Affordable Care Act Archives - Page 7 of 7

Nurses, Hospitals, and Social Media: It Depends What Business You’re In

Hospitals with social media policies are not necessarily squelching their employees' right to freedom of speech. They don't want to spend time and money in court defending their public image. They already spend lots of money on marketing. They are in the business of patient care, not entertainment. So hospitals with social media polices take the position that you can post or tweet to your heart's content, but should keep in mind the following:

Julianna Paradisi, RN, OCN2016-11-21T13:14:17-05:00January 19th, 2011|career, healthcare social media, Nursing, Patients|2 Comments

HCR: Been There, Done That

By Maureen ‘Shawn’ Kennedy, AJN editor in chief

I was doing some research in the AJN archives and came across an editorial written in November 1993 by Virginia Trotter Betts, then-president of the American Nurses Association. “The Best Buy in Health Care” (click through to the PDF option; article will be free until July 18) reads like it was written with the Institute of Medicine’s Future of Nursing report in mind. Here’s an excerpt for those who don’t have access to the AJN archives (a shameless plug: subscribers have full access to ALL the issues of AJN, back to the very first issue in 1900—a treasure trove of nursing history):

“But we must also face the fact that such reform will require significant changes in nursing. Nurses will have to operate with greater autonomy and deliver care to a broader clientele. To foster enhanced roles for nurses as case managers and team leaders, nursing administrators must alert the work environment to offer a continuum of care on site and off site. Nurse educators will need to offer innovative programs, curricula, and clinical placements that prepare nurses for careers characterized by critical thinking and maximum flexibility. Nurse researchers will need to add more health care system, economic and policy studies to their repertoire.”

And another:

“Nurses want to do more in a reformed system to facilitate access at a reasonable cost. We want to do what we are educated to do – provide […]

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Jacob Molyneux, senior editor/blog editor2016-11-21T13:14:18-05:00January 18th, 2011|career, health care policy, nursing perspective|0 Comments

On the Road to the Future of Nursing

By Shawn Kennedy, interim editor-in-chief

I’m writing this on the train to Washington, DC, heading to the National Summit on Advancing Health through Nursing, which is taking place November 30 and December 1. This is the next step of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Initiative on the Future of Nursing (see my October 8 blog post) and will launch the Campaign for Action—the plan for implementing the recommendations of the Institute of Medicine’s report, The Future of Nursing. (You’ll be able to access the webcast and a live chat of webcast users on November 30 here.)

If you haven’t read anything about this initiative, do so. If you’re a nurse and plan to be working for the next 10 years, the recommendations from this report, if implemented, will affect you in some way. Expect to see changes in the following areas, to name just a few:

how and where nurses practice
undergraduate and graduate curricula
licensing and certification criteria
reimbursement policies

Other nursing initiatives have come and gone, some more successful in achieving their goals than others. AJN will cover the progress of this initiative as it attempts to evolve from a written report to an active process that creates sustainable change. As a start, in the December issue, now available at ajnonline.com, AJN brings you a guest editorial by Susan Hassmiller, director of the Initiative on the Future of Nursing. There’s also a summary and analysis of the report in […]

Jacob Molyneux, senior editor/blog editor2016-11-21T13:14:49-05:00November 29th, 2010|career|1 Comment

AJN Webnotes: Anatomizing Medical Errors; Insurance Rebates; Social Media and Nurses

The most popular article in last week’s New England Journal of Medicine did not tout the discovery of a novel gene, nor describe a cardiology clinical trial with a clever acronym as its title. Rather, it was the report of a case in which a surgeon at the Massachusetts General Hospital performed the wrong operation on a 65-year-old woman.

So begins a nicely engaging summary post at The Health Care Blog of the main points of an NEJM article describing how a medical error occurred—and yes, nurses play a major role in the story too.

Feel like your insurance company spends too much time trying to weasel you out of your money? Kaiser Health News reports today that the Affordable Care Act may soon result in a little payback, in the form of rebates:

Millions of Americans might be eligible for rebates starting in 2012 under regulations released Monday detailing the health care law’s requirement that insurers spend at least 80 percent of their revenue on direct medical care.

“I have nothing listed under my work experience, yet Facebook somehow knows where I work,” cries Not Nurse Ratched, in a post called “Latest Facebook creepiness rant.” Such surprises are worth considering for anyone who might forget that information has a life of its own on the Web. Speaking of social media and nurses, A Nurse Practitioner’s View gives a quick survey of social media networking platforms […]

Jacob Molyneux, senior editor/blog editor2016-11-21T13:14:53-05:00November 22nd, 2010|health care policy, healthcare social media|0 Comments

Still Confused About Health Care Reform? Welcome to the Club

By Peggy McDaniel, BSN, RN. Peggy is an infusion practice manager who occasionally writes for this blog.

I admit that I’ve been a bit overwhelmed with the ongoing discussions around health care reform. It sounds like I’m not the only one. FierceHealthcare.com recently reported that the results of a Harris Poll suggest many Americans remain befuddled about the implications of the Affordable Care Act passed in March:

“Here are some areas [w]here a general cluelessness among those polled prevailed:

82 percent think the bill will result in rationing of healthcare or that it might (it won’t);

79 percent don’t know or aren’t sure if drug companies will pay an annual fee (they will);

73 percent don’t know the law establishes a new tax on the sale of medical devices;

66 percent don’t know or aren’t sure if the legislation will result in insurance exchanges where people can shop for insurance (it will); and

63 percent either aren’t sure or don’t know if the new law will increase the number of people elibible for Medicaid (it will).

The chairman of the Harris Poll is quoted in the article: “It seems people are still reacting to the rhetoric, not the substance of what is in the bill . . .”

Considering the results of this poll, what do you think it would take to get the public up to speed on the facts? Do Americans not care, or is it too overwhelming? As a nurse, I feel I should be more informed about the law. And I’m going to spend […]

Jacob Molyneux, senior editor/blog editor2016-11-21T13:16:17-05:00August 5th, 2010|health care policy|1 Comment