JANUARY 3, 2005: Arkansas: State's Nursing Shortage Growing More Critical:"It may be more difficult for Arkansas to fill its need of nurses with foreign workers at the beginning of this new year.
The U.S. State Department no longer allows so-called fast track work permits to be issued to nurses in China, India and Philippines.
The permits reduced the time it took for nurses from the three countries to get work permits. The slowdown comes at a time when about 12 percent of nursing positions at Arkansas hospitals are vacant." http://www.kait8.com/Global/story.asp?S=2757051&nav=0jshUku2
November 24, 2004: Nurses in short supply (China):""Nurses are in a much less important status than doctors in hospitals and they are not well paid, especially in those middle and small sized hospitals, which urges them to try luck in other industries. Besides, some hospitals are not willing to hire more nurses as they need due to financial reasons." To improve the situation, Zhang Guixia says the Chinese government should enact laws on nursing and enforce hospitals to hire more nurses as regulations require. Moreover, hospitals should improve the economic status of nurses. She says the work of nursing is an arduous one and it deserves more recognition." http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-11/24/content_2255256.htm
Tuesday, November 23, 2004: ARNEC given approval to recruit nurses:"At a recent meeting of the Arkansas State Board of Nursing, the Arkansas Rural Nursing Education Consortium (ARNEC) was granted approval to begin recruiting Licensed Practical Nurses and Licensed Psychiatric Technician Nurses (LPNs/LPTNs) for its Registered Nurse training program. The consortium of six Arkansas community and technical colleges is one of the first of its kind in the country, utilizing interactive television and the Internet to instruct students in scattered locations across the state." http://www.baxterbulletin.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20041123/NEWS01/411230304/1002
Tuesday, January 21, 2003: Arkansas: Nursing shortage may figure into legislative concerns:"A nursing shortage that threatens the health of Arkansans has the head of a university nursing school calling for action. "I would consider it a very significant problem in the state, as well as the country," said Thomas A. Kippenbrock, who chairs the nursing department at Arkansas State University. "Nurses are the predominant health-care providers. There are over 2.8 million of them. The problem is there's not enough." The shortage is blamed on many factors including an aging population, a shortage of nursing faculty, low salaries in Arkansas, and weak programs to recruit minorities and men into the career." http://www.baxterbulletin.com/news/stories/20030121/localnews/818
January 3, 2003: Arkansas: Shipley wins scholarship:"Patricia Ann Shipley of Mountain Home has been named 2003 recipient of the Joe Dan and
Carol Tyler Nursing Scholarship at Arkansas State University Mountain Home.
The scholarship provides for payment of tuition. Selection is based on financial need or other hardships, academic achievement, and
character.
The scholarship was created in response to the shortage of qualified nurses available to care for the elderly. Preference is given to those
students who express a sincere interest in care for elderly, particularly those suffering with Alzheimer's Disease." http://www.baxterbulletin.com/news/stories/20030103/localnews/699770.html
Monday, November 25, 2002: Arkansas: WRMC's nursing staff head steps up recruiting efforts:"A many pronged approach should keep Washington Regional Medical Center ahead of the field in its efforts to retain and recruit nurses, the center's new chief executive nurse said last week.
Penelope Smith came to WRMC in September after serving in a similar capacity at St. Mary's Hospital in Russellville for 10 years. During her 28 years as a nurse, she has come to specialize in nurse recruitment and retention and has won several awards for her efforts. "I believe in staying current and thinking 'out of the box.' I'm not afraid to try new things," Smith said.
Her skills are in demand because of a nationwide nursing shortage which Smith said is caused by a shrinking number of people going into nursing coupled with a much wider array of places that nurses can work." http://nwanews.com/times/story_news.php?storyid=101399
June 19, 2001: Arkansas: Commission Tackles Nursing Shortage:"It could prove to be one of the most important acts passed in this year's legislative session. Act 1465 created the Arkansas Legislative Nursing Commission. It will meet for the first time in July, to look for way to combat the state's nursing shortage.
In most hospitals, the supply of nurses is running extremely short. "Used to, you could expect to have a nurse there at any time," Registered Nurse Michelle Dehan tells KARK News 4. "But now, we find ourselves asking families to stay with their loved ones while they're in the hospital." http://www.kark.com/karktv/news/story_tmp.asp?cmd=view&Storyid=1367
June 18, 2001: Tennessee: Nursing homes brace for legal assault:"Tennessee's nursing homes are in the cross-hairs of a Florida law firm that has single-handedly created a new industry: personal injury lawsuits against nursing homes.
Starting in Florida and then advancing through Alabama, Texas, Arkansas and now Tennessee and California, the Tampa-based firm of Wilkes & McHugh has been compared by critics to the Borg, a sci-fi race that consumes everything in its path and then moves on.
Typically retaining 40% of any settlement, Wilkes & McHugh has generated more than $100 million in contingency fees in the past five years, but officials with the firm say it's not about the money -- it's about putting the nursing home industry out of business." http://memphis.bcentral.com/memphis/stories/2001/06/18/story2.html
February 15, 2001: Arkansas: Charges Filed Against Nursing Home:"Pulaski County prosecutor Larry Jegley calls it disturbing. Wednesday, he decided to charge a nursing home for neglecting a patient--neglect that he says, led to her death.
Jegley says the quality of nursing home care in Pulaski County is generally very good, but not in this case. Wednesday afternoon Jegley filed suit against Rivercrest Health Care on Franklin Street. The corporation is facing a criminal charge of abuse of an adult." http://www.kark.com/karktv/news/story_tmp.asp?cmd=view&Storyid=650
January 2, 2001: Arkansas: Burn Victim Files Lawsuit:"The family of a man chemically burned at a Little Rock nursing home is filing a lawsuit. He was one of 10 people burned during baths at the center. Mr. Esau Bruce is 72 years-old. His family says he will need special care for the rest of his life because of what happened to him at Beverly Healthcare Williamsburg. According to company spokesmen, an employee mistook floor cleaner for soap when bathing residents. Bruce's family says that's inexcusable." http://www.kark.com/karktv/news/story_tmp.asp?cmd=view&Storyid=486
October 2, 2000: Arkansas: UCA Students Struggle Against Nursing Shortage:"Hospitals across Arkansas and the nation continue to struggle with a nursing shortage. Even student nurses now take on the role of recruiters. Nursing students from the University of Central Arkansas at Conway are working to make a difference.
Since 1995, there has been a 21 percent drop in the graduation rate at nursing schools across the state. Recruitment efforts are at an all-time high and nursing students are the newest recruitment tools." http://www.kark.com/karktv/news/story_tmp.asp?cmd=view&Storyid=62
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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