During the recession, job vacancies for nurses in Minnesota were slashed by over 75%. Although the number of openings have increased somewhat over the past few months, just like many other Minnesotan economic sectors, this recovery is not a substantial one. It is absolutely nowhere close to pre-recession figures. RN openings near the end of 2010 were still down by over 50% from recession start.

Recent trends, including the latest data on the 2nd quarter of 2011, show that RN job opportunities in Minnesota have been are nearing at 1000 positions only. This is very similar to the figures in the first half of 2011. No significant rise has been witnessed. The all-time low in nursing jobs availability was back in 2009 when the recession bomb dropped in the States. It hit Minnesota harder than many other states.

What exactly is going on? Well, it’s a mix of factors stemming from healthcare facilities’ attempts at holding costs down. This is natural as every other American business has been trying to do this very thing ever since recession started. There is no doubt that older nurses will, as a result, put off their retirements in the tough economic situation. This further limits the amount of job openings.

Our concern still focuses on the large number of people, like Curt Peterson, who went back to attend nursing school in community colleges (2-year degrees) with the notion that this would open doors to a great-paying flexible job in a hospital. Those jobs have dried up drastically by now. As the economy very slowly recovers, hospitals will still give preference to those who begin college and obtain a bachelor degree-holding RNs from the pool of job seekers, putting such nurse students at great disadvantage.

Nurses with an associate’s degree may get a job. However, they are more likely to get these at clinics and assisted care facilities, where pay is generally much lower than at hospitals. Added to that is the more rigid and less flexible work schedule.

Therefore, if you were a person at his or her mid-career level during the ‘Great Recession’ who believed that there was potential for earning a bigger salary in the future, together with improved working conditions, this vision may be becoming dimmer and dimmer by the day. Many Americans in entry-level and clerical jobs decide to switch careers midway through and go back to school for 2 more years so that they may become nurses and have better job prospects. Unfortunately, this is not very true anymore. Unless the wind changes directions, those following this route will be faced with grave disappointment when soon hunting for jobs.

For Additional Resources:

• Grants for College
• http://www.nursing360

The National Gerontological Nursing Association was founded in 1984 and has the purpose of providing clinical care to elders across various care facilities. The Fellow status is an honor conferred by the NGNA to special individuals who have proved outstanding leadership skills in gerontological nursing.

Being appointed a FNGNA, believes Dr. Tanner [photo], is a recognition of her achievements throughout her career and an open challenge to study more, push the limits of research and build even more. Her final goal won’t change—she still strives to create the best professionals at Hopkins:

“Finding ways to help older adults age in place—with dignity and a sense of mental, physical, and spiritual well being—through research and practice is my goal. It is my hope that every nurse who graduates from Hopkins possesses the compassion as well as evidence-based knowledge and skills to care for our aging population.”

“Nurses need a special approach and a good understanding of the needs of our aging society,” said Dr. Tanner. “and the future of the health and healthcare in the United States depends on this. I have dedicated my career to gerontological nursing to improve the quality of life for the elder generation.”

With JHUSON, Dr Tanner is in charge of developing the gerontological curriculum for the School of Nursing and to create and maintain a Geriatric Interest Group for nursing, public health and medicine students.

She has built a 25 year experience tutoring nursing students, assisting underserved elders in public community settings and supervising community-based voluntary research.

JHUSON is one of the top nursing schools in the United States. In the 2008 edition of the U.S. News & World Report they ranked second in the nation for the Community Health Nursing Program and forth for Graduate Programs. With a history of established excellence for more than a century in connection with the Johns Hopkins Hospital and the University, the School of Nursing has its roots deeply anchored in the past and is focused on the future. They attract students and faculty members from around the world to collaborate, research, and learn the best practices to advance the science and art of nursing.

Registered Nurses Association of Ontario (RNAO) supported Paul-Andre Gauthier’s please for higher base funding budgets to be awarded to residential hospices. Earlier this month, pleas to Queen’s Park were made on the yearly Day at Queen’s Park held on behalf of RNAO.

Gauthier is a nursing professor working in College Boreal. He requested Deb Matthews, Health Minister, for consideration on 80% funds at hospices, especially those like Maison Vale Inco Hospice. Demands that this point be raised in the upcoming provincial budget were made.

