DiversityNursing Blog

By: Mark E. Dixon

The nursing shortage isn't going away, but a federal commission had discovered one positive side effect - the shortage has helped make nursing one of the most ethnically diverse of the healthcare professions.

That's relatively speaking, of course.

Nurses are 50 percent more likely than physicians to be minorities, according to the final report of the Sullivan Commission on Diversity in the Healthcare Workforce.

Even so, Blacks, Hispanics and American Indians together total only 9 percent of nurses, despite representing about 25 percent of the U.S. population. By comparison, only 6 percent of physicians are minorities.

Minorities make up about 10 percent of nursing baccalaureate faculties and 4.2 percent of medical school professors. Nurse educators are more than twice as likely to be members of a minority group as are medical school professors. 

The problem with a disproportionately white healthcare workforce is that it cannot adequately serve a population that is increasingly non-white, according to the commission report.

"Diversity in the health workforce will strengthen cultural competence throughout the health system," the commission said. "Cultural competence profoundly influences how health professionals deliver healthcare."

According to the commission, language barriers in particular are a critical issue; 20 percent of Americans speak a language other than English at home.

Minority groups receive poorer quality healthcare and experience higher mortality rates from heart disease, HIV/AIDS, diabetes, mental health and other illnesses. Minority children are more likely to die from leukemia than white children. 

An increase of more than 20,000 minority nurses is needed to increase their proportion of the nursing workforce by 1 percent.

By the middle of this century, the U.S. population could be more than 50 percent nonwhite, according to the commission's report.

Recommended Strategies

Established in 2003, the Sullivan Commission was formed to recommend strategies to improve access to care and dismantle barriers to health professions' education.

Chaired by former U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Louis W. Sullivan, the 15-member commission consists of experts from the health, higher education, business and legal arenas.

The Sullivan Commission's findings were endorsed by the American Association of Colleges of Nursing, whose president, Jean E. Bartels, PhD, RN, called on legislators, nursing practice leaders and nurse educators to implement the commission's recommendations.

Bartels said: "National nursing organizations, the federal Division of Nursing, hospital associations, nursing philanthropies, and other stakeholders within the healthcare community agree that recruiting under-represented groups into nursing is a priority for the profession and an important step toward addressing the nursing shortage."

Commission recommendations included:

· Health profession schools should hire diversity program managers and develop plans to ensure institutional diversity.

· Colleges and universities should provide an array of support services to minority students, including mentoring, test-taking skills and application counseling. 

· Schools granting baccalaureate nursing degrees should provide "bridging programs" that help graduates of 2-year programs transition to 4-year institutions.  Associate nursing graduates should be encouraged to enroll in baccalaureate programs.

· Professional organizations should work with schools to promote enhanced admissions policies, cultural competence training and minority student recruitment.

· To remove financial barriers to nursing education, funding organizations should provide scholarships, loan forgiveness and tuition reimbursement programs.

· Congress should substantially increase funding for diversity programs within the National Health Service Corps and Titles VII and VIII of the Public Health Service Act.

Diversity Friendly

Meanwhile, nursing seems to be friendly to workers who are minorities.  

A study by Vanderbilt University nursing researcher Peter Buerhaus, PhD, RN, FAAN, showed that part of the 9 percent increase in the nursing workforce from 2001 to 2002 was due to nurses over 50 returning to the hospital.  

Hospitals are making work environments more supportive for older workers. For example, some offer scheduling flexibility and reduced physical requirements.

In addition, the acute nursing shortage and innovations such as talking thermometers have enabled nursing programs and employers to hire people with vision and hearing loss or impaired mobility.

A 2003 Bureau of Labor Statistics survey showed that Hispanics - 13.7 percent of the U.S. population - comprise just 4.4 percent of all medical records and health information technicians, 2.8 percent of pharmacists and 1.3 percent of emergency medical technicians and paramedics. Blacks (12.8 percent) comprise 2.6 percent of physical therapists, 1.3 percent of opticians and less than 1 percent of dental hygienists.

