Recently in Health Care Workers Category

Source: Marcia Faller, AMN Healthcare, March 2009

Historically speaking, nursing shortages come and go. The current nursing shortage, however, is not projected to end anytime in the next two decades. Rather, it is predicted to become the most severe shortage ever. Given a sustained and critical shortage of nurses, it has become practical and even necessary to learn more about what motivates nurses. Why do nurses choose the career, how happy they are in their jobs and, maybe even more importantly, what causes them to be dissatisfied and leave their jobs and/or the profession altogether?

Nurses working in hospitals today are more dissatisfied in their jobs than most other workers. In fact, research has shown that as many as 40 percent of nurses are dissatisfied with their jobs, compared with only 10 percent of other professional workers and only 15 percent of workers in general. Nurses working as staff in hospitals are more dissatisfied than hospital nurses holding other roles. Even newly graduated nurses are showing significant signs of unrest. A recent study examined the job satisfaction and longevity of new graduates and found that 30 percent of new graduates left their job within the first year of employment. At the two year mark, a full 57 percent had left.

Source: Dennis Dunn, David Koepke, Gary Pickens, Center For Healthcare Improvement, February 2009

From the press release:
The median profit margin of U.S. hospitals has fallen to zero percent, according to a Thomson Reuters analysis of hospital finances published today. Driven largely by a decline in non-operating revenues, financial strains are apparent in all types of hospitals -- small, medium and large community hospitals, teaching hospitals and major teaching hospitals.

The study tracks two dozen key financial indicators, using proprietary and public data to dissect the balance sheets of more than 400 hospitals nationwide. It evaluates trends in revenue and profit, employment levels, closures, inpatient volume, reimbursement rates, and frequency of elective medical treatments to gauge the fiscal health of the nation's hospitals.
Following are the key findings of the analysis:

* Total Margin at Zero: The median total margin among the 439 hospitals in the study was zero percent in the third quarter of 2008 -- an historically unprecedented low.
* In the Red: Approximately 50 percent of hospitals were unprofitable in the third quarter of 2008.
* Growth in Reimbursement Rates Shrinking: Payments hospitals received from Medicare, Medicaid and private insurers were growing at a declining rate through the end of 2008.
* Credit Crunch: Hospitals' median cash-on-hand reached an historic low in the third quarter of 2008, demonstrating the impact of the credit crisis on liquidity. There was great variability in the median value of 110 days-cash-on-hand seen at that time -- from 57 days for the lowest quartile of hospitals to 203 days for hospitals in the highest quartile.
* Stable Operations: Potential recessionary impacts that are not yet seen in the data include bed closures, mass layoffs, declining patient volumes, or a decline in elective procedures.
Related:
- Survey: Recession Hits N.J. Hospitals Hard
Source: New Jersey Hospital Association
- Growing Numbers of Patients Seek Care at California's Public Hospitals as Economy Declines
Source: California Association of Public Hospitals and Health Systems
- Proposed Cuts to California's Public Hospitals: A Step in the Wrong Direction During Historic Economic Crisis
Source: California Association of Public Hospitals and Health Systems

Source: Ron Rajecki, RN, Vol. 72 no. 1, January 2009

On one side of this issue are those who think mandatory ratios are the only way to truly ensure consistent, high-quality patient care. Just as passionate on the other side are those who believe that mandating ratios goes too far and greatly crimps the flexibility that makes the nation's health delivery system work.

Source: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, AHRQ Publication No. AHRQ-09-0039-EF, February 2009

AHRQ released a new report today, Recommendations for a National Mass Patient and Evacuee Movement, Regulating, and Tracking System, which recommends developing a coordinated multi-jurisdictional evacuation system that builds on existing resources and procedures available at the State, local, and Federal level. To develop a national system to locate, track, and regulate patients and evacuees leaving disaster areas, the report recommends collecting eight essential data elements to identify each patient or evacuee, their health status, and location from existing data sources like hospitals. It also recommends collecting baseline inventory levels of key resources such as available hospital beds and ambulances or other medical transportation. The report was developed by AHRQ with funding from HHS Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response and with critical input and leadership from the Department of Defense.

