervision; ... [to] support legislation to remove criminal penalties including arrest and imprisonment for bonafide patients and prescribers of therapeutic cannabis; [and to] support federal and state legislation to include cannabis classification as a Schedule III [non-prohibited] drug," the INA resolution states." http://www.norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=6382 ****************************************************** Nurses 'In Droves' Nominate Profession as Worst Job, Mark E. Dixon, Advancefornurses.com:"The good news about a survey ranking nursing No. 10 among the “Worst Jobs in Science” is that it was not scientifically conducted. The bad news is that, according to Popular Science magazine, more nurses were motivated to trash their own profession than those in any other field. Among the positions considered better than nursing were public-school science teachers and nosologists (professionals who study death records to calculate mortality rates)." ADVANCE Newsmagazines/Merion Publications, Inc. 2900 Horizon Dr. King of Prussia, PA 19406 Phone number: 800-355-5627 Subscribe by phone: 800-355-1088 webmaster@merion.com http://nursing.advanceweb.com/common/Editorial/Editorial.aspx?CC=45711 ****************************************************** KY Surgeon In Court For Allegedly Hitting Nurse:"A western Kentucky doctor has a date in court Monday morning. He was suspended for harassment when a nurse says he hit her. Doctor Bruce MacDougal, a plastic surgeon at Regional Medical Center in Madisonville, allegedly became upset when he couldn't access a piece of equipment for a procedure in the emergency department." http://www.14wfie.com/Global/story.asp?S=2652712&nav=3w6oTs99 ****************************************************** December 13, 2004: Focus on Learning, Not Blame. New error-reporting system in Minnesota works to ensure mistakes don’t happen again:"Mistakes are always easier to correct when there is a full understanding of the process involved. Outcomes improve and methods become more efficient. When lives literally hang in the balance of methods of care, education becomes a life-and-death matter. A new error- and events-reporting system in Minnesota is forcing hospitals to take a hard look at serious mistakes in the health care system and how to fix them. The St. Paul-based Minnesota Nurses Association (MNA) supports the legislation, which was signed into law effective July 1, 2003. Full implementation of the law began December 6." http://www.nurseweek.com/news/Features/04-12/ReportingSystems.asp ****************************************************** Monday, November 29, 2004: Fiji (South Pacific): Plan to counter nurses:"We have a plan in place but we have not come up with the actual budget that will cover for everything that we have put in place," he said. The plans include rostering nurses on 12-hour shifts, providing meal allowances and transportation home after their shifts. He said more than 100 nurses who were not members of the association and retired nurses would be providing health services in the three main divisions." http://www.fijitimes.com/story.aspx?id=12385 ****************************************************** November 29 2004: Scotland: Health chiefs turn to China for extra staff:"Faced with serious staff shortages and a lack of capacity, the Scottish Executive is negotiating to bring Chinese nurses to work in Scotland. A pilot project is also being run which will see a group of Spanish nurses working in Greater Glasgow hospitals from spring of next year." http://www.theherald.co.uk/politics/28802.html ****************************************************** Monday, November 29, 2004: Singapore: Coping with life after a death:"Coping with her husband's tragic death has helped a Singaporean staff nurse to be a better caregiver at her hospital's critical care unit. Nooraini Yusoff, 43, a single parent of two, said she was eight months pregnant with her second child when the tragic incident happened 15 years ago. “My husband and I had an argument over something petty which I can't even recall now. I locked him out of our apartment on the fifth floor and he tried to enter from our neighbour's window." http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2004/11/29/nation/9516934&sec=nation ****************************************************** Sunday, November 28, 2004:"Florida: Crippling nursing shortage looms on the national horizon:"Up Then Down. The number of nurses will actually increase in the short-term, according to Dr. Buerhaus, “The workforce is projected to peak at a size of 2.3 million in 2012,” he said, but shrink to 2.2 million by 2020 owing to retirements. The increase will come from promotions to encourage young persons to enter the profession. Men entering the workforce have also been growing at a steady rate over the past two decades, increasing from 5 percent in 1983 with about 60,000 RN’s in the workforce, to nearly 9 percent, or 160,000 in 2003, according to the