Nursefriendly.com

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Hello Doctor! (Can I Call You M.D.?) - Health Blog - WSJ

The medical profession feels like it is under siege. The traditional MD trained, post residency doctor was trusted and looked up to as a pillar of knowledge and achievement.
In a vast array of ways there have been efforts to dislodge these professionals from their perch. Obfuscation of roles, privilege creep, payer acceptance, degree inflation, DTC advertising along with mid-level focused detailing(generally more corruptible), push of “universal health care”, push of generic terminology such as “providers” used in ways to commoditize then devalue the services. The push of EHR and protocol driven care, etc are all parts of the efforts to this end.
The problem is that this is leading to fall in standards, unfortunately not just in affiliated providers but even amongst MDs in my observation over the years. The approach of younger doctors appears to be that “if I am merely a provider I will just show that level of commitment” . Many no longer take out of hours call. They choose lifestyle specialties, prefer shift work, generally refuse anything more than minimal responsibility etc.
The old guard is aging and as they are phased out, the true unfortunate ramifications of this will become clear. We are being very short sighted undercutting such a venerable profession in such ways.

via blogs.wsj.com

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Registered nurse job seekers will need more advanced degrees, study says

As the nursing job market tightens, candidates for registered nurse positions are increasingly in need of more education to separate themselves from the pack to get hired.
And the jobs that registered nurses end up landing are increasingly likely to come outside of hospitals.
Those are two key findings from the latest biannual study of nursing supply and demand released by the Greater Cincinnati Health Council, a group of hospitals and health systems from the region. The study is based on data gathered from 13 Cincinnati-area hospitals and 10 nursing schools.
In 2010, the vacancy rate for nursing jobs at the hospitals fell to 2.5 percent from 7.3 percent two years earlier, according to a statement from the Health Council. That competitive job market gave employers the luxury of hiring a more educated nursing workforce. The number of nurses with bachelor’s degrees climbed to 41 percent from 33 percent during that time frame, while 12 percent had master’s degrees in 2010, compared with just 3 percent two years earlier.
“Hospitals in our region are beginning to demand more specific degree requirements in order to adapt to changing healthcare trends and meet changing patient-care needs,” said Mary Duffey, executive director of the Council’s Health Care Workforce Center.
In 2008, nearly all new nursing school graduates who stayed in the Cincinnati area and found jobs in healthcare organizations (99 percent) did so at a hospital. But two years later, that number dropped to 80 percent. The Council expects that trend to continue as more emphasis in the U.S. health system is placed on preventive care obtained in the community, and an aging population increasingly moves into long-term care and assisted-living facilities.
The continuation of that trend would put Cincinnati more in line with the rest of the country, in which about 60 percent of nurses work in hospitals, according to the report.

via medcitynews.com

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Tuesday, February 8, 2011

12 Ways Sex Helps You Live Longer | Healthy Sex | Healthline

Is sex really that important? As more and more research is done on the subject, it's becoming clearer and clearer that having healthy sex is essential to a healthy life—and that sex can even help you to live longer. According to Dr. Irwin Goldstein, Director of Sexual Medicine at Alvarado Hospital, if you read the latest research, "you can't conclude anything else but that it's healthy to have sexual activity. At some level, god made us do this for reasons beyond reproduction. It makes us healthier, happier people; more physically active, mentally active, more alert, more hormonally responsive, more sensate, and more pleasant."
The research being done pinpoints a few very specific—and oftentimes surprising—health benefits that result from a healthy and active sex life. Healthline examines a dozen of the most proven and interesting of the lot.
1. Fights colds and the flu
According to a study done at Wilkes University, people who have sex a couple of times a week tend to have significantly higher amounts of the antibody immunoglobin A (IgA) than those who have sex less than once a week. What does that mean? "IgA is the first line of defense against colds and flu," says Carl Charnetski, one of the researchers on the Wilkes study.
2. Burns calories
Sex increases blood flow, and gets your heart pumping. Simply put, sex is exercise, and it's more fun than running laps. Although sex doesn't burn a ton of calories—about 30 calories for every 20 minutes of moderately vigorous sex, according to Fitness magazine—it's still more exercise than you'd get sitting on the couch in front of your TV.
3. Reduces risk of heart disease
Numerous studies have shown that an active sex life is closely correlated with longer life. Specifically, it seems like sex may lower the risk for heart attacks, strokes, and other heart diseases. An Irish study in 1997 found that by having sex three or more times a week, men reduced their risk of heart attack or stroke by half. More recently, in 2010, the New England Research Institute conducted a massive study proving that sex twice a week reduces risk of heart disease by 45 percent.

via healthline.com

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Nurses Educational Funds, Inc. (NEF)

Scholarships for Education

Nurses Educational Funds, Inc. (NEF) is a not-for-profit organization which seeks and distributes funds to baccalaureate- prepared registered nurses who are in need of scholarship assistance for graduate study. NEF is administered by a Board of Directors comprised of prominent leaders in nursing, other professions, and in business. Nurses comprise the majority of board members.

