In the News

Lower Nurse Turnover Linked to Higher Quality Care in Rural Hospitals - According to NurseZone.com on May 8, 2013 - They found that the rural hospitals with low nursing turnover were more likely to implement four core measures for the care of heart failure patients: (1) providing adequate discharge instructions; (2) providing smoking cessation counseling; (3) assessing how well the heart pumps; and (4) ensuring the patient receives medication to relax blood vessels. What nurses do makes a difference,” said Newhouse, chair and professor of organizational systems and adult health at the University of Maryland School of Nursing.TO READ MORE CLICK HERE



A New Approach to Recruitment and Retention - According to AAFP on May 1, 2013 - We invest years of time and energy into our more than 460 family medicine residencies -- selecting, training and preparing our bright new family doctors. What if there was a program for newly minted family doctors looking to find their ideal practice? Let's call it FamilyDocMatch.com.TO READ MORE CLICK HERE



8 trends for a changing healthcare workforce - According to Healthcare IT News on February 17, 2012 - Clinton Wingrove, EVP and principal consultant at Pilat HR Solutions, thinks, though, lessons can be learned from the various issues industry leaders are facing. Whether its recruiting or training, or dealing with the incoming millennial workers, he outlines eight trends concerning the changing healthcare workforce.TO READ MORE CLICK HERE

In the News

How Can We Expand the Primary Care Workforce? - According to RWJF on January 1st, 2012 the United States has a deficit of nearly 40,000 primary care physicians—a situation that is expected to worsen as the population continues to age and as millions more Americans become insured through health reform.The shortage of primary care providers is especially dire in many rural and urban areas. Nurse practitioners and physician assistants can play a key role in improving access to quality primary care. TO READ MORE CLICK HERE



Rural hospitals apply lean patient care - According to Charleston Regional Businesss Journal on February 6th, 2013 recently, Newberry County Memorial Hospital was selected to participate in the Carolinas Rural Hospital Lean Culture Transformation Collaborative. The collaborative is a four-year initiative funded in part by a $5 million grant from The Duke Endowment. Over the next three years, Newberry and the other three S.C. hospitals will concentrate on implementing “lean,” a business improvement philosophy with practices first applied in manufacturing and now used in all segments of industry, including health care. CLICK HERE



From a Young Doctor: A Tribute to Nurses - According to Huffpost Healthy Living on May 13th, 2013 As we celebrate this year's Nurses Week, I am reminded of the Hippocrates saying that the goal of medicine is "to cure sometimes, to relieve often, to comfort always." This, too, I learn through daily example from the amazing nurses I work with. Thank you, Leana Wen M.D. TO READ MORE CLICK HERE

In the News

VA Drive to Hire 1,600 Mental Health Professionals Hits Community Clinics' Supply - According to Kaiser Health News, on April 7, 2013 The Department of Veterans Affairs, trying to cope with a surge in psychological needs of veterans, has vowed to hire 1,600 additional mental health care professionals by the end of June, but some experts say the pool of qualified candidates is too small and the federal effort could jeopardize already-understaffed community health organizations. "Being a clinician in the mental health field is not a very lucrative profession," Rudd said. "Often the cost of education has driven people into other fields where they are better able to pay off their loans." VA officials have been under intense pressure to improve services for veterans and the White House promised Friday to increase funding for veterans' mental health services by 7.2 percent to $7 billion in the fiscal year starting in October.TO READ MORE CLICK HERE



Rural Healthcare Workforce Shortages Defy Easy Solutions - According to Health Leaders Media, on February 27th 2013 With the clock ticking on sequestration and its cuts to healthcare funding, it seems callous to pile onto rural providers with more gray news. The Association of American Medical Colleges issued its annual report, Physician Education Debt and the Cost to Attend Medical School, and found that while the average debt load for medical school graduates in 2012 was $170,000—up 5% over 2011—those new doctors did not prioritize debt as the driving force in their decisions to seek a particular specialty. In fact, "education debt" placed 11th—dead last—on the list of "influence of various factors on the specialty choice of 2012 graduating medical students."TO READ MORE CLICK HERE



Men in Nursing Occupations - According to Random Samplings, on February 25th, 2013 In 2011, there were 330,000 men employed as nurses in the United States – about 9 percent of all nurses. As the need for nurses expanded during the Civil War along with a shortage of men to provide nursing care, women were allowed to fill the gap. As such, men’s representation in nursing experienced significant decline in the 1900s. However, men’s representation in nursing has been growing since the 1970s. Schools are now actively pursuing higher male enrollment in their nursing programs. The relatively high wages and expanding job opportunities makes this field attractive, offering stability even during recessions.TO READ MORE CLICK HERE