Creating New Solutions from Caring Ideas

Sanofi announces nursing recognition program to help turn caring ideas into new solutions

Nurses worldwide are encouraged to enter an exciting recognition program showcasing nursing innovations and care solutions

DEADLINE EXTENDED TO March 31, 2012

Paris, France, 9 November, 2011…  Sanofi and its partnering organizations, the International Council of Nurses (ICN); the Nurse Practitioner Healthcare Foundation (NPHF); le Secrétariat International Des Infirmières et Infirmiers de l’Espace Francophone (SIDIIEF); and l’Association Française pour le Développement de l’Education Thérapeutique (AFDET) are delighted to announce the CARE CHALLENGE  recognition programme (www.care-challenge.com), inviting nurses to submit their innovative patient care ideas and projects. Nurses from anywhere around the world can share, exchange, and nominate projects and ideas for the CARE CHALLENGE initiative and be eligible to receive an award. To accommodate the international scope of this programme, the deadline for submissions online at www.care-challenge.com has been extended to March 31, 2012.

Continue reading

From Today’s New York Times: Calling the Nurse ‘Doctor’

Calling the Nurse ‘Doctor,’ a Title Physicians Oppose

By 

NASHVILLE — With pain in her right ear, Sue Cassidy went to a clinic. The doctor, wearing a white lab coat with a stethoscope in one pocket, introduced herself.

“Hi. I’m Dr. Patti McCarver, and I’m your nurse,” she said. And with that, Dr. McCarver stuck a scope in Ms. Cassidy’s ear, noticed a buildup of fluid and prescribed an allergy medicine.

It was something that will become increasingly routine for patients: a someone who is not a physician using the title of doctor.

Dr. McCarver calls herself a doctor because she returned to school to earn a doctorate last year, one of thousands of nurses doing the same recently. Doctorates are popping up all over the health professions, and the result is a quiet battle over not only the title “doctor,” but also the money, power and prestige that often comes with it.

As more nurses, pharmacists and physical therapists claim this honorific, physicians are fighting back. For nurses, getting doctorates can help them land a top administrative job at a hospital, improve their standing at a university and win them more respect from colleagues and patients. But so far, the new degrees have not brought higher fees from insurers for seeing patients or greater authority from states to prescribe medicines.

Nursing leaders say that their push to have more nurses earn doctorates has nothing to do with their fight of several decades in state legislatures to give nurses more autonomy, money and prescriptive power.

But many physicians are suspicious and say that once tens of thousands of nurses have doctorates, they will invariably seek more prescribing authority and more money. Otherwise, they ask, what is the point?

To read the entire article, click here.

Apropos of the social media discussion at the conference last week…

I thought this article might be of interest. From the Washington Post

Drug companies lose protections on Facebook, some decide to close pages

By Christian Torres, Published: August 12

Relationship status: “It’s Complicated.”

Facebook and the pharmaceutical industry have had an uneasy partnership in recent years. Many drug companies didn’t even join the site until Facebook gave them a privilege that others do not have — blocking the public’s ability to openly comment on a page Wall.

But that’s about to change.

In a reversal by Facebook, most drug company pages will have to have open Walls starting Monday.

Companies are worried that open Walls mean open risks, and many are reconsidering their engagement on Facebook. AstraZeneca shut down on Friday a page devoted to depression — the company sells the antidepressant Seroquel. Johnson & Johnson said it will close four of its pages on Monday. Other companies said they will monitor their pages more closely once the changes take effect.

The industry is concerned that users might write about bad side effects, promote off-label use or make inappropriate statements about a product. Aside from poor word of mouth, the comments could raise concerns from government regulators.

Facebook will not say what specifically prompted its change of heart. Andrew Noyes, manager of public policy communications for Facebook, said in an e-mail, “We think these changes will help encourage an authentic dialogue on pages.”

Facebook will allow companies to continue to block Wall comments on specific prescription product pages, but those are a minority of pharmaceutical company pages. Most pages — soon to be open — are focused on companies themselves or on disease or patient-specific communities, which then have ties to the companies’ prescription products.

To read the entire article, click here.