Apply for an NEF Scholarship Now >

Featured Scholar

Teresa Richardson
Washington, D.C.
Catholic University of America

Teresa Richardson is a full time PhD student at the Catholic University of America, and an ANA SAMHA Fellow. She is a Family Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner treating patients across the life span with a range of mental health and substance abuse disorders. She graduated with a BS in Urban Health Sciences. Five years later she returned to school.

She started her nursing career in Michigan as a staff nurse on a neuro-surgical and psychiatric unit at Ingham Medical Center. After relocating to Connecticut she continued practicing on neuro-surgical and neuro ICU units at Yale-New Haven Hospital.

read more >

via n-e-f.org

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Ayurvedic, Ayurveda Certified Nurses, Nursing Entrepreneurs, Nurse-Owned Businesses

Ayurveda has evolved as a self-care system by those who have accepted responsibility for their own health and want a proven model for health and longevity. It offers us an alternative to allowing imbalances to grow into life-threatening diseases and then resisting them with drugs and surgeries. Ayurveda is a holistic science of wellness based on creating harmony between two fundamental complementary forces, movement, observed in respiration, circulation, digestion, elimination and in the nervous system, and stability which provides the structure to support movement. Behind these two forces is the one energy which makes it all happen. Ayurveda works through keeping these forces in balance, which creates harmony with this natural rhythm found in all life. Harmony reflects itself in wellness just as all disease grows from an imbalance. All life forms contain a unique mix of these forces giving them their special character. Thus, because every individual is unique and indivisible, what is balancing for one person's body and temperment, may cause imbalances and disease in another. Ayurveda provides guidelines to determine your individual constitution and for your specific pathways for creating balance. You can begin to look at yourself through these principles by taking a self-test at this website to discover your Ayurvedic constitution.

via nursingentrepreneurs.com

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Monday, February 7, 2011

Mary Michaud, RN, MSN, FNP, Herbalist & Herbal Clinical Instructor, Be-Herbal.com

my herbal practice I draw from Chinese, Ayurvedic and Western herbalism, and from modern healthcare to help people improve their sense of well-being.

Nutritional practices passed down through the ages lay a solid foundation for health. Using herbs to reawaken the body’s natural healing systems can rebalance, restore, and ease function.

As a healthcare provider I have counseled people on managing disease and improving wellness for more than eighteen years. In my practice I have found that nutrition and herbs can make a significant difference in an individual’s health. I invite you to experience this difference.

I offer private consultations –
in person or by phone – as well
as group instruction.

Mary Michaud, RN, MSN, FNP, Herbalist & Herbal Clinical Instructor
313 Second Street SE, Suite 207
Charlottesville, VA 22902
(434) 466–6643

via be-herbal.com

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Sunday, February 6, 2011

Hospice Under Medicare | Accepting Hospice Under Medicare | Caring.com

Hospice is a type of care that focuses on relieving pain and other suffering for patients nearing the end of life. To qualify for Medicare-covered hospice care, a patient's treating physician must certify that the patient's illness is likely to be terminal within six months. Once hospice care is begun, there's no more medical treatment for the terminal illness itself.
Given this requirement of a prognosis of only six months to live, and the ending of treatment for the terminal disease, many people resist hospice because it seems like "choosing to die." Many people also fear hospice because they believe that all medical care will end. For several reasons, though, neither one of these fears should stop someone from choosing hospice care.
In the first place, the decision to choose hospice isn't final. If a patient's condition stabilizes or improves, he or she can give up hospice and return to regular Medicare coverage. All it takes is to have a change of mind about giving up treatment, or a doctor's advice to try a new treatment. Or for some reason the patient might not like hospice care and prefer to return to regular Medicare coverage. Patients don't have to give Medicare or the hospice provider a reason -- they can end hospice and return to regular Medicare coverage at any time.

via caring.com

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Most ED patients willing to wait longer to avoid nondoctor care :: Aug. 30, 2010 ... American Medical News

Nurse practitioners and physician assistants account for at least 10% of outpatient visits and increasingly are being used to handle patient care in emergency departments, according to previous research.

But a new survey said 80% of patients expect to see a physician when they come to the ED. Fewer than half would be willing to see an NP or PA for an ankle injury -- they would rather wait two more hours to be cared for by a physician.

