New Jersey's Nursing Shortage Puts State In Critical Condition, August 1, 1999:"Hospitals in New Jersey are scrambling to fill nursing vacancies in specialized areas such as intensive care, the operating room, obstetrics and emergency medicine. The shortage is part of a nationwide trend fueled by an aging work force, lower nursing school enrollments and a booming elderly population in need of medical care, The Star-Ledger of Newark reported for Sunday's editions."
http://www.calnurse.org/cna/new1/Nnew4899.html
Interfaith RNs to Protest Staffing Shortages:"Brooklyn, July 23, 1999 – Registered nurses at Interfaith Medical Center will conduct an informational picket from noon to 2 p.m., Tuesday, July 27, to protest understaffing at the hospital. The RNs have been trying to solve short-staffing problems through their current contract negotiations, but management has resisted their suggestions. The 360 RNs, represented by the New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA), have been working without a contract since January 1. For more information, contract NYSNA at (518) 782-9400, Ext. 275."
http://www.nysna.org/news/press99/pr072799.htm
Putting Patients Before Profits May Improve Staffing, Letter to the Editor published in USA Today Oct. 28, 1999:"As president of the American Nurses Association (ANA), I wish to respond to the editorial "Nurse staffing laws inadequate salve for hospitals' wounds" (Our View, Nurses and quality of care debate, October 18)."
http://www.nursingworld.org/pressrel/1999/usa1028.htm
February 15, 2001: Delaware, County nursing salaries don't compete:"The Sullivan County's Public Health registered nursing staff is down 38-percent from full staffing levels and officials say that at the salary levels offered by the county, that situation is not likely to improve soon.
Director of Patient Services Debbie Spaulding R.N., told Sullivan County Legislators on February 8 that 12 of the 32 registered nursing positions are vacant at Public Health Nursing. Salary is a big problem. Sullivan County offers RN's $33,048 to start.
Spaulding said the region's nursing community is aging, that fewer new nurses are being trained and that the salary competition for their services has left the county uncompetitive in hiring. Spaulding reported that a new, two-year graduate is offered $50,000 at Horton Memorial Hospital in Middletown. "That's similar to what I make here, with a Masters degree and 20 years experience," she said." http://www.riverreporter.com/issues/01-02-15/scnurse.htm
May 1999, Safe Staffing bill back in California Legislature:"Dramatic testimony underscores need for safe staffing
legislation. On April 6, Inho Park of Los Angeles (l) told
the State Assembly Health Committee how his son,
Jonathan was almost fatally strangled by a restraint after
being left unattended in a facility following an auto
accident. As a result, Jonathan is permanently disabled
and will require round-the-clock care for life."
http://www.calnurse.org/cna/cal/may99/cn4may99.html
Survey Reveals Early Warning Signs Of Impending Nurse Shortage:"CHICAGO (February 23, 1999) – A survey released today suggests that a new type of nursing shortage may be on the horizon. Unlike previous shortages in which sufficient numbers of registered nurses (RNs) across the board have been unavailable, this shortage appears to result from increased demand for experienced RNs in specialized areas -- such as neonatal, operating room, and intensive care -- to meet changing patient needs."
http://www.aone.org/survey.htm
'Exhausted' Nurses Say Patients Will Suffer, By Marjory Sherman, Eagle-Tribune Writer, Northern Massachusetts, Merrimac Valley"Registered nurses at Lawrence General Hospital say the safety of patients is at stake because of bare-bones staffing and mandatory overtime."
http://www.eagletribune.com/news/stories/19980716/LN_002.htm
Wednesday, May 6, 1998: Florida: Local nursing salaries, enrollment on the rise:"More Bay County residents are enrolling in nursing school and officials at Gulf Coast Community College say part of the reason is an increase in nursing salaries and job opportunities.
GCCC is celebrating that growing interest in the field this week, National Nurses' Week.
"It's a challenging field," says Ann Syfrett, chair of the health sciences division at the college. "All of our graduates get jobs and they're not just going into hospitals. They're also finding work in specialties like home care, intensive care and geriatrics." http://www.newsherald.com/archive/lifestyle/ab050698.htm
Cutting Down on Care:"The mythology of medicine revolves around doctors -- they are the ones who are usually credited if a patient is cured. Yet it is nurses who make up the largest profession in health care and who spend the most time with patients. Their story is rarely told, but in Life Support: Three Nurses on the Front Lines, health specialist Suzanne Gordon follows nurses at the Beth Israel Hospital in Boston as they go on their rounds and shows how crucial their roles are."