Although funding is now given for nurses’ salaries and wages for support workers at Ontario’s hospices, this money is frequently insufficient for cost coverage according to Leo Therrien. Therrien is an executive director at Maison Vale Inco Hospice.

Registered Nurses Association of Ontario

The Effect: Sudbury ended up having to raise an extra $640,000 last year even after receiving $700,000 from province funds.

Demands of 80% funding by the ministry have been made by Hospice Association of Ontario. This is in the context of a $1,600,000 annual expense for the running of any residential hospice housing 10 beds, like Sudbury’s one.

Ministry spokesman, Andrew Morrison, released that ministry is currently funding $580,000 at a hospice of 10 beds.

Due to the funding strategy, personal support staff and registered nurses working at hospices are paid lower wages than in hospitals. This naturally attracts lower quality of work and less dedicated nurse candidates to state hospices.

That only makes retention and recruitment of healthcare experts harder at end-of-life hospices similar to Therrien’s. According to Therrien, the point of concern is fairness in wages. This would only be feasible with eighty percent base funding.

Therrien also said that a terminal strategy has not been put into effect at the province. One such strategy is, however, under the wraps.

Shouldn't hospice nurses spend their time caring for their patients instead of fundraising?

Nonsense! That’s what Gauthier had to say about staff members’ needs to worry concerning the accumulation of thousands in dollars. What they really should be concerned about is provision of care for those that need it, i.e. their duties.

He also said that hospice workers must be paid wages that are comparable with healthcare professionals working in hospitals. Also being advisor at Maison Vale Inco Hospice, Gauthier says that he wants to ensure that the Health Minister is aware of the urgent need in hospices for core funding. This was hopefully made clear enough during RNAO’s meeting with Matthews at Queen’s Park.

Gauthier is one of the regional representatives at northeastern Ontario – Region 11 for RNAO.

Lucille Ferrie Admits to Three Credit Card Crime Incidences

Dundee, United Kingdom (Nursing Salary. Org) – A lady who had been faced with a flogging on the issue of a colleague’s death, in the conservative nation on Saudi Arabia, has recently faced of sentence 2 years in probation upon the crime of credit card fraud.

Last month, forty-five year old, Lucille Ferrie, has recently admitted to being guilty of 3 credit card charge frauds at a court hearing in Dundee Sheriff Court last month

This ex-nurse, named Lucille McLauchlan at that time, was sentenced, in 1996, to 8 years in prison plus five hundred lashes owing to her role in Yvonne Gilford’s murder.

However, she received pardon seventeen months onwards. Upon release, she was allowed to return to UK.

Deborah Parry was the co-accused. She was sentenced to a beheading post revelation that she was in fact the main factor behind the murder. This criminal was released later on as well.

After payment of ‘blood money,’ which is compensation paid in Islamic law for murder to the murdered victim’s family, the pair was granted a pardon. The payment was made to Mrs. Gilford’s relatives located in Australia.

Post return to the United Kingdom, Ferrie, a Dundee resident, has been faced with a series of charges in fraud. She has also been forbidden from nurse practice by UK law.

On behalf of Ferrie, her lawyer stated to court – she claimed to have ‘no good reason’. She said that she was at loss for explaining the motive behind her crimes.

Ferrie admits to having used 2 credit cards, a MasterCard and one Visa, registered in another person’s name for commitment of internet fraud at her home in April 2010. She ordered goods from online stores worth over £1,000.

She was also proven guilty of utilization of others’ credit cards for purchase of mobile phones, net books, and televisions.

The Crown accepted her claim on not being guilty of this theft crime on the bank card. Events that occurred at Saudi Arabia left ‘indelible marks’ on her, according to her defense lawyer, John Boyle. He adds that she is now a devoted mother to two and employed. She suffers from no gambling addictions, alcohol, drugs, or other financial conflicts. Apparently, there was no qualified reason behind her commitment of such offences, and the nurse herself is at loss for an explanation.

On Christmas Eve of 1996, Ms Gilford had been discovered stabbed and dead in one of the hospital complexes under the military located at Dhahran.

