American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) is pleased to announce that five new Minority Nurse Faculty Scholars have been selected through a national scholarship program funded by the Johnson & Johnson Campaign for Nursing’s Future. Launched to address the faculty shortage and enhance diversity among nurse educators, this AACN-administered program provides generous financial support, mentoring, and leadership development to graduate students from minority backgrounds with aspirations to teach in our nation’s schools of nursing.

Joining the 38 scholars previously selected for this prestigious honor (and a similar program offered by AACN and The California Endowment) are the following students who are all enrolled in doctoral nursing programs:

- Willie Mae Abel, PhD candidate, University of North Carolina at Greensboro

- Lisa Carter-Harris, PhD candidate, University of Louisville

- Carolyn Hickman, PhD candidate, Arizona State University

- Jimmy Andres Reyes, DNP and PhD candidate, University of Iowa

- Beverly Waller, PhD candidate, University of Michigan

“AACN extends a hearty ‘congratulations’ to this year’s faculty scholars whose impressive academic and professional backgrounds will make them excellent nursing leaders and inspirational role models for the next generation of nurses,” said AACN President Kathleen Potempa. “We are grateful to the Johnson & Johnson Campaign for joining with AACN and taking decisive action to help diversify the nurse faculty population.”

The Johnson & Johnson Campaign for Nursing’s Future – AACN Minority Nurse Faculty Scholars Program was launched in September 2007 to support full-time minority students with an interest in teaching. This program invites applications from students in doctoral and master’s programs who will serve as nurse faculty after completing their degree programs. Scholarship recipients were selected by an application review committee, and awards in the amount of $18,000 each will be disbursed this fall. All scholarship recipients are expected to attend an annual faculty development program and meet regularly with an identified mentor who will assist in preparing Scholars to assume leadership roles in academia.

Leading Efforts to Diversify Nursing Education

As a central component of AACN’s core values and strategic plan, enhancing diversity in nursing faculty and student populations has been at the forefront of the organization’s advocacy work and programming for more than 10 years. AACN has effectively leveraged its resources to address this national priority given the strong connection between a diverse healthcare workforce and the ability to offer quality, culturally competent patient care. By providing scholarships and leadership development opportunities to minority students pursuing graduate degrees, AACN is creating a cadre of future nurse educators and leaders of the profession. The organization’s work to embed new standards related to cultural competency in the Baccalaureate and Master’s Essentials will help to better equip future nurses to care for an increasingly diverse patient population. Additionally, AACN’s work as program administrator for The Robert Wood Johnson New Careers in Nursing Scholarship Program has opened the door for nearly 2,000 new nurses to enter the profession, all of whom come from ethnically diverse and/or disadvantaged backgrounds.

“AACN’s work to change the face of nursing is having a real impact, and we are proud that our collaborative efforts and strategic partnerships have resulted in more than $20 million in scholarship funding for minority nursing students since 2006,” added Dr. Potempa. “As the recognized voice for professional nursing education, AACN will continue to use its national platform to advocate for more programs and federal resources to assist schools of nursing with their efforts to remove financial barriers to nursing education and faculty careers for all populations in need.”

Source:
American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN)

The American Nurses Association (ANA) applauds the introduction of federal legislation that empowers registered nurses (RNs) to drive staffing decisions in hospitals and, as a result, protect patients and improve the quality of care.

On the heels of the introduction of the Registered Nurse Safe Staffing Act of 2010 (S. 3491/H.R. 5527), hundreds of registered nurses from across the country flocked to Capitol Hill last month to meet with their congressional representatives, emphasizing that insufficient nurse staffing can be a life-or-death issue for patients and that federal legislation is needed to ensure that hospitals don’t limit resources in a way that harms patient outcomes.

The RN Safe Staffing Act, crafted with input from ANA, has sponsors from both political parties – Sen. Daniel Inouye (D-HI) and Reps. Steven LaTourette (R-OH) and Lois Capps (D-CA), a nurse.

“We know that nurses across the country are deeply concerned about unsafe staffing because it puts patients at risk, as well as puts nurses’ careers on the line,” said ANA President Karen Daley, PhD, MPH, RN, FAAN. “Nurses observe all the time how insufficient nurse staffing diminishes the quality of care for patients. We won’t stop advocating on this issue until federal legislation is enacted to increase protections for patients and ensure fair working conditions for nurses.”

Research has shown that higher staffing levels by experienced RNs are linked to lower rates of patient falls, infections, medication errors, and even death. And when unanticipated events happen in a hospital resulting in patient death, injury or permanent loss of function, inadequate nurse staffing often is cited as a contributing factor.

