‘Problems Worthy of Attack’: Takeaways from IOM Summit on Nursing’s Future

By Shawn Kennedy, AJN interim editor-in-chief

Last week, I spent two days at the summit convened by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to launch the Campaign for Action—the strategic plan to implement the recommendations of the Institute of Medicine’s (IOM) report on the future of nursing.

The days were packed with presentations from key players in health care, who offered their perspectives for implementing the recommendations (plus lots of networking, hallway “sidebars,” animated dinner conversation, and commitments from individuals and organizations to continue the momentum). Here are some quotes and snippets of conversation that stick with me as I work on a more comprehensive report:

IOM president Harvey Fineberg, in his opening remarks: “It’s our turn to act to advance nursing and health.”

Risa Lavizzo-Mourey, president and CEO of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, opening the event: “We will remember that we were here on November 30 at the beginning of a new future for nursing.” And cautioning: “scope of practice is the hot button that could blow all this apart.” (A thought echoed by Jack Rowe, an IOM committee member, professor at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, and former CEO of Aetna, who used the term “combustible.”) […]

2016-11-21T13:14:45-05:00December 6th, 2010|career, health care policy, nursing perspective|0 Comments
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Fighting Malaria with Public Health Billboards and Mosquito Nets

By Dawn Starin

The metal billboard in the photo stands in the main marketplace on the island of Bubaque, the second largest in Guinea-Bissau’s Bijagós Archipelago. It depicts a mother and child sleeping under an insecticide-treated mosquito net. Translated into English, the text reads, “Malaria kills more pregnant women and children. Always sleep underneath the mosquito net.” But it’s not clear whether it gets its crucial message across effectively.

Half the global population—about 3.3 billion people—is at risk for contracting malaria, a parasitic infection transmitted by mosquitoes. The disease kills close to one million people each year; 91% of these deaths occur in Africa. A major global campaign, Roll Back Malaria (RBM), was launched in 1998 with a mandate “to implement coordinated action to combat malaria” worldwide; some 500 organizations now take part.

One RBM effort in sub-Saharan Africa (an area that includes Guinea-Bissau) is aimed at getting more people to use insecticide-treated bed nets, since the parasite-carrying mosquitoes are reportedly only active at night. In Africa malaria accounts for one in five deaths in children. 

Pregnant women are also at high risk, as they’re bitten by the mosquitoes twice as often as nonpregnant women. Why? According to a study published in 2000 in the Lancet, pregnant women have a higher body temperature and warmer skin and produce […]

2016-11-21T13:14:46-05:00December 2nd, 2010|Nursing|2 Comments
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To Err is Human . . . To Improve Elusive?

Peggy McDaniel, BSN, RN, is an infusion practice manager and occasional blogger

As a nurse working in the quality improvement and patient safety arena, I’m not surprised that the title of a recent article at Fierce Healthcare got my attention: “Hospitals Are Bad for Your Health.” The article highlights a recently released report from the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General based on a study of Medicare patients discharged in 2008. Among other things, it revealed that “44% of adverse or temporary harm events were clearly or likely preventable.” The usual culprits were to blame:

  • infections
  • medication errors
  • surgery-related errors
  • patient care issues

Most of these have been previously labeled as “never events” by the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services (CMS), and currently hospitals are not being reimbursed for the costs incurred if one or more of these happen to a patient while in the hospital. CMS was the first to implement such a pay-for-performance model—and major insurance companies have followed their lead.

In recently published NEJM study, 63% of the adverse events reported in the hospitals studied were deemed preventable. This study was disheartening because we recently passed the 10-year anniversary of the release of the

2016-11-21T13:14:47-05:00December 1st, 2010|nursing perspective|3 Comments
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