U.S." http://www.bocaratonnews.com/index.php?src=news&prid=10289&category=Local%20News ****************************************************** Saturday, November 27, 2004: Ohio: Man dies in 3-story fall from nursing home:"A nursing home resident died from a fall out a third-floor window just hours after he was transferred to the facility from a home he used to walk away from. John E. Shullick, 82, walked into a resident's room on the third floor of Amherst Manor Retirement Community, took the screen out of the window and fell three floors onto a concrete patio, according to police." http://www.marionstar.com/news/stories/20041127/localnews/1660205.html ****************************************************** Saturday, November 27, 2004: N.C. schools struggle with nursing shortage:"The number of school nurses in North Carolina hasn't kept pace with rising enrollment and increased demands for diverse health needs. In the fast-growing Charlotte-Mecklenburg school district, for example, the state's biggest with more than 121,000 students, there is one nurse for every 2,171 students." http://www.wilmingtonstar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20041127/APN/411270697&cachetime=5 ****************************************************** November 24, 2004: Abuse and Neglect Among the Elderly:"According to CNN on July, 30 2001 Almost one in every three nursing homes in the U.S has been cited for an abuse or violation. There was a report prepared for the representative of California, Henry Waxman. This report found that over a two year period, (January 1, 1999 to January 1, 2001), that all violations had at least the potential to harm nursing home residents. There were over 3,800 abuses that had not been found until an actual complaint was filed." http://www.thematuremarket.com/SeniorStrategic/dossier.php?numtxt=3484&idrb=5 ****************************************************** Tuesday, November 23, 2004: ARNEC given approval to recruit nurses:"At a recent meeting of the Arkansas State Board of Nursing, the Arkansas Rural Nursing Education Consortium (ARNEC) was granted approval to begin recruiting Licensed Practical Nurses and Licensed Psychiatric Technician Nurses (LPNs/LPTNs) for its Registered Nurse training program. The consortium of six Arkansas community and technical colleges is one of the first of its kind in the country, utilizing interactive television and the Internet to instruct students in scattered locations across the state." http://www.baxterbulletin.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20041123/NEWS01/411230304/1002 ****************************************************** Tuesday 23rd November, 2004: Study examines nursing error frequency:"A study of work errors by 393 registered nurses released Monday shows 30 percent were aware of making at least one error in a 28-day period. A further 33 percent reported a near-error in the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing study, in which nurses kept a detailed journal of errors and near-errors." http://feeds.bignewsnetwork.com/?sid=a89ae4c26e80a11c ****************************************************** Nov. 16, 2004: Arkansas: Nursing Home Neglect Persists:"When Monica Fleming put her mother in a nursing home, she thought she'd get crucial help after heart surgery. But as CBS News Correspondent Sharyl Attkisson reports, within 30 days Georgia Givens was dead from an unrelated cause: neglect. She choked, had gangrene in her leg and, according to the coroner, ants may have infested Givens' body through her feeding tube while she was alive. If it hadn't been for the coroner, Fleming probably would have thought she died a natural death." http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/11/16/eveningnews/main656083.shtml ****************************************************** Tuesday, November 16, 2004: California: State faces nursing shortage dilemma:"Most everyone agrees that California is facing a major nursing shortage as many retire and schools struggle to keep up -- a shortage that places the state near the bottom nationwide for nurse-to-patient ratios and is predicted to get much worse by 2020. But while hospital administrators are calling for more nurses to be trained, the California Nurses Association, or CNA, has emphasized improving work conditions as the best way to attract more nurses." http://www.sfexaminer.com/article/index.cfm/i/111604n_nursing2 ****************************************************** November 16, 2004: Kansas: Pregnant and postpartum patients can receive stress relief from massage:"Becky Stoermann-Snelson, RN, NCTMB, CIMI, has been a labor and delivery nurse for 26 years and currently works PRN at Saint Luke's South. After more than two decades of experience with pregnant and postpartum women, she decided to add another valuable skill to her repertoire. In 2001, Stoermann-Snelson returned to school to become a massage therapist." http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=13375168&BRD=1441&PAG=461&dept_id=155395&rfi=6 ****************************************************** November 16, 2004: Massachusetts: Popular 'Medi-Spas' May Hide Dangerous Secrets:"In Massachusetts the law said you don't even have to be a doctor to do laser therapy. But you do need to be trained, licensed and working under the supervision of a doctor. That's what registered nurse and Beauty Therapies president Claire McArdle does. McArdle hired Finegold as her medical director. When NewsCenter 5 asked her why she hired a doctor who had lost his privileges, she would only say she wanted to withhold her answer at this time. And McArdle herself is under investigation. The Department of Public Health is proposing disciplinary action against her because of two complaints against McArdle's nursing license, the most serious being a laser hair removal treatment that the customer complained resulted in second degree burns and scars to her legs." http://www.thebostonchannel.com/health/3923438/detail.html ****************************************************** November 16, 2004: Missouri: Angels in the clouds inspire nurse to write 'Sandcastles in the Sky':"Kathy Lewis, RN, BSN, believes in the power of prayer. So she silently prayed one afternoon five years ago as she heard sirens while on her way to pick up her children following a 10-hour shift as a cardiac rehab nurse at Heartland Regional Medical Center in St. Joseph, Mo. "Lord God, please watch over whoever is involved in that accident," she remembers, thinking a terrible car accident must have occurred from the sounds of the many sirens she heard." http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=13375250&BRD=1441&PAG=461&dept_id=155395&rfi=6 ****************************************************** November 16, 2004: North Carolina: UNCG To Begin Doctorate In Nursing:"Facing an increasing national demand for highly trained and doctoral-prepared nurses, the University of North Carolina at Greensboro School of Nursing will begin offering a doctorate in nursing in the fall of 2005. The Board of Governors for the UNC system approved the degree program at their meeting on Nov. 12. UNCG's 57-credit program will allow only six full-time and four part-time students each year." http://www.wxii12.com/health/3923540/detail.html ****************************************************** November 16, 2004: Oregon: Flu bug makes early visit; vaccine still suggested for those at risk:"The flu has arrived in Oregon, state public health officials said Monday. The state's first laboratory-confirmed case of influenza, in a 28-year-old man, was reported by Providence Portland Medical Center, according to the Department of Human Services. Nationwide, influenza activity was "low" the first week of November with six new cases reported, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Since Oct. 3, 53 cases have been confirmed in 28 states, not counting Oregon's case. " http://www.registerguard.com/news/2004/11/16/d1.cr.flu.1116.html ****************************************************** November 16, 2004: South Africa: Nurses in pyjama protest:"Port Elizabeth - Nurses in the Eastern Cape say they may go to work in pyjamas as part of their "civvies" protest about uniform allowances. The provincial secretary of the Democratic Nursing Organisation of SA (Denosa), Kholiswa Tota, said on Tuesday the protest started in the first week of November, when some nurses turned up for work in jeans and Denosa T-shirts." http://www.news24.com/News24/South_Africa/News/0,,2-7-1442_1621979,00.html ****************************************************** Nov. 15, 2004: Florida: Abuse In The Nursing Home:"When her mother developed severe dementia, Sandra Banning was forced to take the painful step of putting her in a nursing home. "It was like taking your best friend and just saying, 'I'm sorry I have to do this,'" says Banning. She thought her mother, Virginia Thurston, would be safe at Southwood Nursing Center, until the night she was sexually assaulted by another resident: 83-year-old Ivy Edwards." http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/11/15/eveningnews/main655704.shtml ****************************************************** Thursday, September 9, 2004: Colorado: Scholarships help address nurse shortage:"As a global nursing shortage has forced countless medical facilities to limit and even cut vital health care services to their patients, officials at Yampa Valley Medical Center are working hard to keep the impact of the shortage as far from Routt County as possible. An innovative scholarship program and an in-house training program are just two ways the Steamboat Springs hospital and health care facility is addressing its current and future nursing needs. "We're really trying to do something to help ourselves instead of wringing our hands and saying, 'Oh, there's a nursing shortage,'" YVMC spokesperson Christine McKelvie said." http://www.steamboatpilot.com/section/health_care/story/26753 ****************************************************** 