* * * * *

In nursing news, today is the 101st anniversary of Florence Nightingale’s death. She died in London in 1910 at the age of 90. This stained glass window was restored and rededicated to her memory in October 2010. It is in St. Peter’s Church, Derby. According to Wikipedia:

A remarkable stained glass window was commissioned for inclusion in the Derbyshire Royal Infirmary chapel in the late 1950s. When the chapel was later demolished the window was removed, stored and replaced in the new replacement chapel. At the closure of the DRI the window was again removed and stored. In October 2010, £6,000 was raised by friends of the window and St Peters Church to reposition the window in St Peters Church, Derby. The remarkable work features nine panels, of the original ten, depicting scenes of hospital life, Derby townscapes and Florence Nightingale herself. Some of the work was damaged and the tenth panel was dismantled for the glass to be used in repair of the remaining panels. All the figures, who are said to be modelled on prominent Derby town figures of the early sixties, surround and praise a central pane of the triumphant Christ. A nurse who posed for the top right panel in 1959 attended the rededication service in October 2010.

In Memory: Dr. Luther Christman

Dr. Luther Christman in 1980.

I just learned that Dr. Luther Christman died on June 7, 2011 in Nashville, Tennessee. He was 96.

I first met Dr. Christman when I was in graduate school at the University of Illinois at the Medical Center (now UIC) and he was the Dean at “the college across the street” (Rush University). Years later, I had the honor to introduce him for a presentation at the Biennial Conference for Sigma Theta Tau. My memory is that he was a gracious, warm, and truly genuine man.

His contributions to the profession of nursing are numerous and legendary. Over the past few days, I’ve enjoyed reading various remembrances of his life. I’ll share a few links for all of you:

Obituary from the Chicago Sun-Times
From RushIn Person, a nice tribute from the Rush Archives
From the University of Michigan School of Nursing
Article at Nurse.com

Elizabeth Pittman has written a biography of Dr. Christman; a preview can be viewed here. It can be purchased at the site or as a Kindle book from Amazon.

It seems as if the one thing he didn’t do was serve as an Editor of a journal! Can someone correct me if I’m wrong about that? Thanks!

Centers of Excellence in Nursing Education

National League for Nursing Announces New Centers of Excellence™

Selected Schools to Be Recognized During 2011 NLN Education Summit

New York, NY — July 27, 2011 — Eight schools of nursing, representing programs across the academic spectrum, have been chosen NLN Centers of Excellence, the League has announced. These schools will be formally recognized at a special presentation on Friday, September 23 at 9:00 am at the NLN’s annual Education Summit in Orlando, FL. The four-day gathering every year draws a capacity crowd of nurse faculty, deans, administrators, and professionals from allied health organizations. The COE presentation will directly follow the NLN CEO Summit Address at 8:30 am.”Schools work hard to earn the coveted COE designation,” said NLN CEO Beverly Malone, PhD, RN, FAAN. “What we seek are measurable results and best practices, and the NLN is pleased to publicly name those schools that have demonstrated their understanding of excellence in the concrete terms that the COE application demands.” Schools may earn COE status in one of three categories: Enhancing Student Learning and Professional Development; Promoting the Pedagogical Expertise of Faculty; or Enhancing the Science of Nursing Education.

Six of this year’s eight schools are repeat COE designees, with two—Excelsior College in Albany, NY and University of North Carolina at Greensboro—earning their third consecutive COE designation. This has entitled them to now carry the COE designation for an additional year, from 2011 to 2016. (COE schools are now designated for a four-year period; until 2011, the initial designation was for three years.) Excelsior has been chosen in the category of Enhancing Student Learning and Professional Development, UNC-Greensboro in Promoting the Pedagogical Expertise of Faculty.

The other four repeat Centers of Excellence are currently completing their initial term, all for Enhancing Student Learning and Professional Development. Duquesne University (Pittsburgh, PA); East Carolina University (Greenville, NC); Regis College (Weston, MA); and Trinitas School of Nursing (Elizabeth, NJ) will carry the designation from 2011-2015.

First-time designees Collin College (McKinney, TX), for Enhancing Student Learning and Professional Development, and University of Connecticut (Storrs, CT), for Promoting the Pedagogical Expertise of Faculty, have been named Centers of Excellence for the 2011-2015 term.

