Posted in Nursing, Nursing Jobs, Nursing News
Texas lawmakers want to give nursing schools incentives to hire more instructors and graduate more nurses in order to combat a growing nursing shortage, The Associated Press reports. The state is estimated to be short of 22,000 nurses already, and the shortage is expected to reach 70,000 by 2020.
Read more in the New York Times.
Posted in Nursing, Nursing Home, Nursing Specialties
In the Suburban Journals article “How to Select a Nursing Home,” author Eric Becker provides a useful “Quick Guide”:
Quick guide
1. Determine what level of care is needed. An individual that is relatively independent may not need a nursing home, but other service, such as an in-home assistant.
2. Research state and federal inspection reports and Medicare 5-star ratings for facilities you are considering.
3. Visit multiple homes. Be sure to speak with family members of residents, the director of nursing, and have the director of nursing address violations of regulations cited in inspection reports.
4. Take a friend or someone else who is not emotionally attached to the individual who needs assistance. He or she may provide a different perspective on each nursing home you visit.
Posted in Nursing, Nursing Specialties
At the UA College of Education and Health Professions, the Eleanor Mann School of Nursing offers its students a progressive curriculum to better prepare them for the nursing profession.
After students graduate from an approved nursing program, they often receive on-the-job training, but those who graduate from the UA School of Nursing already have a strong background in hands-on experience.
Many of the courses offered by the UA nursing school incorporate experiential activities to give students a better idea of current issues in the nursing field.
The students in the UA program begin some clinical work experience as early as their sophomore year in the nursing school.
“All of our courses provide services to the individual client or community, as that is what nursing centers (are about), whether it is in the hospital, school system, community center, nursing home or other community agencies in which nursing is present,” said Nancy Smith-Blair, associate professor and interim director of the UA School of Nursing.
Read more in the Arkansas Traveler.
Posted in Nursing, Nursing Home, Nursing News, Uncategorized
A Canonsburg woman who served as the financial controller for two nursing homes admitted today to embezzling more than $600,000 from them.
Gayle Phillips-Smith, 48, pleaded guilty to one count of embezzlement from a health care benefit program and to one count of tax evasion.
According to the U.S. attorney’s office, Ms. Phillips-Smith served as the financial controller at Baldock Health Care Center in North Huntingdon, and Humbert Lane Nursing and Rehabilitation in Washington, from 2001 to 2005.
Read more in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
Posted in Nursing, Nursing Jobs
An estimated shortage of 22,000 nurses across Texas drove the state House on Wednesday to tentatively approve a measure that would increase the incentives some nursing schools get for hiring more teachers and graduating more nurses.
The issue is on the minds of many lawmakers this session, and in many bills seeking to move forward in the final weeks of the session.
“Nurses are good jobs, and we’re having to import nurses. Yet when you look at the kinds of jobs you want your children and other people’s children to have, this one jumps to the forefront,” said Rep. Lois Kolkhorst, R-Brenham, the author of the bill approved Wednesday.
Kolkhorst’s proposal would target some state grants toward hiring nursing faculty at some nursing schools. She is also behind incentives in the state budget to reward nursing schools that have a more than 70 percent graduation rate.
The state estimates that if Texas fails to graduate more nurses as the population grows, demand will outstrip registered nurses by 70,000 in 2020. Kolhorst said her measures aim to catch up to demand by 2013.
Read more in the Valley Morning Star.
Posted in Nursing, Nursing Jobs
COLUMBUS – Ohio’s nursing home industry, traditionally one of the most generous in the state when it comes to political donations, scored a lucrative victory in the revised budget that House Democrats proposed this week.
Extra money for nursing homes in the House budget makes them eligible for more federal money, negating a large fee increase the governor had proposed in his earlier budget – all for an industry that has lavished political donations in recent years, records show.
The House plan adds $33.5 million in new state money to the $40 million Gov. Ted Strickland had budgeted for nursing homes’ capital expenditures. That extra money qualifies nursing homes for about $160 million in new federal Medicaid funds.
Read more of this Associated Press story here.
Posted in Nursing, Nursing Jobs
Supporters met at Diamond Park in the City of Butler. That’s right across from the courthouse.
Lots of car horns and cheers were heard at the event.
Butler County commissioners are considering selling the home to a private company.
Employees worry about the impact this would have on residents. Brenda Riott is a housekeeper. She said, “It’s disgusting that Butler County isn’t taking care of elderly and their frail. It’s a tragedy, it’s disgusting.”
Workers also worry that a sale could mean much lower wages and possibly lost jobs.
No word on when a decision might be made.
Copyright 2009 by WPXI.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Posted in Nursing, Nursing Jobs
Posted in Nursing, Nursing Jobs
Armond BudishCOLUMBUS — Ohio House Democrats rode to the rescue of nursing homes and hospitals, adding nearly half a billion dollars for the health care industry to a new budget blueprint for 2010-11. Perhaps the biggest winner under the Democratic…
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Posted in Nursing, Nursing Home, Nursing Jobs
CHICAGO — In a surprise move, a state health-care planning board on Tuesday unanimously approved a proposed 75-bed nursing home on Springfield’s west side.
Supporters of the $12.9 million Springfield Nursing and Rehabilitation Center still need to obtain zoning approval from the Springfield City Council before the facility can be built at 3089 Old Jacksonville Road. But the decision by the Illinois Health Facilities Planning Board, which was meeting in Chicago, meant that the venture cleared a major hurdle.
The vote surprised and relieved Charles Foley, a consultant who was working with the Skokie-based investors behind the project.
“Don’t ask me how it happened, but it happened,” Foley said after the 4-0 vote. “I think we finally were able to convince the board that there is a demand and a need for more beds in Sangamon County.”
Read more at the State Journal-Register.