Nursing News and Research

Latest Nursing News and Research

California Rulings: State can cut Medi-Cal benefits but not home care wages

"A federal judge on Thursday blocked a $2 hourly wage cut for California in-home care workers that was slated to begin July 1, potentially increasing California's budget deficit by another $98 million," The Sacramento Bee reports.

29 Jun 2009

Warranties and reimbursements for family caregivers provide alternative payment methods

The New York Times reports on a proposal for a new health care reimbursement model that offers warranties to patients, a topic also examined in a piece by Francois de Brantes in the journal, Health Affairs.

29 Jun 2009

Is President Obama fighting the last war?

Bill and Hillary Clinton are off saving the world, he through his global foundation and she via the State Department. But their presence looms over the health care debate as surely as if they were running the White House. Their epic failure to pass reform in 1994 has become the defining object lesson in how to botch health care legislation--a lesson President Obama has obviously taken to heart. Push for reform right away; let Congress hash out the details; and, above all, don't threaten people's current insurance arrangements. You can sum up Obama's strategy for health reform as "WWCD": What Wouldn't the Clintons Do.

29 Jun 2009

Healthcare outcome boost needs better studies

Evidence suggests that outcomes in many clinical settings leave a lot to be desired, which means that research into quality improvement (QI) in clinical care has the potential to greatly improve the lot of patients. Now a study in the journal Medical Care Research and Review published by SAGE suggests that both theoretical and practical improvements in QI effectiveness studies could make these into much more powerful tools for positive change.

25 Jun 2009

California Medicaid providers win legal challenge

Medicaid providers in California won a legal challenge over program cuts in the case "Maxwell-Jolly v. Independent Living Center of Southern California."

25 Jun 2009

The emotional cost of nursing

What are the costs of caring? A new project in the School of Psychology explores nurses' experience of distress and aims to determine if empathy with patients is associated with traumatic experience in nurses.

23 Jun 2009

Lawmakers address nurse and primary care physician shortages

A pending House bill would aim to address the nursing shortage by allowing "20,000 additional nurses to enter the U.S. each year for the next three years as a temporary measure to fill the gap," Business Week reports.

22 Jun 2009

Costs are soaring even as California considers further cuts to care programs

In Los Angeles County, being disabled can cost a year's income. That's because the annual cost of in-home care services for seniors living alone is now $319 more than this group's median income of $17,029.

18 Jun 2009

Penn researchers: Nursing needs a bailout, federal scholarships needed to fix nursing shortage

Researchers from the Center for Health Outcomes and Policy Research at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing say having enough nurses to meet a national shortage is a "mathematical improbability" unless nursing schools admit more students through federal financial support in a potential bailout, according to an article in today's issue of Health Affairs.

18 Jun 2009

Call to protect hospitals, schools from impact of disasters

WHO and UNICEF today called on governments to strengthen risk reduction measures in four key areas so that health and education systems are able to cope with disasters, including the risks from climate change. These areas are:

18 Jun 2009

Telemedicine expands reach of care for Parkinson’s patients

A unique and innovative telemedicine project is providing distant nursing home patients with Parkinson's disease access to neurologists at the University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC).A pilot study of the project - the results of which were released this month at the International Congress of Parkinson's Disease and Movement Disorders in Paris - demonstrates that the system can improve the quality of life and motor function of patients.

17 Jun 2009

Cholesterol-lowering statin drugs do not lower risk of pneumonia in seniors

Taking popular cholesterol-lowering statin drugs, such as Lipitor (atorvastatin), does not lower the risk of pneumonia. That's the new finding from a study of more than 3,000 Group Health patients published online on June 16 in advance of the British Medical Journal's June 20 print issue.

17 Jun 2009

Nursing shortage eases with recession's help

"The nation's deep recession is helping to alleviate the decade-long nursing shortage, as workers who had left the field in better times are returning in droves," the Wall Street Journal reports.

13 Jun 2009

Lawmakers want Federal rules to cover home health care workers and end-of-life care

Lawmakers want federal rules to cover home health care workers while Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., plans to introduce legislation in Congress today to better educate the public on end-of-life care.

13 Jun 2009

Penn conducts largest national study on hospital patient satisfaction as it relates to nurse work environments

Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing conclude patients report higher satisfaction in hospitals that offer better work environments for nurses or fewer patients-to-nurse ratios, according to a new study published in today's issue of Health Affairs.

13 Jun 2009

Researcher looks for link between gene and pregnancy weight gain

Even before last week’s release of revised pregnancy weight-gain guidelines, a researcher at the University of Rochester School of Nursing was studying why certain women gain more pounds than others and searching for ways to help them maintain healthy weights.

13 Jun 2009

Cancer screening fear is fuelled by lack of information

Fear plays a major role in whether women decide to go for cancer screening or not, but healthcare providers underestimate how much women need to know and wrongly assume that they will ask for information if they want it.

11 Jun 2009

Long term care forms part of health plan

Long-term care plays a role in the Senate HELP committee health plan released Tuesday by Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass. The Associated Press reports that "Americans would be able to buy long-term care insurance from the government for $65 a month under a provision tucked into sweeping health care legislation that senators will begin considering next week."

10 Jun 2009

Hospital infection prevention resources cut

Hospitals are cutting staff, resources and education for infection prevention at a time when the prevalence of many healthcare-associated infections is increasing, according to a report released today by the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC).

9 Jun 2009

High blood pressure among lower-status employees lingers well into retirement

Retirement from some occupations may not provide relief from the potentially devastating health effects of work-related hypertension, according to a new study from UC Davis.

9 Jun 2009