11/8/04: Texas: Nursing Shortage Isn't Due To Lack Of Students:"The good news is that more people than ever are interested in nursing careers. The bad news is that not enough students are graduating each year to fill the job vacancies. A shortage of one million nurses is expected in the United States over the next 10 to 20 years. Besides a lack of enough nursing teachers, one reason for the shortage is the difference in patients." http://www.ktre.com/Global/story.asp?S=2539017&nav=2FH5Su83 ****************************************************** November 5, 2004: New York: Man Who Attempted To Rip Out Nurse's Vocal Cords Convicted:"30-year-old Bronx man has been convicted of assaulting a nurse at Bronx Lebanon Hospital in March 2002. Bronx District Attorney Robert Johnson said Andre Jeffries admitted to beating Charina Adamos. Jeffries could get 14 years in prison when he is sentenced Nov. 29. Johnson said Jeffries was hiding in the emergency room at the hospital on March 2, 2002 when the nurse walked in. The suspect allegedly grabbed the woman's smock and demanded money. He then allegedly punched her in the head several times." http://www.wnbc.com/news/3895482/detail.html ****************************************************** November 5, 2004: Australia: Nurse error killed baby: Coroner:"A TERRIBLE and preventable mistake made by an elderly nurse caused the death of a newborn baby, a Victorian Coroner said today. Baby Jaxson Heller died after midwife Thelma Natt gave his mother the wrong drugs during labour at Nhill Hospital in western Victoria on August 18, 2002. Mrs Natt was 70 when she injected Kellie Hiscock with syntometrine instead of pain killer pethidine after picking up the wrong syringe." http://www.nursingdiscussions.com/1702 ****************************************************** 06/20/2004 Nursing shortage threatens your health care, Nurse Immigration USA, LLC.:"The nurses in the profession think it's the best job in the world. But it can be physically difficult, very stressful and emotionally draining," said Carol Cooke, a spokeswoman for the American Nurses Association. "Couple that with a work environment that doesn't pay what it should, and it can be a pretty dire picture." Nurses account for about half of all health care workers, and studies show that they play a key role in monitoring patients' health status. Inadequate numbers of nurses are associated with increased infections, bleeding and cardiac and respiratory failure, studies show. About 53 percent of physicians and 65 percent of the public cited the nursing shortage as a leading cause of medical errors, according to a 2002 survey published in the New England Journal of Medicine." admin@nurseimmigrationusa.com 1-866-532-0274 http://www.nurseimmigrationusa.com/Downloads/CoreFiles/Nursing_shortage_threatens_your_health_care.htm ****************************************************** Monday, April 19, 2004: New York State: Hospitals brace for nurse shortage:"Local hospitals are preparing for a nurse shortage, even though most administrators said they haven't been affected. "If you don't have enough nurses, it definitely affects patient care," said Connie Jastremski, the chief nursing officer at Bassett Healthcare in Cooperstown. "We need to do better about being vigilant." Margaretville Memorial Hospital and Mountainside Nursing Home in Margaretville are feeling the effects of the shortage." http://www.thedailystar.com/news/stories/2004/04/19/nurse.html ****************************************************** January 5, 2004: North Carolina, Local entities combat nursing shortage:"Women also have many more choices than they once did. They aren't just relegated to nursing anymore. They can enter into any profession within the health field. "All those factors combined make it a complex shortage that doesn't have any easy solutions," Horns said. This absence of qualified nurses poses many pitfalls, like inadequate patient care. Fewer nurses jeopardize a patient's safety because hospitals may be forced to rely upon unlicensed personnel. Beds could remain open since staff may be unable to fulfill patients' needs." http://www.reflector.com/news/newsfd/auto/feed/news/2004/01/05/1073310990.16509.6910.0003.html ****************************************************** Dec. 14 2003: Canada: Ottowa: Nursing Workforce Getting Older: One in Three Canadian Nurses is 50 or Older. Foreign-trained Nurses Comprise 6% of the Nursing Workforce:"Today, the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) releases a series of new reports looking at the supply and distribution of the regulated nursing workforce in Canada. These reports show that the average age of Canadian nurses reached 44.5 years in 2003 and that one in three nurses in Canada is 50 years of age or older. In 2003, the average age of a registered nurse (RN) in Canada was 44.5, compared to 44.4 for licensed practical nurses (LPN) and 46.2 for registered psychiatric nurses (RPN). These reports, Workforce Trends of Registered Nurses in