Asians, who make up 4.2 percent of the U.S. population, are represented at that rate or higher in most healthcare segments - particularly physicians and surgeons (16.1 percent), and clinical laboratory technologists and technicians (12.3 percent). However, they are underrepresented as licensed practical and vocational nurses (3.6 percent), dental hygienists (1.4 percent) and dispensing opticians (1.3 percent).

Source: Advance for Nurses

Benefit Bank of Fort Smith has provided two gifts totaling $300,000 to the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith, with university officials saying the gifts will have a positive impact on UAFS students and the community.

A $250,000 professorship – titled the Benefit Bank Endowed Professor of Nursing – will provide a perpetual source of support outside the scope of the University’s regular budget, while a $50,000 gift will fund the Benefit Bank Adult High-Fidelity Simulator, called a “sim-man,” which will be the second such simulator for the UAFS College of Health Sciences.

Bank officials cited a nursing faculty shortage, a shortage of nurses in Arkansas and UAFS nursing laboratory needs in making the gift to UAFS.

Rod Coleman, chair of the Benefit Bank Board of Directors, said the bank plans to be active partners with the College of Health Sciences.

“We congratulate UAFS on what they have done in the past and what they will do in the future to advance health care in the region,” Coleman said in a UAFS-released statement. “We prayerfully hope lives will be changed by our involvement.”

Coleman said UAFS officials have said they find it difficult to find qualified nursing professionals in the region who have the credentials to instruct in a university setting.

“The Benefit Bank Endowed Professor of Nursing will allow the University to recruit and retain faculty that they might not have been able to pursue,” said Coleman. “We are pleased to help UAFS and our community with this gift and with the gift to purchase a sim-man.”

UAFS administrators said having a second sim-man will be a plus for the University. Nursing students currently have a 10:1 ratio of students to in the current “sim man” lab. The new simulator will result in a 5-to-1 ratio.

The Benefit Bank gifts were announced at a recent meeting of the UAFS Foundation Board by Coleman and other Benefit Bank board members, including John Taylor, Rusty Jacobs, Keith Gibson, Dr. Carl Friddle, Leo Anhalt and Benefit Bank president Joe Edwards.

UAFS Chancellor Dr. Paul B. Beran said UAFS considers Benefit Bank’s gift to have major impact on the University.

“This gift will help the University increase the number of students accepted into the nursing program by 20 per year and provide the faculty necessary for the program,” Beran said. “The Benefit Bank endowed professorship will not only help us increase the number of nursing faculty, but it will help our recruiting efforts for hiring qualified nursing faculty members.”

Dr. Carolyn Mosley, dean of the College of Health Sciences, said the gift will be a step toward providing additional registered nurses into healthcare settings in Arkansas.

“Arkansas currently ranks below the national average of registered nurses per 100,000 population,” said Mosley. “Of the six surrounding states, only two have lower percentages of nurses than Arkansas. The nursing shortage is national and worldwide, therefore, Arkansas nursing programs must educate a greater number of nurses to address the state’s current shortages.”

Mosley said UAFS graduates have a 100% employment rate and have an “excellent reputation.”

The Pendergraft Health Sciences Center opened in 2004 and houses programs in nursing, dental hygiene, imaging sciences and surgical technology, as well as the Powell Student Health Clinic and the Counseling Clinic.

Source: The City Wire

By Hailey Fairchild

One of the most common stereotypes about the field of nursing is that it’s a female profession, but some students in Ohio State’s nursing program are hoping to defy that norm.

In popular films and television shows, such as “Nurse Betty,” “Pearl Harbor,” “Nurse Jackie” or “HawthoRNe,” the main role of the nurse is played by a woman.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Health Resources and Services Administration found in its 2008 National Survey of the registered nurse population that of the more than 3 million licensed registered nurses living in the United States, only 6.6 percent were males.

Steven Shaw, a third-year in nursing and president of Buckeyes Assembly for Men and Nursing, believes being a nurse is a rewarding field for any individual, regardless of gender.

“Nursing is a very challenging, rewarding and highly marketable career choice,” Shaw said. “Nursing is constantly evolving and improving due to nursing research … the nurse gets to see the differences they make in their patient’s lives on a daily basis.”
And Shaw isn’t alone.