Both the co-accused and Ferrie claimed that they had been forced into confessing upon a crime not committed by them. However, these statements were retracted later on.

Student Nurses Protest in Ireland

These protests for a part of campaigns from Irish Nurses and Midwives Organization (INMO) for reversal of recent pay cuts, which are perceived to be aimed toward 4th year working midwives and nurses in pre-registration. Such fresh health professionals will be replacing hospitals’ qualified and well-paid staff during the last 9 months of their nursing or midwifery degree education.

Recently, the government has also made a decision to schedule out their pay cuts over the subsequent 4 years. 2015 onwards, they will be paid nothing. Yes, this does mean that nurses in their final year will be expected full-time work, provision of patient care directly, and complete loyalty to their duties for no pay at all for a 9-month period.

After a number of lunchtime protests held last week, Health Minister and Tanaiste, Mary Coughlan, requested a review of this rationale from her department. The possibility of complete stall of payments during clinical placement has struck the wrong chord with many enraged student nurses. Promises to student nurses for the retainment of some form of compensation have been made, but no concrete results have yet been announced by the government or Health Minister.

After listening to Ms. Coughlan’s announcement, INMO still decided to proceed with the protest planned tomorrow. Scheduled to begin at 12:30 PM at Parnell Square, members intend to proceed onto Department of Health. Following that, the Minister for Health will be handed a letter calling for decision reversal as she arrives at her offices.

INMO Crotest Pay Cuts for Nursing Graduates 2011

INMO announced that although the decision on behalf of Ms Coughlan was a welcome change, it didn’t address the solution to a satisfactory extent. The statement insisted that the Minister’s address on this issue was inadequate. Apparently, it was suggesting the results of this review to be a further reduction in wages.

Adding to that, INMO said that the reviews proposed are completely insufficient. They don’t include pay cut reversals on 4^th year nurses currently engaging in pre-registration placements.

If the forecasted outcome of no resolution comes true, the INMO has a back-up plan on the cards. The organization is planning on balloting all fourth year pre-registration students of nursing and midwifery demanding labor withdrawal and industrial action, starting early in March.

Liam Doran, general secretary at INMO, states, “Pre-registration nurses and midwives are the lowest paid grade in the health service. They work full rosters, replacing qualified staff and are filling gaps in the service that otherwise would have to be paid at staff nurse/midwife level. This government decision was wrong, is fundamentally flawed and should be reversed immediately.”

Baylor University School of Nursing in Texas

The accreditation letter read by Ken Starr, Baylor’s President, held lots of praises for this program based in Dallas, its faculty, as well as for its coordinator – Dr. Mary Ann Faucher. She is an associate professor in nursing. It named it an excellent degree program that will make significant contributions to the women and families not catered for in Texas.

The commission has revealed that these are the first batches of nurses in the country that have completed and received a degree at Baylor’s Louise Herrington School of Nursing in May 2010.

Nurse Midwife

This program started in the academic year 2009-2010 and allows its students to immediately progress from the bachelor’s program of nursing to a PhD of Nurse-Midwifery.

Of the only 8 schools of nursing that offer DNP for nurse-midwifery programs within the nation, Baylor’s is the only Texan school for Nursing, as per figures revealed by the accreditation committee.

Faucher said that she was very delighted and pleased after receiving the accreditation notice that was free of any recommendations on changes. She proudly announced that they have been given the maximum permissible, which is 5 years for the premier complete accreditation.

She also said, “The praise in the letter adds additional recognition to the team that worked on this accreditation and verifies the commitment that Baylor has to excellence and hence to the students. It is certainly nice to receive full accreditation, but the added praise is like getting a 5-star rating.”

This degree program requires candidates to complete a project that applies to clinical practice instead of research dissertation.

The field of nurse-midwifery is focused on births that do not involve unnecessary procedures. Research reveals that births monitored by nurse-midwives have significantly reduced risks for both baby and mother.

Around eighty percent of the nation’s estimated 11,300 qualified nurse-midwives possess a master’s degree. Around five percent possess a doctorate degree as well, as per American Midwifery Certification Board.