The bill would require hospitals to establish committees that would create unit-by-unit nurse staffing plans based on multiple factors, such as the number of patients on the unit, severity of the patients’ conditions, experience and skill level of the RNs, availability of support staff and technological resources.

ANA backed a similar staffing bill in the last Congress. This version includes new requirements that a hospital’s staffing committee be comprised of at least 55 percent direct care nurses or their representatives, and that the staffing plans must establish adjustable minimum numbers of RNs per unit.

ANA has a long track record of advocating for safe staffing conditions for the nation’s registered nurses, through development of ANA’s Principles for Nurse Staffing in 1999, work with legislators and implementation of a national nursing quality database program that correlates staffing to patient outcomes. In 2007, the association launched its “Safe Staffing Saves Lives” grass-roots campaign, calling on nurses to become advocates. Nearly 1,000 RNs have sent their personal stories to ANA, describing how insufficient staffing on their units has put their patients in jeopardy, overwhelmed them with unmanageable patient loads, and, in some cases, driven them from their jobs.

The safe staffing bill would require hospitals that participate in Medicare to publicly report nurse staffing plans for each unit. It would place limits on the practice of “floating” nurses by ensuring that RNs are not forced to work on units if they lack the education and experience in that specialty. It also would hold hospitals accountable for safe nurse staffing by requiring the development of procedures for receiving and investigating complaints; allowing imposition of civil monetary penalties for knowing violations; and providing whistle-blower protections for those who file a complaint about staffing.

To date, seven states have passed nurse safe staffing legislation that closely resembles ANA’s national approach to ensure safe staffing. Those states are Connecticut, Illinois, Nevada, Ohio, Oregon, Texas and Washington.

Source:
American Nurses Association

The Associated Press: “More than 12,000 nurses launched a one-day strike last Thursday at 14 Minnesota hospitals in a dispute over nurse-patient ratios levels and pension benefits. Nurses say they are being asked to care for too many patients at a time, and strict ratios are necessary to protect patient safety. The hospitals, all in the Minneapolis area, counter that patients are safe and that the walkout is a headline-grabbing stunt to build membership and clout for a national nurses union. About the same number of nurses had planned a simultaneous strike in California over the same issues, but were blocked temporarily earlier this week by a San Francisco judge. … Hospitals hired 2,800 replacement nurses, called in extra non-unionized staff, reduced patient levels and some hospitals rescheduled elective surgeries.” Staff members from two of the area’s largest hospitals weren’t involved in the strike (Williams, 6/10).

NPR: Gary Chaison, a professor of labor relations at Clark University in Worchester, Mass., “says nurses are becoming more militant at a time when unions in other industries are losing influence. As health care reform forces hospitals to cut costs, nurses are feeling the squeeze.’” Chaison says the striking nurses have the advantage of being well liked and respected amongst patients and he predicted other nursing strikes could follow this (Yuen, 6/10).

Minnesota Public Radio: “Hospital officials said Thursday that surgeries, childbirths and other procedures were taking place as expected at 14 Twin Cities hospitals while their nurses picketed outside. … The hospitals and nurses union have been negotiating for weeks on a new contract. But it became clear in recent days that no progress was being made, and that the strike the union scheduled two weeks ago would happen” (Benson and Yuen, 6/10).

Minneapolis Tribune: “Late Thursday, both sides claimed to have achieved their goals on a tense and complicated day — the hospitals treating patients with generally little disruption, the union staging a spirited and cohesive walkout that called public attention to their concerns over patient care and nurse staffing levels. No new talks are scheduled, however, leaving each side to weigh the impact of the one-day walkout and consider whether to escalate the dispute” (Brown, Marcotty and Yee, 6/11).

Twin Cities Pioneer Press: “The dividing contract issue has been nurse staffing levels. The union wants the hospitals to abide by strict nurse-to-patient ratios as a way to ensure patient care. The hospitals want flexibility to deal with staffing issues by calling in nurses on busy days and sending them home on slow ones” (Olson, 6/10).

Source:
http://www.kaiserhealthnews.org/ via MedicalNewsToday

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In honor of National Nurses Week, the American Nurses Association (ANA), the nation’s largest nursing organization, headed to Capitol Hill. In conjunction with the Congressional Nursing Caucus, ANA sponsored a luncheon briefing on Tuesday, May 11th at 12:00 p.m. to highlight for Congressional staff the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) reform that will reduce our nation’s exposure to toxic chemicals, protect nurses and other workers, improve the health of Americans, and decrease the cost of health care.