U.S. News & World Report listed registered nurse second on its 100 Best Jobs of 2013. U.S. News & World Report said the field is ranked highly because it’s rapidly expanding and nurses are in high demand.

The report said nursing has been one of the jobs that flourished despite the harsh economic times. The top-ranked job was dentistry.

Despite the growing number of people entering the nursing field and the high demand, the percentage of male nurses is still low.

“I do not understand why there is such a disparity between the number of men and women in the nursing field. It must be that a majority of males have a misconception about nursing,” Shaw said.

Jennifer Robb, coordinator for Diversity Recruitment and Retention at the College of Nursing, had similar thoughts on the subject.

“Traditionally it has been a female-dominated field. Part of my role is to increase the number of unrepresented students in nursing and often times when I contact high school counselors about it, they said, ‘OK, I will tell my girls about it.’ I just do not think the men are being exposed to it enough,” Robb said.

However, OSU has been praised for the number of male students it has in its program. In 2008, the American Assembly for Men in Nursing named OSU’s College of Nursing the Best Nursing College for Men. At the time only 10 percent of the undergraduate nursing students were male; however, that has risen to 14 percent in 2013, Robb said. The graduate program has also seen a big jump in the past five years, rising to 20 percent from 15 percent of the students being male, Robb said.

Even though percentages at OSU are greater than those nationally, the College of Nursing is still working to increase the diversity among students, especially the male population, Robb said. The College of Nursing Student Ambassadors have been reaching out to get new people to explore nursing.

“All throughout the year we do programs where students can come in and do hands-on activities and interact with some of our student ambassadors,” Robb said. “We work with elementary-age students, high school students and even college-age students.”
Andrew Bogart, a second-year in nursing, said society is becoming more accepting of having male nurses, and he feels right at home in Newton Hall, where the College of Nursing is housed.

“This year’s sophomore (class) in the College of Nursing has the largest percentage of male students in the history of the program. That’s exciting,” Bogart said. “There’s over 20 men in my class of about 160, so I don’t feel out of place atall.”

Source: The Latern                                                                                                  

By Alvin Tran

More than 27 million Americans will soon gain health coverage under the health law. But who will treat them all?

With such a large coverage expansion, and with an anticipated shortage of primary care physicians available to serve them, some states have or are considering allowing so-called advanced practice nurses -- those with advanced degrees -- to treat more patients. David Hebert is at the issue’s center. Hebert, a veteran health care lobbyist and former CEO of the American College of Nurse Practitioners, is the first CEO of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners (AANP) -- a new group with 42,000 members recently formed from the merger of the American College of Nurse Practitioners and the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners.

Hebert says that despite doubts from some doctor groups, nurse practitioners are honing their craft in patient care and research to position themselves to help care for this new influx of patients, and they’re doing so without sacrificing the quality of care.

KHN's Alvin Tran sat down recently with Hebert to discuss the changing role nurse practitioners may soon have, as well as some physicians' efforts to stop them.

Here are edited excerpts of that discussion:

Q. As of 2012, 18 states and the District of Columbia allow nurse practitioners to diagnose, treat patients and prescribe medications without a doctor’s involvement. What is the biggest impediment to expanding to other states? How are you planning to expand that to the other states?

Well, the problem is that there are certain states that require physicians' supervision of nurse practitioners or there may well be some kind of restrictive collaborative agreement that is imposed upon the nurse practitioner. Often times, that makes it very difficult for nurse practitioners to practice. Sometimes there may be a physician who is unwilling to supervise. Other times you may have an issue where the physician chooses to not form a collaborative agreement with nurse practitioners. So, part of the issue is that we have anticompetitive regulations in place.

There are a number of things that we want to do at the federal level. We are hopeful that legislation is going to be reintroduced this Congress that will allow nurse practitioners in Medicare to admit patients for home health care. Right now, the admission can only be done by a physician. Given the fact that we've had research indicating that it would be cost effective, we can get people out of nursing homes and hospitals quicker. It really makes good public policy sense. Particularly, if you got a situation in a rural area where the nurse practitioner and the patient is waiting for the physician to sign the order to admit into home health.