This beginning accreditation was rewarded post the assessment of a self-evaluation reporting submitted by the program. This was reviewed by the Board of Review at the accreditation commission. Along with that, additional materials and a report of site visit were also handed in October of 2010.

Initial accreditation is allowed for 5 years at the maximum period of time permitted. The subsequent site visit and self-evaluation is due to be carried out in fall of 2015. The results will be reviewed in the board meeting of Jan 2016.

Held at Richelieu-Vanier community centre, the workshop was sponsored by Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario.

Nurses Passionate About Helping Smokers Quit

Research studies have shown short conversation with an empathic nurse about quitting smoking that spans only three minutes to effectively impact prospective smoking quitters

Gloria Cunningham has been working at cardiac rehabilitation for the past 15 years. On Friday, she claimed that it was not easy for most nurses to approach their patients about smoking problems. This is especially true if the patient is admitted in the hospital for some condition unrelated to smoking.

Training Canadian Nurses in Helping Patients Quit Smoking

She says that the main problem is asking first. Once you ask a patient if they smoke and get a response in the affirmative, all you have to do as a nurse is get them started in the correct direction and give them somewhat of a ‘boost’. Most of this is motivational talking and helping keep quitters on track.

One of the facilitators at this workshop, Joyce Hodgins, comments that they hope to drive smokers towards taking that all-important step by aiding health care professionals and nurses with the necessary expertise to confidently conduct such brief interventions.

Twenty percent of all Ontario dwellers are smokers. Joyce continues and states that this is a very large number of citizens that still suffer from health effects coming out of use of tobacco. More than fifty percent of these people are potential quitters with a pure intention and goal. However, many often fail in spite of several attempts.

According to research, nurses and other front-line health professionals can speed up the process and make a real difference. In fact, most results can be seen simply through talking with patients regarding quitting smoking.

Cunningham chuckles at the fact that helping smokers quit has always been a passion of hers. She hopes to get rid of all smokers one step at a time.

Only fifty nurses were at this Friday workshop. However, similar workshops have been attended by over 500 nurses all over Ontario recently. If such programs are starting to show positive results in patients, similar programs may spread across borders to the USA soon as well.

Nurses Seek Compensation for Unfair Barring

This is following a decision by 3 nurses to try the government in European Court of Human Rights. These nurses were barred for a period of 10 years from permits to work with children and vulnerable adults by the ISA. As a Nursing Times report stated, this decision on behalf of the ISA was deemed ‘unlawful’ in November.  High court decided that the 3 nurses were denied a fair opportunity of presenting their part of the events that unfolded.

The Home Office is now being sued over earnings loss, emotional damage, and harm to reputation. These are the people that oversee ISA. Jonathan Green, senior legal officer at the RCN, stated that the nurses are eligible to payouts ranging from £4,000 to £20,000. Their identities have been kept undisclosed for protection purposes, according to law.

Justice is Served by the RCN

Investigations are being conducted by the RCN into the exact number of nurses that may be eligible for compensation.

Above seventy cases that involved nurses have opened up post Oct 2009. However, not all of these were labeled ‘autobarred’. Autobarring is the receipt of ten years in ban post issue of a caution from the police.

Mr Green says that this is having an effect on the human rights of people. There is potential that anyone who has been previously barred automatically is eligible and entitled to opening up a case in Europe. He also informed that anyone who hasn’t gotten in touch with RCN yet can contact them for support and advice.

Independent Safeguarding Authority

The mentioned 3 nurses have already made the decision to go into Europe. They have been punished from the ISA for a number of different reasons. One of the reasons involved leaving an eleven-year-old son alone at home while going shopping.

Another was cautioned by the police post his wife leaving their kids alone for a certain period of time, without informing him, during his working hours. And, lastly, but not the least, one nurse was auto-barred for kissing a colleague sans their permission. All of them are menial charges, definitely not of an extent to justify auto-barring on their nurse career.

Interim reports are due for submission in the upcoming weeks. These will cover government review of the barring and vetting scheme.

Gail Adams, the nursing head at Unison, has said that none of the members have been affected.

