Off the Charts

Marketers Honing In On Online Nurses

Nurses, you’re being watched: a marketing Website has an article on the growing influence of nurses online. Let us know what you think. Here’s an excerpt:

. . . Manhattan Research recently released a report about nurses online noting that approximately three out of four U.S. nurses recommend health websites to patients. The study notes that the average nurse spends eight hours per week online for professional purposes, which is just as much time as physicians, and almost all of them use the Internet in between patient consultations. Nurses are also proactive in researching medical product information specifically online – over eighty percent have visited a pharma, biotech, or device company website in the past year.

In addition to the prevalence of the Internet as a research and patient communication tool, nurses are continuing to find their unique voices online through a growing number of prominent nursing blogs such as Codeblog and Emergiblog which both share powerful stories of healthcare from the nurses’ point of view.

Also found today on the Web: […]

Jacob Molyneux, senior editor/blog editor2016-11-21T13:22:00-05:00October 2nd, 2009|health care policy, healthcare social media|1 Comment

Comparative Effectiveness Research–Is Health Care Reform Possible Without It?

Improve health, reduce costs: that’s the mantra health care reform advocates keep repeating. And it’s easy to see why: this year, total health care spending in the United States is expected to reach $2.5 trillion, accounting for almost 18% of the gross domestic product. By 2018 the total could be $4.4 trillion-and because economic growth is expected to be slower over this period, that total may account for one-fifth of the gross domestic product in 2018. And even with all of this spending, the United States lags behind other industrialized nations on many measures of health and well being.

While there are many paths to achieving the twin goals of better outcomes and lower costs, a consensus has been growing among health policy experts and economists that part of the solution is to improve the way medical research is conducted and then put it into practice in both providers’ and consumers’ decision making. Comparative effectiveness research (CER)-a model by which cost-benefit analyses of different treatments for a given condition are compared-provides the means for understanding which interventions yield the best health outcomes for the least amount of money.

Read the rest of the article in the October issue of AJN here. With something so complex, life altering, and expensive as health care, how could we not expect to do a little comparative shopping about cost and quality?

Jacob Molyneux, senior editor/blog editor2016-11-21T13:22:02-05:00October 1st, 2009|health care policy|0 Comments

Mandating Flu Vaccines for Nurses

By Diana J. Mason, RN, PhD, editor-in-chief emeritus

Yesterday, nurses and other health care workers from New York State went to the state capitol in Albany to protest a regulation issued by the New York State Department of Health mandating that all health care workers get vaccinated for both the seasonal flu and for the pandemic H1N1 2009 influenza by November 30th or lose their jobs. Deborah Gerhardt, RN, who was interviewed by USA Today, says she may have to lose her job because she doesn’t have confidence in the safety of the new H1N1 vaccine: “Just because the FDA approved the H1N1 vaccine ‘doesn’t mean it’s safe in my book.'”

New York State Commissioner of Health Richard Daines, MD, disagrees, and followed up an open letter to health care workers released on September 24th with a press conference to defend the new policy. The New York State Nurses Association, which urges nurses to get vaccinated but is against mandatory vaccinations, wrote their own open letter in response.

Citing one study of health care workers during a mild flu season that showed that 23% of the workers showed evidence of having had the flu that season but that 59% of these said they didn’t have the flu that year, Daines said that his concern is that workers are carrying the virus and exposing at-risk patients without realizing it. When challenged on whether family members and other visitors represent an equally great threat to patient […]

Jacob Molyneux, senior editor/blog editor2016-11-21T13:22:03-05:00September 30th, 2009|nursing perspective|7 Comments

Don’t Panic, Prepare: Edgy Moment for H1N1

By Shawn Kennedy, MA, RN, AJN editorial director & interim editor-in-chief

While many people (including nurses) remain relatively unworried about the coming flu season, others, it seems, are on high alert. I do wonder about the millions of dollars being spent (and being made) in the name of H1N1 (swine flu). I’ve heard of several seminars touting “must-know” facts and bearing titles that might make hospital administrators feel negligent if they don’t send staff (at hefty registration fees). Many companies, including mine, are distributing bottles of hand sanitizer to employees. And I can’t even imagine how many N95 respirators have sold since the Institute of Medicine (IOM) recently recommended their use by health care workers caring for patients with pandemic (H1N1) 2009 influenza.

Take it seriously. Still, as a former emergency nurse, I’m all for being prepared for disasters. This influenza should be taken seriously. As of September 20, the World Health Organization reports there have been 3,917 deaths and more than 300,000 confirmed cases worldwide, although the actual number of cases is probably much higher. The latest surveillance report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicates widespread flu activity throughout much of the […]

Guest Author2016-11-21T13:22:05-05:00September 29th, 2009|nursing perspective|0 Comments

Shortage of School Nurses Means Greater Student Vulnerability to H1N1

By Alison Bulman, AJN senior editorial coordinator

the school bus routine by woodley wonderworks, via Flickr.

On Friday the New York Times reported that a shortage of school nurses is making students more vulnerable to the pandemic (H1N1) 2009 virus, stating that ” [m]any districts have few or no nurses to prevent or respond to outbreaks, leaving students more vulnerable to a virus that spreads easily in classrooms and takes a heavier toll on children and young adults.”

The article acknowledges the key role played by school nurse Mary Pappas, who we interviewed for this blog shortly after she’d helped identify the first U.S. cases of H1N1 at a school in Queens. As AJN reported in June, school nurses have been and will continue to be on the front lines of efforts to prevent or manage outbreaks. But the school nursing shortage is acute, with just one nurse for every 1,155 students nationally, a ratio that the American Federation of Teachers has called “dangerous.” With a new school year underway, the Times reports, school districts are relying more heavily on non–health care personnel to identify and isolate sick kids and monitor absences.

For more on issues related to school nurses and nursing, see these recent posts:

Can School Nurses Help Prevent Heat Stroke Fatalities in High School Football?

Nurse Organizations Oppose Move to Allow Non-Licensed Personnel to Give Insulin to Students