Same thing is true on hospice. We've not been able to get legislation passed that allows nurse practitioners to admit to hospice. We’re not currently permitted by statute to formaccountable care organizations on our own. That opens up a lot of possibilities for safe and effective, cost effective health care.

Q. Physicians groups, including the American Medical Association, have opposed efforts to expand the scope of practice of nurse practitioners and raised concerns of patient safety, contending that physicians' extended training makes them more qualified to handle such issues. How do you make sure that patients are protected?

There have been studies over the years that shows that our outcomes are the same or better than primary care physicians. The fact is that it’s a total red herring. Nurse practitioners have been practicing safely and providing great outcomes for decades.

Q. Medicare’s reimbursement rate for NPs is 85 percent of the physician rate for the same services. Should these rates be the same for both providers?

One hopes that, when all is said and done, whether they're working with a physician or billing on their own, it should be 100 percent of what a doctor is paid because the fact is, they're providing the same services that a physician is providing. Quite frankly, it doesn't make any sense.

Q. What role do you think NPs will have once the federal health law takes effect in 2014?

I think that once you have a full implementation of the expanded Medicaid provisions of the ACA, you’re going to see increased demand for primary care. Unless there’s someone there to provide that care, the intent of the ACA will not be fulfilled. You’re going to see a lot of patients who may be insured or have coverage under Medicare and Medicaid, but may not be able to get services.

I think the major challenges will be to look at regulations that artificially restrict a nurse practitioner’s ability to practice within their scope. If patients want to choose a nurse practitioner, they should be free to do so.

Q. Your tenure as CEO began last month, what’s at the very top of your 'to-do list'?

We are looking at rebranding and a more enhanced public relations campaign. We're looking at increasing membership. Right now we’re about 42,000 members and there are 155,000 nurse practitioners in this country. So, we have room for growth. We’re going to be spending some time ramping up our association activities.

Source: Kaiser Health News

By Laura Krantz

A new regional public health nurse will help three local towns tackle a big problem: making sure residents take their medications properly, officials said Tuesday.

Thanks to a wellness grant administered by the MetroWest Regional Collaborative, nurse Alyssa Kaiser has been hired part time to run preventative medicine programs in Ashland, Hopkinton and Medway. The programs will range from mental health to concussion safety to fall prevention for the elderly, local health agents said Tuesday.

"I’m able to be creative and implement a lot of programs I don’t think just being a clinical nurse you’re able to do," said Kaiser, 30, recently graduated from the Mass. College of Pharmacy and Health Science’s Worcester campus.

She said she is eager to begin learning the major health needs of each town.

"What I’m trying to do is trying to take a look at all of the town sand trying to see what are the issues…in each one of the towns and what can we do to help solve that problem or prevent these issues?" she said. "I don’t think that has been addressed before."

The nurse is meeting with local officials this month. Once her work is in full swing, one of her main goals will be to encourage residents, especially seniors, to properly administer their medications.

"There’s such a large amount of the elderly population that becomes sick from either taking too little of their drugs or too much," said Stephanie Bacon, Medway’s health agent.

According to a 2010 article in the New England Journal of Medicine, as many as half of all patients do not adhere faithfully to their prescription medication regimens, resulting in more than $100 billion spent annually on avoidable hospitalizations.　

The article said unorganized care as well as psychological issues, health literacy and side effects can lead to people not taking their medicine properly.

Kaiser said many adults, not only seniors, struggle to take medicine properly. They can receive dangerous combinations of medicines from two different doctors or have dietary restrictions that interfere with a medicine, for example.

"It’s a huge, huge issue," she said.

Kaiser will work with seniors, schools and sports groups on topics including mental health and abuse, disease prevention and nutrition.

She was at the Medway senior center Tuesday talking with seniors about medicine adherence, Bacon said.

Hopkinton Public Health Administrator Ed Wirtanen Tuesday said he is thrilled to have a nurse in an era of shrinking budgets and an uncertain future of public health. He said the town hasn’t had a nurse since at least 2008.