Medicare Fraud

Each of the 8 individuals has pleaded guilty before to at least one conspiracy count in health care fraud. Prison terms ranging from 5-30 months were declared by Ursula Ungaro, U.S District Court Judge.

• Roberto Rodriguez, Diana Sanabia, and Daisy Santos face 30 months of jail, 3 years supervision upon release, and fines of 603,900, $ 594,00, and $699,000 respectively.
• Maria Pereze, 49, faces one and a half year in jail, 3 years of police supervision post release, and fines worth $180,600 in restitution.
• Marlene Magadan, age 36, faces 24 months of jail, 3 years supervision post release, and huge fines in restitution worth $334,200.
• Alberto Alvarez, 55, was pronounced with fifteen months in jail plus 3 years in supervised released. He was also fined $101,800.
• Leonardo Malagon, 40, is a licensed practical nurse. He was sentenced to five prison months, 2 years in supervised release, plus a fine of $66,800 in restitution.
• Yanisley Chao, 32, is also a licensed practical nurse that was sentenced to five prison months, 2 years in supervised release, and a fine worth $66,800 of restitution.
  

  Criminal Health Professionals Cheating Off Govt. Health Funds

Two other individuals have also been charged as part of this same case:

• Dr. Jorge Dieppa: She was also charged for an indictment in July 2010 and is awaiting trial from one previous conspiracy count for health care fraud commitment. She also holds a history of one false statement relating to benefit and payment rights from Medicare.
• Alfredo Zayas, aged 76, is a beneficiary of Medicare who was held guilty for one conspiracy count in health care fraud. He was also sentenced to 2 probation years on Friday. Plea documents held Zayas to have been a beneficiary who accepted bribes, kickbacks, and other solicited compensations in exchange for allowing his Medicare ID to be used for unnecessary billing of Medicare home treatment services.

Co-conspirators had owned Florida Home Health Care Providers and ABC Home Health. These companies claimed to provide therapy and home health services, patient referrals to Dieppa for prescriptions, as well as care plans and medical certifications. The result: illegal billing to Medicare of approx $18.7 million.

Cited plea documents in the news release said that defendants had forged patient files for presentation to Medicare beneficiaries in an attempt to present beneficiaries as qualified for the issues services. However, defendants were aware themselves that the services rendered were not medical necessity or were not even provided.

Health & Human Services

The Health and Human Services together with the FBI investigated this case. The nurses were prosecuted as part of the DOJ Medicare Fraud Strike Force/ FBI.

In on a Medicare fraud scheme? Suspect your providers? Here’s the next steps to follow.

A four percent increase would mean $52 million increase in funding, the Connecticut Association told Governor Dannel P. Malloy. Executive Vice-President, Matthew V. Barrett told media that they “believe this plan represents a rare opportunity to increase revenues – using brand new federal revenues that don’t increase overall state costs.” Annually Connecticut State draws around $116 million in taxes from nursing homes and most of the collected amount is returned to the nursing industry only.

According to the new system, they will follow “provider tax” method, which is like a back and forth revenue collection system that Connecticut and other states will be using to leverage additional federal aid. The Federal law allows every state to levy 5.5 percent tax on net revenues which is spent on patients with low income and those registered under Medicaid program. Unlike other states, Connecticut levies taxes only on functioning nursing homes and leaves out other health care facilities like hospitals, disability care facilities and social service agencies.

Health Funds Grant

However, implementing the “provider tax” rule has its share of complications since the federal government mandates that the revenue collected should be distributed in some fashion. Usually when the nursing homes serve richer clients, they lose some of the funding but when they serve low income group patients, they gain funding. The revenue raised by Connecticut State is spent on serving Medicaid patients.

The Medicaid laws also state that when the nursing homes make tax payments as well as the expanded payments that the state government pays to these facilities, both is counted as expenditure and therefore, they are eligible for partial federal reimbursement.

In the last six years, the state has been passing up its opportunity to leverage the federal aid without any additional cost to the industry. At that time, the existing Governor M. Jodi Rell government did not update the laws and thus they have been taxing the nursing home based on the net revenues earned in the year 2005. Barrett concluded that once the projected 2012 revenues are used from January 2012, it could boost the healthcare by $45 million.