Canada, 2003; Workforce Trends of Licensed Practical Nurses in Canada, 2003; and, Workforce Trends of Registered Psychiatric Nurses in Canada, 2003 offer a comprehensive national perspective on the largest group of health care providers in Canada: the 309,587 women and men who comprise the regulated nursing workforce." http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/December2004/14/c4933.html ****************************************************** August 27, 2003: Men at Work, Nurseweek Magazine:"Thanks in part to campaigns designed to appeal to masculine sensibilities, more men are entering nursing—and discovering the joys of a profession traditionally dominated by women." http://www.nurseweek.com/news/features/03-08/manenough.asp ****************************************************** Monday, July 7, 2003: Delaware Moves To Relieve Nursing Shortage:"Governor Ruth Ann Minner said Monday the state has committed more than $1.8 million to help alleviate Delaware's nursing shortage by providing scholarships for future nurses and by expanding the nursing programs at Delaware Technical & Community College campuses statewide. Gov. Minner announced she has released $500,000 from the federally funded Workforce Investment Act Discretionary Fund to support a new scholarship program for Delawareans committed to nursing careers." http://www.state.de.us/governor/news/2003/07july/070703%20-%20nursing%20shortage%20targeted.shtml ****************************************************** 12 December 2001: Great Britain, More NHS Nurses and more NHS beds:"The number of nurses and midwives working in the NHS has increased by more than 10,000 in the last year alone. This means that since 1997 there has been a gain of 27,000 nurses and midwives. The NHS Plan set out a targeted increase in NHS nurses of 20,000 between 1999 and 2004. This means there has already been an increase of 16,000. The number of beds in NHS hospitals also continues to rise after decades of reductions. A snapshot survey of NHS beds carried out in November shows the number of general and acute beds in NHS hospitals rose by 1,225 compared to the same point in the previous year." http://www.number-10.gov.uk/news.asp?NewsId=3267&SectionId=30 ****************************************************** Thursday, December 6, 2001: Florida: House bill should attract more nurses:"With Northwest Florida hospitals facing some of the highest shortages of nurses in the state, a new bill that would expand the University of West Florida's nursing program should help attract more students to meet the critical needs in patient care." http://www.pensacolanewsjournal.com/news/120601/Opinion/ST001.shtml ****************************************************** Dec. 3, 2001: A Nurse's Viewpoint: The nursing crisis: Searching for solutions:"Reports on the crises in nursing and their implications for patient care have essentially become daily fodder for the journalists in this country. Our local paper recently featured a two-day, multi-page series of articles that resulted in spreading fear among care-givers and care-recipients alike. I receive frequent phone calls from family and friends, consumers of healthcare (e.g."patients") with sad tales about their encounters with the healthcare system. I also have been hearing, with increasing frequency, concerns expressed by patients, their families and friends, about potential encounters with the healthcare system. http://www.healthleaders.com/news/feature1.php?contentid=29776&CE_Session=411cd3c85016e5d521ee48322f5993e4 ****************************************************** November 28, 2001: New York, Smithtown: Hospital Nurses Set Strike Deadline:"Nurses at Smithtown's St. Catherine of Siena Medical Center announced their intention to walk off the job unless a new contract between the 474 nurses belonging to the New York State Nurses Association and hospital management can be brokered." http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=2694387&BRD=1776&PAG=461&dept_id=6365&rfi=6 ****************************************************** Thursday November 22nd, 2001: Nevada, Reno: 36 Washoe Med nurses strike for a day Care not affected, hospital says:"Picketers carried signs while shouting and waving to motorists Wednesday on sidewalks around Washoe Medical Center during the second 24-hour nursing union strike at the hospital in five months." http://www.rgj.com/news/stories/news/1006489662.php ****************************************************** November 18, 2001: Pennsylvania, Pottstown: Agencies screen aides to prevent problems:"Lynn Jackson, prior to her recent arrest on theft and other charges, was employed as a home health aide in the Pottstown area. Jackson used her employment as a way to access the homes and valuables of at least two elderly West Pottsgrove women, according to police." http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=2659197&BRD=1674&PAG=461&dept_id=18041&rfi=6 ****************************************************** Sunday, November 