Each year since 2004, the NLN has invited nursing schools to apply for COE status, based on their ability to demonstrate sustained excellence in faculty development, nursing education research, or student learning and professional development. Schools must also have a proven commitment to continuous quality improvement.

Throughout the four or more years that schools carry the COE designation, they are expected to serve as advisers and sounding boards to other nursing programs that seek to gain COE distinction. “The COE banner carries with it a responsibility to the entire academic community,” noted Cathleen Shultz, PhD, RN, CNE, FAAN, president of the NLN. “We expect that COE schools will help educate and inspire others, thus elevating the standards of excellence throughout all levels of higher education in nursing.”

Also, each year, students enrolled in COE schools have an opportunity to share their thoughts on the meaning of excellence in nursing education, what fosters excellence, and what it means to them to be part of a COE-designated nursing program. As in years past, the winner of the Student Excellence Paper Competition will be announced at the COE presentation. She is Tuesday Majors from Indiana University School of Nursing. Her winning submission is entitled “Excellence in Nursing Education.”

Free Titles from the National Academies Press

MORE THAN 4,000 NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS PDFs

NOW AVAILABLE TO DOWNLOAD FOR FREE

The National Academies—National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, Institute of Medicine, and National Research Council—are committed to distributing their reports to as wide an audience as possible. Since 1994 we have offered “Read for Free” options for almost all our titles. In addition, we have been offering free downloads of most of our titles to everyone and of all titles to readers in the developing world. We are now going one step further. Effective June 2nd, PDFs of reports that are currently for sale on the National Academies Press (NAP) Website and PDFs associated with future reports* will be offered free of charge to all Web visitors.

For more than 140 years, the NAS, NAE, IOM, and NRC have been advising the nation on issues of science, technology, and medicine. Like no other collection of organizations, the Academies enlist the nation’s foremost scientists, engineers, health professionals, and other experts to address the scientific and technical aspects of society’s most pressing problems. The results of their work are authoritative and independent studies published by the National Academies Press.

NAP produces more than 200 books a year on a wide range of topics in science, engineering, and health, capturing the best-informed views on important issues. Of particular interest to readers of this blog is The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health which was released earlier this year.

We invite you to visit the NAP homepage and experience the new opportunities available to access our publications. There you can sign up for MyNAP, a new way for us to deliver all of our content for free to loyal subscribers like you and to reward you with exclusive offers and discounts on our printed books. This enhancement to our free downloads means that we can reach out even further to inform government decision making and public policy, increase public education and understanding, and promote the acquisition and dissemination of knowledge.

*There are a small number of reports that never had PDF files and, therefore, those reports are not available for download. In addition, part of the series, “Nutrient Requirements of Domestic Animals” are not be available in PDF and future titles in this series will also not have PDFs associated with them.

Eight Question Survey Helps to Predict PTSD

A simple eight-question survey administered soon after injury can help predict which of the 30 million Americans seeking hospital treatment for injuries each year may develop depression or post-traumatic stress, report Therese S. Richmond, PhD, CRNP , associate professor at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing, and her colleagues in General Hospital Psychiatry.

“Depression and PTSD exert a significant, independent, and persistent effect on general health, work status, somatic symptoms, adjustment to illness, and function after injury,” the authors wrote, also emphasizing that even minor injuries can lead to traumatic stress responses.

Dr. Richmond

The findings allow healthcare providers to identify patients at highest risk for developing these disorders and to target appropriate resources to this vulnerable group.

This screening tool – reportedly one of the first of its kind for adults in the U.S. – could have a great impact on the judicious allocation of costly mental health resources.

Using an eight-question survey, all injured patients can be rapidly assessed for risk in the hospital. Healthcare providers can then provide patients classed as high-risk for developing depression or PTSD with information about symptoms to look for and advise them to contact their primary care providers should symptoms surface. This intervention can facilitate early diagnosis of these disabling disorders.

The study reported nearly 100 percent accuracy in negative results. Only five percent of injured patients who tested negative for risk of depression on the screening survey developed depression and no patients who tested negative for PTSD risk developed PTSD. At the same time, not all patients who screen positive will develop these disorders. The researchers do not suggest that all patients who screen positive receive mental health services, but rather that this finding prompt systematic provision of information and additional follow-up.