http://www.theatlantic.com/unbound/bookauth/gordon/sgint.htm
The New Realities In The Nurse Supply:"Suzanne Gordon gives a first-hand account from the front lines of nursing -- a profession that is gravely threatened by the restructuring of our medical system"
http://www.hrlive.com/reports/rnshortage.html
Testimony On The Nursing Shortage Contemporary Nursing Practice And Scope Of Nursing Practice:"Registered nurses are unique. They cannot be replaced by personnel minimally trained to perform nursing tasks and/functions. Nursing is more than the sum total of the tasks involved in providing care to the sick, injured or debilitated. A more specific description of nursing is as follows:"
http://www.calnurse.org/cna/np/comm.html
Nursing Shortage?:"It is of no surprise to any nurse working out in the field that we are on the verge of yet another nursing shortage. Some experts feel the shortage of the 1980's never ended but was masked by the changes in the healthcare setting, namely,. managed care. Shortages have been documented across the country, however, not all states are expected to experience this shortage at the same time. There is no doubt that specialty areas such as the intensive care units, labor and delivery, and emergency room areas have had significant deficits, but there is evidence to suggest that this shortage will cross all disciplines."
http://auden.webster.edu/~greggmau/index.html
Thinning Ranks: Challenges Loom As The Nursing Corps Grows Older:"More than 40 million Americans will be 65 or older by 2010, and hospital officials are already bracing for a staggering increase in the patient population as baby boomers creep closer toward senior citizenship. But it's not just the patients who are getting older.
Experts say the country's nursing corps is aging faster than nearly every other profession. The average age of a nurse in the United States is now more than 44 years. The mean has grown so steadily this decade that some healthcare experts are predicting a professional crisis in the making."
http://www.nurseweek.com/features/99-9/oldnurse.html
What's Going On:"Fresh signs of a growing nursing shortage—more ads, some sign-on bonuses, even new grad programs here and there—are suddenly drawing attention from newspapers, television, and radio news. Is it just the annual rise in demand from the flu, or is it a more real and lasting shift?
http://www.nurseweek.com/features/98-2/short.html
National Council of State Boards of Nursing, Inc.:"The following narratives have been written by individual state boards of nursing regarding the significant activities in their respective states related to the nursing shortage. These excerpts do not provide a comprehensive update of the nurse shortage in these states or nationwide. The information is simply intended to share information among Member Boards."
National Council of State Boards of Nursing, Inc.
676 N. St. Clair Street
Suite 550
Chicago, Illinois, 60611-2921
Telephone: (312) 787-6555. info@ncsbn.org http://www.ncsbn.org/news/stateupdates_state_shortage.asp
Nursing Shortage Serious For Seniors, About.com:"As the population ages the impact of the nursing shortage will be even greater.
There is a threat to the health of every older adult in the United States and Canada looming on the horizon. It is not a virus or new type of bacteria that is causing this threat. The threat to health is a result of the increasing shortage of nurses in both countries.
Over the last couple of years there have been numerous stories in the press about the magnitude and causes of the shortage. So far solutions for this situation have been few. Additionally this nursing shortage will impact the oldest of citizens the most. Older adults use health care services at a higher rate than do younger people. Advances in medicine and improved nutrition and lifestyle have added years to the average life span. With this longer life comes higher needs for medical services, especially the services of professional nurses." http://seniorhealth.about.com/cs/prevention/a/nurse_shortage.htm
The Nurse/Patient Ratio by Genevieve M. Clavreul RN, Ph.D.:"The New Year heralds many things, and this year brings legislation mandating a patient/nurse ratio in California. But after the confetti stops falling, did we get what we want? We now have a panacea for thousands of nurses in California, however, the ratio really can’t be enforced. (At the writing of this article the companion bill for enforcement is stalled in the legislature, having been defeated at least once already).
As my children are fond of saying, “why am I not surprised?” Having been a nurse for almost 30 years, most of those years spent in the NICU/PICU, I am used to working with a strict nurse/patient ratio. ICU’s and a few other areas of nursing have always been under the control of an “acuity” system. Actually, all nursing is supposed to be, but we all know this isn’t always the case. For this reason, I knew in my heart that legislating a nurse/patient ratio was probably an exercise in futility."
Working Nurse, Working World Magazine
3600 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 1526
Los Angeles, CA 90010
Tel:(213)385-4781,
Fax:(213)385-3782, WorkingNurse@WorkingWorld.com http://www.workingworld.com/magazine/viewarticle.asp?articleno=254&wn=1
Nursing: A Medical Emergency, and Opportunity, hits home by Ronald A. Reis and Karen F. Reis RN:"You’re an RN, and you’ve been at it, administering to the sick and wounded, for months, years, maybe even decades. You’ve got your hands full with 12-hour shifts, high turnover, an often less than supportive work environment, and a stressed-out health care system that is, in places, itself on life-support. What to do? How to keep going? How to make this job, career, meaningful again? How to get out of nursing what you went into it for? How to avoid adding to the national nursing shortage by short-circuiting your own involvement in a noble profession?"
Working Nurse, Working World Magazine
3600 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 1526
Los Angeles, CA 90010
Tel:(213)385-4781,
Fax:(213)385-3782, WorkingNurse@WorkingWorld.com
http://www.workingworld.com/magazine/viewarticle.asp?articleno=253&w
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