18, 2001: Pennsylvania: Recruiters traveling to fill nursing shortage:"With fears that a nursing shortage could affect patient care, some local hospitals are looking overseas to fill vacancies. Recruiters from West Penn Allegheny Health System, whose flagship facilities are Allegheny General on the North Side . . ." http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/tribune-review/news/s_4517.html ****************************************************** November 13, 2001: Missisippi: Hydraulic knee like real thing:"Doctors amputated Spann's right leg above the knee. When he showed up at Methodist Rehabilitation Center's orthotics and prosthetics clinic in Monroe, La., the 49-year-old registered nurse was ready to get back to work." http://orig.clarionledger.com/news/0111/13/m16.html ****************************************************** Nursing Shortage Serious For Seniors:"There is a threat to the health of every older adult in the United States and Canada looming on the horizon. It is not a virus or new type of bacteria that is causing this threat. The threat to health is a result of the increasing shortage of nurses in both countries." http://seniorhealth.about.com/library/weekly/aa050501a.htm?once=true&IAM=intelliseek&terms=nursing+shortage ****************************************************** January 12, 2001: Some worry nursing shortage could put patients at risk:"Health care experts are worried that a national nursing shortage could become widespread later in the decade -- just as the aging U.S. population requires more care. A recent study by Vanderbilt University's School of Nursing in Nashville, Tennessee, found that the number of full-time registered nurses was projected to peak around 2007 and then decline steadily as more nurses retire along with the nation's Baby Boomers." http://www.cnn.com/2001/HEALTH/01/12/nursing.shortage/ ****************************************************** See also: About Nursing News, About.com:"Updated Every Wednesday." http://nursing.about.com/ ****************************************************** ****************************************************** ****************************************************** Please Choose From The Following: Nursing News Stories, June 2005 Nursing News Stories, May 2005 Nursing Home Abuse Nursing Homes Nursing Schools Nursing Shortage, Short Staffing, Recruitment & Retention Please Click here for the 2001 News Archives: August 2001, July 2001, June 2001, May 2001, Year 2000 Archives, Year 1999 Archives, ****************************************************** ****************************************************** ******************************************************   Web www.nursinga2z.com www.nursinghumor.com www.4nursing.com Nursing Topics, A to Z: A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, K L, M, N, O, P, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y, Z To subscribe to our: Nurse Friendly Notes Newsletter: Send a blank e-mail to: nursefriendlynotes-subscribe@topica.com http://www.nursefriendly.com Nursing Jokes, Medical Humor, Jokes to make you laugh and smile all day. Send a blank email to: nursingjokes-subscribe@topica.com http://lists.topica.com/lists/nursingjokes/ Clinical Nursing Cases: Send a blank message to: clinicalnursingcases-subscribe@topica.com http://www.nursingcasestudy.com Inspirational Stories: Send a blank e-mail to: inspirationalstories-subscribe@topica.com http://www.inspirationalnursing.com If your website is not listed here, we encourage you to submit it: Add Your Website/URL. See also: Nursing Degrees, LPN-RN, RN-BSN, RN-MSN, Online/Offline College, University and more!:"Higher income. Career mobility. Now, no matter where you live or what your schedule, you can earn your Associate or Bachelor Degree to take your professional life to the next level — without putting the rest of your life on hold!" If you do any Browsing or Windowshopping online, please visit our online Mall: http://www.nursefriendly.com/shopping/ Gifts For Nurses: http://www.nursefriendly.com/gifts/ 4nursinguniforms.com:"Choose from Top Nursing Uniform Companies. All sizes, styles and popular name brands available. Large selection of accessories as well: Accessories Blood Pressure Cuffs, Sphygnomanometers Nursing Tote Bags, Carry-Ons, Medical Bags Clinical, Medical Supplies, Nurses Discount Outlet: Angels, Books, Clothing , Equipment, Figurines, Holidays, Home Decor, Jewelry, Nurses, Office Decor, Scrubs, Shoes, T-Shirts Footwear, Shoes, Sandals, Discount, Bargains Gifts For Nurses (Nurses Week) Hosiery, Socks, Stockings Hats, Jackets, Jumpers Jewelry, Earrings, Necklaces, Watches Luxury Spas, Facials, Manicures, Pedicures Perfumes, Fragrances, Phermones Shoes, Boots, Sandals, Footwear, High Heels, Slippers Stethescopes, Nurse Kits, Replacement Parts Swimwear (Tan-Through) Women's Lingerie " 4nursinguniforms.com Search For Scrubs, Uniforms & More on eBay! Choose Nursing Uniforms, Shoes, Scrubs, Accessories By Brand: Barco, Birkenstock, Cherokee, Crest, Dickies, Disney, Haflinger, Landau, Nurse Mates, Peaches, Rockport, Romika, White Cross, White Swan See also: Accessories Blood Pressure Cuffs, Sphygnomanometers Nursing Tote Bags, Carry-Ons, Medical Bags Clinical, Medical Supplies, Nurses Discount Outlet: Angels, Books, Clothing , Equipment, Figurines, Holidays, Home Decor, Jewelry, Nurses, Office Decor, Scrubs, Shoes, T-Shirts Footwear, Shoes, Sandals, Discount, Bargains Gifts For Nurses (Nurses Week) Hosiery, Socks, Stockings Jewelry, Earrings, Necklaces, Watches Luxury Spas, Facials, Manicures, Pedicures Perfumes, Fragrances, Phermones Shoes, Boots, Sandals, Footwear, High Heels, Slippers Stethescopes, Nurse Kits, Replacement Parts Swimwear (Tan-Through) Women's Lingerie Surprised? eBay Has Nursing Supplies, scrubs, uniforms, stethescopes, etc.:"You can find nursing supplies right here! With over 5 million items for sale every day, you'll find the nursing supplies you're looking for at the world's online marketplace - eBay!" http://www.nursefriendly.com/ebay/ Nurses' Station:"The idea for the Nurses' Station Catalog was conceived in 1989. After searching the marketplace in response to customer inquiries, it became obvious that there were no catalogs of this type serving the nursing profession. To be sure, there were several catalogs offering nurse's uniforms and a smattering of professional items. But there weren't any catalogs at the time offering a range of gifts, clothing, professional items, name badges, shoes and scrubs for nurses. It took two years of hard work to gather samples and put a together a catalog of the most unique and high-quality items for nurses." Nurses Station P.O. Box 388 Centerbrook, CT 06409-03881 http://www.nursefriendly.com/station/ Nursing In The Media, Nursingadvocacy.org ER:"Media products under your influence, particularly the NBC/Warner drama "ER," are harming the profession of 2.7 million American nurses by giving the public an inaccurate and inadequate account of what nurses really do to save and improve lives. Research suggests that "ER" strongly and negatively influences the way children view nursing. These products contribute to the nursing shortage, a public health crisis that threatens millions worldwide." NBC's "Passions":"NBC's "Passions" solves nursing shortage: monkeys can do the job! Starting in March 2003 and at least as recently as late August, NBC's campy, supernatural daytime soap opera "Passions" has featured an orangutan named Precious in the role of the private duty nurse of one of its characters--a bold step backwards in the already slow...evolution...of the media's treatment of nurses. more..." "Scrubs" defines nursing:""Scrubs" defines nursing: it's all about shutting up and following physician "orders. " Tonight's episode of NBC's "Scrubs," which purports to teach nurse Carla Espinosa that nursing is all about doing what physicians tell you, is one of the most virulently anti-nurse prime time television episodes the Center has ever seen. more..." http://www.nursingadvocacy.org/ Nursing Chat, Nurse Discussion Forums: http://nursingdiscussions.com Alphabetical Nursing Topic Discussion, Chat List Are good CNA jobs that hard to find? Being A Male Nurse Curtailing Workplace Gossip Dealing With Confrontation In Nursing Degree Vs Diploma EKG Classes First Year On The Floor Horror Stories -- working short staffed How Many Hours A Week Do You Work Impaired Nurses Liability Question for Experienced Nurses LPN vs. RN vs. BSN, etc... Male Nurses Mandatory BSN to practice nursing being considered Mean Age of RNs Military Nursing More Foreign Nurses, Is It A Plot? Nurse Entrepreneurs Nurses Aides, Can't Live With Them. . . Nurses In Recovery: Nursing & Adult ADD Put Male Nurses In Panties Rude Doctors Specialty Nursing Staff Nurses Tattoos In The Workplace The Nursing Shortage, Your Opinions To Stay In Nursing or Not Travel Nurses Talk Travel Nursing Workplace Violence, Horizontal Violence Against Nurses ****************************************************** ****************************************************** The Uniform Resource Locator (URL) or Internet Street Address of this page is: http://www.nursefriendly.com/nursing/nursing.new.stories.current.events.htm Created on January 15, 2000 Last updated by Andrew Lopez, RN on Wednesday, February 27, 2008 This Page is Part of The Nursefriendly National Nursing A To Z & Consumer Health Directories We are Incorporated in The State of New Jersey, under the name: Nursefriendly, Inc. 38 Tattersall Drive, Mantua, New Jersey (NJ) 08051 Our Phone #: 856-415-9617 We are a proud member of The National Nurses in Business Association, http://www.nnba.net This website Is © Copyright 1997 - 2008, Andrew Lopez, RN, Nursefriendly, Inc. Please contact us for permission to reproduce. Other products and companies referred to herein are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies or mark holders, and are not owned or affiliated with Nursefriendly, Inc. or any of it's affiliated companies. View My Stats