ANA sponsored the briefing to highlight the nursing profession’s concerns over chemical exposure and its impact on health care professionals and the patients we serve. “In keeping with this year’s National Nurses Week theme, Nurses: Caring Today for a Healthier Tomorrow, ANA came to Capitol Hill to educate lawmakers about the potential health risks of chemical exposures and the need for real environmental reform. ANA has been a leader in the formation of public policy that affects human health, and as nurses, will continue to advocate for laws that counteract potential threats to human health,” said ANA President Rebecca M. Patton, MSN, RN, CNOR.

Nurses, as the largest group of health care providers, recognize the serious impact chemical exposure has on the public’s health. Studies continue to demonstrate a link between chemical exposure and serious illnesses, including cancer, reproductive and developmental disorders, neurological diseases and asthma. Exposure in the workplace puts nurses and other health care professionals at an even greater risk. To illustrate the dangers of chemical exposure, ANA, in partnership with Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR), took part in a first of its kind biomonitoring study of physicians and nurses in October 2009. The findings showed each study participant had at least 24 individual chemicals present in their systems, four of which are on the recently released EPA list of priority chemicals for regulation. These chemicals are all associated with chronic illness and physical disorders.

Among the speakers at Tuesday’s event was Donna Yancey, RN, BSN, CRRN, a retired nurse and one of the biomonitoring study participants. Other speakers included Nancy Hughes, MS, RN, and director of ANA’s Center for Occupational and Environmental Health, Andy Igrejas, campaign director for Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families, and Joyce Martin, the director of Environmental Health Policy for the American Association on Individual and Developmental Disabilities.

National Nurses Week, first founded by ANA, focuses on giving thanks, recognition and acknowledgment for all nurses do for patients. Today’s nurses must have the strength to care for patients during times of disaster and crisis, and the compassion to provide hands-on patient care at the bedside – as they have done throughout the centuries. Moreover, at 3.1 million strong, nurses represent the largest group of health care workers in America, and have the power to achieve much-needed reform in health care and in nursing.

Source
American Nurses Association

Alzheimer’s Society is today calling for all nursing staff to receive mandatory training in dementia care as the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) close their consultation.

Alzheimer’s Society has made recommendations on how dementia should be included in NMC standards.

‘People with dementia occupy up to a quarter of hospital beds at any one time yet many are receiving inappropriate care and leaving hospital far worse than when they arrived. Nurses regularly tell us they’re not receiving enough training in dementia. This needs to end. The NMC must recommend that all student nurses receive training that equips them to provide the best dementia care possible. The draft standards can also be strengthened to help ensure that dementia training is in all university curriculums.’

Andrew Chidgey
Head of Policy and Public Affairs

Source
Alzheimer’s Society

In a ground breaking equal pay case; North Cumbria Acute Hospitals NHS Trust vs Potter & Ors, the Court of Appeal has backed UNISON’s claim that the NHS pay and grading review – Agenda for Change – should not be classed as a break in employment. The ruling paves the way for thousands of women across the country, who have existing equal pay claims lodged with NHS Trusts and councils, to proceed with their cases.

The women, mainly working as nurses, were supported by UNISON against a challenge to their equal pay litigation, where they can claim for up to 6 years of unfair back pay. Staff in continuous employment can put in a claim at any time, but one transferred, by law people have only six months to lodge a claim.

The employers tried to argue that the introduction of Agenda for Change meant the women had started a new contract of employment, and therefore had only six months to lodge claims. This would have timed many women out of taking their case for pay discrimination.

UNISON argued that it would be unfair for a system that was meant to bring in equal pay, to penalize women against challenging past pay discrimination, by giving them a limited window to lodge a claim.

The Court of Appeal upheld UNISON’s claim that new terms and conditions under Agenda for Change did not constitute a break in employment, and the women involved can now proceed with their cases.

The decision will affect thousands of women across the country that have lodged equal pay claims, as many NHS Trusts and councils have been using a similar defense to time women out of making a claim for wage discrimination.

Dave Prentis, UNISON General Secretary, said:

“North Cumbria Acute Hospitals NHS Trust unfairly tried to twist the introduction of a fairer pay structure into a reason why its women workers could not take an equal pay case against past discrimination.

“These nurses, like many women across the country, have already been forced to jump through a number of legal hurdles to try to get equality in their pay. This is a disgrace when you consider that equal pay has been the law of the land in the UK for more than 40 years.

“NHS and local authority employers across the country need to face up to their responsibilities to right the wrongs, and compensate women that have not been paid equally.

“This ruling paves the way for thousands of women across the country, who have already lodged claims for equal pay, to proceed with their cases.”

Notes

* Agenda for Change was designed to bring and fair and equal pay into the NHS. It was the biggest shake up in pay since the NHS was founded more than 60 years ago.

The new pay and grading package covered more than 1 million NHS workers, including people working on contracts for the NHS, to prevent a two-tier workforce.

Source
UNISON