See related content

The survey of 507 ED patients at three teaching hospitals in Pittsburgh and Dallas found that, even for a minor complaint such as a cold symptom, only 57% would agree to see a nurse practitioner and 53% would see a physician assistant, according to the study in the August American Journal of Bioethics. Patients also preferred to see a fully trained physician compared with a medical resident, but not by as wide a margin as their desire to avoid nonphysicians.

Given their strong preferences for care from physicians, patients deserve greater disclosure about who is providing care and what the level of training is, said study lead author Gregory L. Larkin, MD, professor of emergency medicine at Yale University School of Medicine in Connecticut.

via ama-assn.org

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Saturday, February 5, 2011

U.S. Sees Slowdown in Spending on Mental Health

The amount of money spent on psychiatric drugs in the United States continues to grow but at a much slower rate than in previous years, a new federal government study has found.

From 2004 to 2005, spending on psychiatric drugs rose 5.6 percent, compared with an increase of 27.3 percent between 1999 and 2000, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

The agency's analysis of health-care costs from 1986 to 2005, the latest year comparable data is available, also found that spending on behavioral health accounts for a decreasing portion of overall health-care costs.

Of the $1.85 trillion spent on all health-care services in the United States in 2005, behavioral health spending accounted for 7.3 percent ($135 billion). During the 20 years analyzed in the study, spending for mental health and substance abuse health care grew more slowly than all other health spending: 4.8 percent a year for substance abuse; 6.9 percent a year for mental health and 7.9 percent a year for all health-care services.

From 2002 to 2005, spending rose 5 percent for substance abuse, 6.4 percent for mental health and 7.3 percent for all health-care services, according to the study, published Feb. 3 in Health Affairs.

Among the other findings:

Spending on addiction medications grew from $10 million in 1992 to $141 million in 2005. However, the $141 million represents only 0.6 percent of the $22 billion spent on substance abuse treatment in 2005.

In 2005, behavioral health treatment accounted for 4.8 percent of private health insurance spending, compared with 11.5 percent of total Medicaid spending. The agency said that the figures can be used as a baseline for evaluating the effect of the Mental Health Parity and Addictions Equity Act and the Affordable Care Act.

Unlike overall health spending, the largest portion of behavioral health spending is publicly funded. In 2005, public money paid for 79 percent of spending on substance abuse treatment and 58 percent of mental health services spending, compared with 46 percent of all health spending.

via womenshealth.gov

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Kids with allergies can die in school, responding to criticism, KevinMD.com

Like many other parents of kids with allergies, I was very dismayed to see this article, titled, Allergic boy, 7, suffers two heart attacks after teacher hands him chocolate nut in class, last week. It seems a boy of 7 was accidentally given a chocolate candy containing a hazelnut, to which he is allergic. After biting into the candy, he realized immediately that he shouldn’t have it and spit it out. Despite quick treatment with an EpiPen after symptoms started, he ended up in pretty bad shape on life support after suffering a couple of cardiac arrests.
I read with interest the comments that the public left on that article. As I’ve seen before with other peanut allergy articles (namely those that discuss banning peanuts on airplanes), this issue was very polarizing. The teacher and child were equally blamed. People even blamed the mother, who wasn’t even there until right afterward and did exactly what she was supposed to do.
I am almost positive that I would be one of those people saying, “What’s the big deal? Just don’t eat peanuts” if peanut allergies didn’t affect my life in a huge way – my 4 year old son is severely allergic to peanuts. He’s had 3 exposures, all accidental. The last one saw us end up in the Emergency Room needing IV’s, oxygen, and several medications to treat his anaphylactic reaction.

via kevinmd.com

L
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Nursefriendly.com

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Hello Doctor! (Can I Call You M.D.?) - Health Blog - WSJ

Registered nurse job seekers will need more advanced degrees, study says

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

12 Ways Sex Helps You Live Longer | Healthy Sex | Healthline

1. Fights colds and the flu

2. Burns calories

3. Reduces risk of heart disease

Nurses Educational Funds, Inc. (NEF)

Scholarships for Education

Featured Scholar

Ayurvedic, Ayurveda Certified Nurses, Nursing Entrepreneurs, Nurse-Owned Businesses

Monday, February 7, 2011

Mary Michaud, RN, MSN, FNP, Herbalist & Herbal Clinical Instructor, Be-Herbal.com

Sunday, February 6, 2011

Hospice Under Medicare | Accepting Hospice Under Medicare | Caring.com

Most ED patients willing to wait longer to avoid nondoctor care :: Aug. 30, 2010 ... American Medical News

Saturday, February 5, 2011

U.S. Sees Slowdown in Spending on Mental Health

Kids with allergies can die in school, responding to criticism, KevinMD.com

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