nursing perspective Archives - Page 120 of 158

Enough with the Scare Tactics: Some Follow-Up on the IOM Report on the Future of Nursing

Shawn Kennedy, AJN’s interim editor-in-chief, already posted here about the importance of the recently released Institute of Medicine Report on the Future of Nursing. Its implications are particularly profound at a time when we have a scarcity of primary care providers—and also at a time when the Affordable Care Act (i.e., health care reform) has designated more resources to nursing education and to generally making better use of nurses’ expertise. A number of bloggers have written about the IOM report, several of them expressing chagrin about the predictably naysaying American Medical Association response. Rebutting the AMA, the Center for Health Media and Policy at Hunter College had this to say. One working NP who weighed in on this topic is Stephen Ferrara, who noted (almost two weeks ago, in fact, though we missed it until now) the real world implications of the current situation for NPs in New York State, in a succinct post on his blog, A Nurse Practitioner’s View:

The bottom line is (at least in NY where I practice), without a collaborating physician on record, the 14,000 or so NPs are unemployed and can’t legally do anything that we were trained or educated to do. It is time to remove these non-evidence based barriers and retrospective reviews and allow us to function as true partners on the health care team. Collaboration among providers would still continue to happen and I promise pigs wouldn’t start to fly. Fourteen states have already transitioned to to an […]
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Jacob Molyneux, senior editor/blog editor2016-11-21T13:15:10-05:00October 21st, 2010|career, health care policy, nursing perspective|0 Comments

No Explanation Required: A Preceptor’s Tale

By Marcy Phipps, RN, whose essay, “The Soul on the Head of a Pin,” appeared in the May issue of AJN. She has also contributed a number of thought-provoking posts to this blog (here’s the most recent).

I’ve been precepting a new ICU nurse intern, which I generally enjoy doing. The only downside (from the preceptor’s perspective) is that I’m obliged to call ahead and request “unstable” assignments. This is meant to enhance the clinical aspect of the internship, and it definitely does. Considering that I work in a trauma center, though, reserving the sickest patient in the unit feels a bit like ordering up a large serving of chaos. And although I can request the assignment, I can’t predict what will be learned.

Our most recent patient was a new admission with a traumatic brain injury. At the start of our shift he had a grim neuro prognosis and was hemodynamically unstable. His condition deteriorated throughout the day and he was eventually diagnosed as brain-dead. His family chose to donate his organs.

Taking care of an organ donor is difficult. Brain-dead patients are inherently unstable, yet certain parameters must be maintained to ensure adequate organ perfusion. It’s tedious and meticulous. It also requires a shift of perspective—ironically, even though the patient is legally dead, […]

Marcy Phipps, BSN, RN, CCRN, CFRN2016-11-21T13:15:13-05:00October 20th, 2010|Nursing, nursing perspective, students|5 Comments

What Keeps You Up at Night?

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

A recent national survey revealed that nurses as a profession are the most dependent on coffee (the survey was commissioned, in part, by Dunkin’ Donuts, though at least conducted by Harris Interactive). The survey asked 3,600 people about their productivity as it related to coffee consumption. The results are interesting if not surprising. Physicians fall in just behind nurses, and hotel workers hold third place.

While working the night shift early in my career, I got my caffeine jolt from diet soda. Not too many years later I developed a taste for coffee by adding hot chocolate to it, in effect creating “mochas” before they were sold for $3.50 each. I still prefer fancier concoctions such as flavored lattes, but in a pinch can be found clutching a packet of powdered creamer over a black cup of hotel room coffee. Some may venture to compare my progressive caffeine consumption to an addiction, and I can’t totally discount that theory. But if you consider that the top three positions on the survey may require work during the night, is it surprising that those who do these jobs also report some dependence on a stimulant? Since many of us seem to depend on caffeine to perform our […]

Guest Author2016-11-21T13:15:15-05:00October 18th, 2010|nursing perspective|6 Comments

IOM Report: The Evidence Shows the Future of Health Care Rests on the Backs of Nurses

By Shawn Kennedy, AJN interim editor-in-chief

This past Tuesday, I attended the release of the highly anticipated (at least by nursing) report by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) on the future of nursing. Spearheaded and supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), the report provides a review of nursing’s role in health care and details what changes need to occur for the future—not just of nursing, but for the future health of the health care system.

While the findings support what nursing has been claiming all along—that nurses have a critical role in health care and the health care system needs nurses to practice to the full extent of their capability—what is especially important about this report is that it is backed by the IOM’s multidisciplinary panel and an “objective evaluation of evidence according to the robust evaluation processes of the National Academy of Sciences,” said John Rowe, a committee member and professor at Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University.

The panel at the public briefing for the release of the report included some health care heavyweights who voiced strong support for the findings:

Harvey V. Fineburg, president of the IOM: “One thing shouts out—nurses are critical to the nation’s health and central to the goals of high quality care.”

Risa Lavizzo-Mourey, president and CEO of the […]

Jacob Molyneux, senior editor/blog editor2016-11-21T13:15:20-05:00October 8th, 2010|career, health care policy, nursing perspective, nursing research|4 Comments

Promoting Awareness of Patient-Centered Care

By Shawn Kennedy, AJN interim editor-in-chief

October is, among other things, patient-centered care awareness month. At AJN, we’ve been focusing on patient-centered care for some time, most recently by virtue of our collaboration on a series of articles with Planetree, a nonprofit that “facilitates patient-centered care in healing environments.” The first article, Creating a Patient-Centered System, appeared in March 2009; the final article (from which we took the image above) was published in September 2010, and they’re all available in a collection on our Web site. Articles focus on such topics as creating quieter hospital environments and promoting patient access to medical records. We’re excited that this collaboration evolved into a four-part free webinar series supported by the Picker Institute. The final webinar, A Patient-Centered Approach to Visitation, presented by Planetree vice president Jeanette Michalak, MSN, RN, along with Wendy Tennis, BA, and Nancy Jane Schreiner, BSN, RN, will be on October 19 at 1 pm EST. We hope you will register and learn how to facilitate family visitation that meets patient needs. (The Planetree Web site also offers a downloadable toolkit and suggestions to focus attention on patient-centered care.)

Jacob Molyneux, senior editor/blog editor2016-11-21T13:15:25-05:00October 7th, 2010|nursing perspective, patient engagement|0 Comments