News from Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

Many Southern states mobilized quickly last year in order to begin the process of meeting the goals outlined in the Institute of Medicine’s and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s report “The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health.” The IOM recommendations were the catalyst last year for Southern states to form action coalitions and launch targeted efforts to improve nursing education and leadership. Laying the groundwork in 2011 was a crucial step that brought together key people who will see efforts through the reform era, particularly in Florida, North Carolina and Texas.

In some hospitals across the country, nurse manager roles are hard to fill. Nursing leaders and researchers say there's no question it's tough to find and keep nurse managers. Yet hard data on these turnover rates is seemingly nonexistent. Why are nurses so reluctant to step into these leadership positions?

In California's Central Valley, school nurses are applying more than Band-Aids. They are often the sole medical "safety net" provider for a community where nearly 70 percent of the 2,841 students are Latino and about 75 percent of students receive free or reduced-price meals. Some of the school nurses even reach into their own pockets to ensure a low-income family's medical care is provided.

Pain is generally undertreated in the United States, but low-income and minority patients are even less likely to receive guideline-recommended pain treatment in virtually all health care settings, according to the authors of a new paper from the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing. Penn Nursing professor Rosemary Polomano, RN, PhD, FAAN, and others propose broad advocacy initiatives for targeted education in pain disparities as part of graduate and continuing medical education, and in licensure, accreditation and certification programs for medicine, nursing and allied health professionals.

In New Jersey, a new crop of nurses is being trained as population care coordinators—nurses who serve as part coach, part health advocate to improve coordinated follow-up and preventive and wellness care. The program is a collaboration among Horizon Healthcare Innovations (HHI) and its education partners Duke University School of Nursing and Rutgers University College of Nursing.

Nurse practitioners say existing Missouri laws are preventing them from providing the best possible care to their patients, and lawmakers seem to agree. Currently, advanced-practice nurses in Missouri must have a collaborative practice agreement with a nearby physician, but House Bill 1371 and Senate Bill 679 would eliminate that requirement. The changes would apply to nurse practitioners, certified nurse midwives and clinical nurse specialists.

Compliance with proposed emergency department (ED) length-of-stay measures for admitted, discharged, transferred and observed patients does not differ significantly between safety-net hospitals — those that provide significant levels of care to low-income, uninsured and vulnerable populations — and non-safety-net hospitals, according to a study. The findings, published in the February 1 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), may address concerns that safety-net hospitals could be at risk of reduced funding by failing to meet certain performance measures.

Sandra Tucker, PhD, JD, RN is the dean of the School of Nursing at Southern University at Shreveport in Louisiana (SULSA). Since 2004, she has been praised for her work at the school, including developing its accredited registered nursing program within one year. While leading at the school, she has emphasized connections with the undeserved community, designing the registered nursing program to address the needs of its economically and educationally disadvantaged population. Her efforts have proven effective.

State-mandated caps on nurses' mandatory overtime hours have been effective in reducing overtime hours for new RNs, according to a study of nurses in 34 states. The study is part of the RN Work Project, a 10-year longitudinal study of newly licensed RNs (NLRNs) that began in 2006 and is funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF). Past research has demonstrated that fatigue caused by long hours without sufficient rest between shifts can lead to mistakes that imperil both patients and nurses.

When Apple accepted his app in November, Robert “Robbie" Freeman, a registered nurse at Beth Israel Hospital in New York, he hoped 1,000 people would download it in the first year. Sixty days later, more than 12,000 people have downloaded Freeman’s free “Nurse Net” app, which provides nurses the latest in nursing news, medical chart abbreviation codes and more.

The University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston will welcome its first class of candidates for the Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) degree this semester. The new program was approved by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board in October 2011, with an emphasis on "pursuing the highest achievement in clinical practice while developing leadership skills,” said Pamela G. Watson, dean of the School of Nursing.

The Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education approved a budget request Thursday that would fund the Oklahoma Healthcare Physician Shortage Initiative. The funding request would give $1 million each to the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine and Oklahoma State University College of Osteopathic Medicine, as well as $2 million to regional and community colleges to help increase the number of medical school students.

Since University of Arizona College of Nursing student AJ Tio was young, he has been caring for his grandmother. Tio's caregiver experience encouraged his current nursing career pursuit, despite the stigma of entering a field dominated by females. This semester the College of Nursing welcomed 54 new students into its program. Only five are men.

Job vacancy rates at some Ohio hospitals are the lowest they’ve been in years, and nurse shortages — at least for now — have disappeared. Per the Ohio Hopsital Association, Ohio's largest hospitals have less than 50 positions open for full- or part-time nurses, which is an average of less than 4 percent. Several factors have lead to the reduced shortages.

To elderly patients who cannot feed, bathe or care for themselves, nursing home health aides are essential to their daily care. The pay is low and injuries are common, but nursing care is a rare bright spot in the gloomy economic landscape, adding jobs at a steady clip. As the field has grown, so too have efforts to unionize.

Nurses who work long hours (12-hour shift) with affected quality and quantity of sleep and have less physically demanding jobs are much more likely to be obese than other nurses, according to a new study published in the Journal of Nursing Administration. Researchers from the University of Maryland School of Nursing surveyed about 2,100 female nurses and found that about 55 percent of them were obese.

The Community College of Baltimore County (CCBC) School of Health Professions and Nursing Program has received a three-year grant worth $571,448 from the Maryland Higher Education Commission for the school's "Minority Student Retention and Success" project. The grant will maximize the use of CCBC's simulation technology capabilities; increase retention and graduation rates among minority students in the nursing program; and provide culturally relevant teaching for faculty, staff and students to enhance their sensitivity when communicating with those from other cultures, especially their patients.

In 2011, the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing undergraduate program was composed of about 60 percent white, non-Hispanic students. Penn State School of Nursing professor Brooks Carthon will work to recruit underrepresented minorities to the school through a grant received from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s “New Connections” program. New Connections is designed to introduce new scholars into the field of nursing and to expand diversity.

At Atonement Lutheran Church in Fargo, N.D., church members receive blood pressure screenings and consultation from a nurse to reduce hypertension. More churches and religious organizations in the area are implementing faith community nursing programs to promote wellness and prevention.

Across Southwest Virginia, schools have made conscious choices about the type of nurse they want to educate as they carve out a place for themselves and work with employers to determine exactly what needs are on the horizon.