Of Interest on the Web – June 2, 2009

By DeclanTM, via Flickr.

The most recent “Change of Shift,” a regular nursing blogosphere roundup (“the carnival dedicated to nurses and nursing”), is up over at Code Blog. We appreciate the mention of our recent post about virtual nurses in a virtual ICU.

How can we have health care reform without first controlling costs? In this week’s New Yorker, Atul Gawande undertakes a fascinating and in-depth comparison of the very different health care approaches of two American towns. Leave your preconceptions at the door.

Speaking of quality control, here’s Health News Review’s analysis of a recent story in the Washington Post about screening and treatment of major depressive disorder in teens (the story gets a 4 out of a possible 10).

And, for those of you in the mood, here’s one nurse’s blunt message to new interns. A brief excerpt:

I worked as a neurosurgical nurse many years ago at a teaching hospital in the Midwest, and twice a year a new crop of interns descended upon our unit. It was the best show in town. The spectacle began with the chief of neurosurgery, Dr. Holier Than Thou, strutting on to the unit with his entourage marching behind him.

2016-11-21T13:27:27-05:00June 2nd, 2009|health care policy, nursing perspective|0 Comments
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Virtual Nurses in a Virtual ICU – Will Technology Trump Staffing?

Virtual Reality Headset Prototype (circa 1968). Photo by Pargon, via Flickr.

If you want to know what the ICU of the future will be like, think of an extremely ill patient connected to myriad tubes and monitors; watched by cameras; every sigh, snore, or change in breath sound picked up by an audio feed.

Then remove the patient, leaving just monitors, speakers, and video screens. […]

2016-11-21T13:27:49-05:00May 22nd, 2009|health care policy|2 Comments
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Assessing the News About Health – Notes from a Conversation with Gary Schwitzer

Asked what the major issues in health care reporting are right now, Schwitzer said that, after analyzing 780 stories from the major newspapers and networks that feed Americans their news on health care, he and his colleagues have found that "72% of stories fail to adequately address costs." "71% fail to adequately quantify benefits."

2016-11-21T13:27:56-05:00May 21st, 2009|health care policy, nursing research|0 Comments
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Seeds of Change? Nurses Want Prescribing Power When It Comes to Health Care Reform

"Buck Up," by zenera / via Flickr.

According to a useful overview by the Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, nurses, insurers, and others are fighting to be included in the health care reform debate. We know the insurers can take care of themselves, so let’s focus on the nurses:

Hundreds of nurses last week rallied on Capitol Hill in an attempt to have their voices and opinions on health care reform heard and included as lawmakers begin to draft legislation, Roll Call reports. The rally included the California Nurses Association –  National Nurses Organizing Committee, the American Academy of Nursing, the American Nurses Association and the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners. According to Roll Call, some of the groups disagree on the details of reform, including whether reform should include a single-payer system, but are united in their effort to be included in discussions on overhaul legislation. Michelle Artz, a lobbyist for ANA, said, “We want to make sure this isn’t a physician-centric dialogue” (Ackley, Roll Call, 5/18).

As far as I know, the American Academy of Nursing (AAN) wasn’t actually present at that rally. But what matters is that there is growing recognition that effective health care reform will not happen without the involvement of nurses. The […]

2016-11-21T13:28:10-05:00May 20th, 2009|health care policy|1 Comment
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Views expressed on the blog are solely those of the authors or persons quoted. They do not necessarily reflect AJN’s views or those of Wolters Kluwer Health/Lippincott Williams and Wilkins.
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