The authors caution that while the findings on this initial study are most promising, they need to be replicated in an independent sample.

With Dr. Richmond, the study authors are: Josef Ruzek, PhD; Theimann Ackerson, MSSW; Douglas J. Wiebe, PhD; Flaura Winston, MD, PhD; Nancy Kassam-Adams, PhD.

The Health of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender People: Building a Foundation for Better Understanding

Date:  March 31, 2011

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Researchers Need to Engage Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, And Transgender Populations in Health Studies

WASHINGTON — Researchers need to proactively engage lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people in health studies and collect data on these populations to identify and better understand health conditions that affect them, says a new report from the Institute of Medicine.  The scarcity of research yields an incomplete picture of LGBT health status and needs, which is further fragmented by the tendency to treat sexual and gender minorities as a single homogeneous group, said the committee that wrote the report.

The report provides a thorough compilation of what is known about the health of each of these groups at different stages of life and outlines an agenda for the research and data collection necessary to form a fuller understanding.

“It’s easy to assume that because we are all humans, gender, race, or other characteristics of study participants shouldn’t matter in health research, but they certainly do,” said committee chair Robert Graham, professor of family medicine and public health sciences and Robert and Myfanwy Smith Chair, department of family medicine, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati.  “It was only when researchers made deliberate efforts to engage women and racial and ethnic minorities in studies that we discovered differences in how some diseases occur in and affect specific populations.  Routine collection of information on race and ethnicity has expanded our understanding of conditions that are more prevalent among various groups or that affect them differently.  We should strive for the same attention to and engagement of sexual and gender minorities in health research.”

Continue reading

New York times now charging for digital access

Big news! The subscription plan starts march 28! This will snowball for all, and will begin to set a new trend to more or less socialize web users that all web content is not indeed “free”.  I know that for ANS, the publishers are always searching for that perfect spot where there is enough free content to entice traffic to the site, but also to provide a revenue stream.  So would love to see you comments!  And by the way … I plan to become a “tablet” NYT subscriber!
http://nyti.ms/ghiGYQ

News from HIGN

This came across my desk today…

HARTFORD INSTITUTE FOR GERIATRIC NURSING RE-BRANDS ITSELF AS “HIGN”

New Name Signals Launch of New Initiatives

New York, NY – March 3, 2011 – The Hartford Institute for Geriatric Nursing (HIGN) at New York University College of Nursing has launched a number of initiatives to more aggressively position the organization as the leading proponent for quality health care of older adults through nursing excellence. The initiatives are being implemented under the Hartford Institute’s new brand: HIGN.

HIGN is recognized for improving the practice environment through education, research, and evidenced-based protocols.

Some of the new HIGN initiatives underway are:

  • HIGN is launching a completely new web site designed to provide bedside nurses, advanced practice nurses, academics, and students with an easy-to-use, highly accessible, better looking, deeper content resource to support their various needs. Visit the new site at here.
  • The HIGN Report is a new, leading-edge communications effort published monthly to broadcast important information and events related to HIGN’s four core competencies: Practice, Education, Research and Policy. Visit the HIGN homepage to subscribe to the newsletter here.
  • The new HIGN e-Learning Center is a continuing education portal to courses, tools and other resources geared to improving care of older adults in clinical settings and integration of geriatrics in academic curricula. Learn more about the new e-Learning center here.

“Our new brand signals a re-dedication to our mission and a marked upswing in our efforts to expand and continue the legacy of the Hartford Institute as an invaluable resource,” says Tara Cortes, PhD, RN, FAAN, HIGN executive director. “These are substantive initiatives designed to better support practice, research, education and policy.

About HIGN

Since its start in 1996, the singular mission of the Hartford Institute of Geriatric Nursing (HIGN) has been to shape the quality of nursing care to older adults by assuring geriatric competency of America’s nurses. The commitment to this mission exhibited by the dedicated Hartford Institute leadership, staff and affiliate organizations has made HIGN today a globally recognized geriatric nursing resource.

For more information contact Barbara Bricoli at 212-992-9753
Barbara.bricoli@nyu.edu