Source: Institute for Health and Socio-Economic Policy (IHSP), February 2009

From the press release:
Overall, expanding and upgrading Medicare to cover all Americans (single-payer) would create 2.6 million new jobs, infuse $317 billion in new business and public revenues, and inject another $100 billion in wages into the U.S. economy, according to the study by the Institute for Health and Socio-Economic Policy (IHSP).

Source: Kevin B. O'Reilly, AMNews, February 16, 2009

As the drug-resistant staph rate grows, lawmakers call for a more aggressive response. But doctors question mandates.

The rate of patients entering the hospital with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus increased eightfold between 1999 and 2006. Politicians in statehouses around the country say hospitals need to take a more active approach to stopping MRSA's spread.

Since 2007, four states -- California, Illinois, New Jersey and Pennsylvania -- have enacted laws requiring hospitals to screen high-risk patients for MRSA infection or colonization and follow precautions to prevent other patients from becoming infected. Eight states considered similar legislation last year, and as of late January, new bills had been filed in Washington and Kentucky.

Source: Suzanne Lobaton Cabrera and Randal D. Beaton, AAOHN Journal, online advanced release, February 2009
(subscription required)

The potential for biological, chemical, radiological, or nuclear terrorism has been widely acknowledged since the events of September 11, 2001. Terrorists' use of a radiological dispersal device (RDD), or dirty bomb, is considered to be a threat for which Americans must prepare. Occupational health nurses must have the knowledge and skill set to plan for, respond to, and recover from a radiologic event potentially affecting significant numbers of first responders as well as businesses and their workers. This article describes the hazards related to RDDs and provides resources supporting occupational health nurses' roles in such events occurring near or at their workplaces. Occupational health nurses are prepared to assess and treat RDD causalities using current information to identify signs and symptoms of exposed and contaminated RDD victims. Decontamination, treatment, and recovery methods for workers and businesses affected by an RDD event are described.

Source: Mary A. Gallant-Roman, AAOHN Journal, Vol. 56 No. 11, November 2008
(subscription required)

From the abstract:
The U.S. health care system is in the beginning of a crisis that can barely be comprehended. If projections are accurate, the demand for nurses will increase 40% and a 400,000-hour full-time equivalent registered nurse shortfall will occur by 2020. Not only are nurses leaving the field, but fewer candidates are entering. The reasons are unclear, but research has shown that nursing is a dangerous occupation--four times more dangerous than most other occupations. Protection from an unsafe workplace is guaranteed under Occupational Safety and Health Administration regulations, and many national and international groups call for zero tolerance of workplace violence. Health care worksites must develop specific plans to minimize and prevent workplace violence. Additional research is necessary to determine which methods are most effective. This article examines the necessary components of a workplace violence prevention program.

Source: Laura Eckert Thompson, Nurse.com, February 23, 2009

For every day there's not a gang-related incident in the emergency department, they can thank New Jersey State Parole Board and New Jersey Hospital Association officials for helping them prevent it.

Source: Marie Hutchinson, Margaret H. Vickers, Lesley Wilkes, and Debra Jackson, Employee Responsibilities and Rights Journal, Published online: 18 February 2009
(subscription required)

From the abstract:
This paper reports findings from the first, qualitative stage of a national sequential, mixed method study of bullying in the Australian nursing workplace. Twenty-six nurses who had experience of workplace bullying were recruited from two Australian public sector health care organizations. Examining the narrative data from the viewpoint of bullying being a corrupt activity we present an alternative perspective on group acts of bullying. By exploring bullying as corrupt behaviour, this paper challenges the assumption that bullying can be principally considered a series of isolated events stemming from interpersonal conflict, organizational pressures, or poor work design. Corruption in organizations has not previously been linked with or compared to bullying. In revealing the manner in which actors can engage in corrupt conduct that includes bullying, the findings from our study offer important implications for the management of workplace bullying as a serious and corrupt activity.