"We’re desperately trying to get a nurse," he said.

Bacon said Kaiser will also help the elderly prevent themselves from falling. For seniors, a single fall can cause health complications from which many never recover.

"Literally, a fall can be the end of their life," Bacon said.

Those who do recover often live in fear of falling again, she said. The nurse Tuesday gave out spike-type tools to put on the bottom of canes to help prevent falling in icy weather, Bacon explained.

Mark Oram, Ashland health agent, said people often set up pillboxes but don’t always adhere to the plan.

He said the nurse will also film public service announcements for local cable access channels in the three towns. The part-time position is scheduled to run through July but Oram said they have asked that it be extended through the end of 2013.

Source: MetroWest Daily News

BY SCRUBS EDITOR

Every week we scour the Internet for controversy, quotes and stories related to nursing and the things you care about. Tune in to read our roundup every week!

1. Does your fatigue have anything to do with the length of your shift? According to this study — YES. It does! 

So how did this happen in the first place? Amy Witkoski Stimpfel, a fellow at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing, explains:

“Nurses traditionally worked eight-hour days. Then in the 1980s and 1990s, when some structural changes in health care and cost containment measures [were] put in, it was actually less expensive to have nurses work 12-hour shifts, because that [meant] only two nurses per day [were needed] instead of three. So nurses began working these 12-hour shifts. In fact, they decided that they really liked it because it offered better work life balance. Nurses could work three days instead of five, so they had more time off with their family and friends and fewer commutes. And they had more time to go back to school. So it’s really become very prevalent.”

Source: Knowledge @ Wharton

2. Nurses love their career choice, but 30% say they aren’t happy with their jobs.

Harvard Business School professor and author Clayton Christensen describes motivation like this: “[It] means that you’ve got an engine inside of you that drives you to keep working in order to feel successful and to help the organization be successful. It causes you to keep at it through thick and thin. Motivators are things like, ‘I have the opportunity to achieve important things,”I learn ways to be better,’ and ‘I’m an important part of a team.’ If you have those kinds of experiences every day, you’re motivated, and you’ll be satisfied.”

Source: Health Leaders Media

3. San Francisco nurse wins national award for her book detailing her transition to life coaching.

On why she flipped careers:

“I wanted to help people who wanted to make transformative, positive change in their own lives,” said Linda Bark, who runs the Alameda-based Bark Coaching Institute. “Coaching can be for life transitions, business decisions, health–either way, it is about helping a person make a change by listening to one’s whole self. What I invite people to do is to see what information they’re getting, not just from their thinking minds, but from their bodies.”

Source: The Oakland Tribune

Article Source: Scrubs Magazine

BY SCRUBS EDITOR 

There are lots of medical dictionaries out there, but it seems that Taber’s Medical Dictionary for Mobile + Web–which is used a ton in nursing schools–is one of the top choices. If what they claim is true (“including 30% more medical terms than any other app,” “used most amongst healthcare professionals”), then we can see why!

Taber’s contains more than 60,000 terms, 1,000 photos, and 600 patient care statements, making it a hugely comprehensive health science dictionary. The iTunes page boasts that “Taber’s goes beyond in-depth definitions with nutrition and alternative therapy coverage, medical abbreviations, symbols and units of measurement, immunization schedules, nursing diagnoses, links to pronunciations, and more. This powerful app contains the information you need to answer critical questions at the bedside, in the classroom, at home, or in the office.”

What nurses love about Taber’s: 

“The index is super easy to use. Very nice to be reading my nursing e-textbook and switch to my e-Taber’s and get more info. I highly recommend this!” – Space Queen, Amazon.com

Taber’s Medical Dictionary for Mobile + Web features for all iOS devices:

• Optimized interface
• Universal Index Search – find topics across all indexes
• Personalized favorites
• Superior navigation

Taber’s Medical Dictionary for Mobile + Web features for iPad:

• iPad-specific interface – not just an enlarged iPhone app
• Side-by-side reading and navigation panes

PLEASE NOTE: This application requires a paid subscription to the online Taber’s Medical Dictionary for Mobile + Web service.

Source: Scrubs Magazine