Literature Review

Serious Medical Errors Rose After Private Equity Firms Bought HospitalsNew York TimesDecember 26, 2023The rate of serious medical complications increased in hospitals after they were purchased by private equity investment firms, according to a major study of the effects of such acquisitions on patient care in recent years. The study, published in JAMA on Tuesday, found that, in the three years after a private equity fund bought a hospital, adverse events including surgical infections and bed sores rose by 25 percent among Medicare patients when compared with similar hospitals that were not bought by such investors. The researchers reported a nearly 38 percent increase in central line infections, a dangerous kind of infection that medical authorities say should never happen, and a 27 percent increase in falls by patients while staying in the hospital. 

Connecticut shouldn’t prevent nurse practitioners from operating independentlyBy Anitha D’SouzaCT MirrorDecember 20, 2023I’m passionate about the role of Nurse Practitioners who are Advanced Practice Registered Nurses and concerned that they’re not fully able to do all they’re capable of due to state rules. This affects not just health care workers but also us, the patients. Connecticut has some regulations that hold back NPs, even though they’re totally skilled and capable. 

10 Hospice Professionals Complete Innovative Professional ProgramEye on AnnapolisDecember 24, 2023Two social workers, three chaplains and five registered nurses are being celebrated for completing an innovative professional program pioneered by Hospice of the Chesapeake. The Clinical Ladder program, launched in early 2023, recognizes team members for their clinical expertise, professional and educational achievements, and contributions to the hospice team as well as the full organization. 

OSHA, NAHCA alliance aims to protect CNAs from safety and health hazardsMcKnight’s Senior LivingDecember 21, 2023A new alliance between the Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the National Association of Health Care Assistants aims to help protect certified nursing assistants in Missouri from exposure to safety and health hazards. The agreement, signed by OSHA’s regional office and NAHCA last month, provides the framework for a new alliance. 

Hospice of the Chesapeake celebrates highly successful first year with NICHEAnne Arundel (MD) PatchDecember 20, 2023Pasadena, MD—Hospice of the Chesapeake is celebrating the graduation of seven registered nurses and 46 certified nursing assistants in a prestigious training program. It marks a highly successful first year as a member of the Nurses Improving Care for Healthsystem Elders, or NICHE, program of New York University Rory Meyers College of Nursing. The program helped the not-for-profit hospice organization train nurses to become key leaders in the NICHE Leadership Training Program. 

Tired of the waiting lists for CA public universities, nursing students increasingly turn to expensive private programsPress-Democrat (Santa Rosa, CA)December 18, 2023... Private nursing schools are teaching more students each year, filling in the gaps as California hospitals face increasing staffing shortages and public, four-year universities struggle to grow. According to the California Board of Registered Nursing, in 2021 nearly 64,300 students applied for just 16,600 spots in associate, bachelor’s, and master’s degree nursing programs. About 55% of those spots were at private institutions. 

San Diego County’s first class of physician assistants graduates, seen as key to easing staffing shortagesSan Diego Union-TribuneDecember 18, 2023... Point Loma Nazarene University minted its first 28 physician assistants Friday, injecting a fresh set of trained troops into an ongoing battle to keep up with the increased demands for health care caused by an aging population and an exodus of burnt-out medical providers in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. It was the first graduating class of the university’s new physician assistant program and the first crop of locally trained PAs for any institution in San Diego County. 

The Language of Hospice Can Help Us Get Better at Discussing DeathTIMEDecember 18, 2023Just because death is inevitable doesn’t make it easy or natural to talk about. In a new study, researchers wondered if hospice workers—experts in end-of-life care—had lessons to teach the rest of us when it came to speaking with patients and families about death. Daniel Menchik, an associate professor of sociology at the University of Arizona who studies the use of language in different fields of medicine, spent eight months sitting in on team meetings at a hospice care facility that were also open to patients’ families. ... In the study, Menchik noticed that hospice workers used three different types of verbs in meetings with family members: predictive, subjunctive, and imperative. Predictive verbs are used to assert things about the future and include words like “will” and “going to.” Imperative verbs carry a similar firmness, but include a call to action; the most common one Menchik encounters in medical settings is “should.” Subjunctive verbs convey some sort of personal stance when talking about the future. “Think,” “feel,” “want,” and many other expressive phrases fall in this category. When a family starts hospice care, “their capabilities to engage in intense conversations [about death] are usually pretty limited,” Menchik says. But he believes that hospice workers help bridge that gap by minimizing their use of imperative verbs. In meetings he observed, imperative verbs made up just 17% of the verb phrases used by hospice professionals. That’s fairly uncommon in medicine. Editor's Note: Use this article to examine the language used in your team meetings; to strengthen your orientation of employees from non-hospice settings; to engage your admissions nurses in a lively dialogue about its applicability to their experiences with patients and families.

Three found guilty of fraud in South Florida nursing-school ‘diploma mill’ trialMiami HeraldDecember 15, 2023Three people charged with playing crucial roles in a South Florida nursing-school “diploma mill” were found guilty by a federal jury Friday, after a three-week trial where prosecutors accused the defendants of corrupting the healthcare field. The defendants, a former registrar for the defunct Palm Beach School of Nursing and two recruiters from the northeast, were accused of selling fake transcripts and degrees to thousands of students for millions of dollars so they could qualify to attain licenses as nurses.

Greener nurses enter field as workforce demand continues to spikeMcKnight’s Home Care DailyDecember 15, 2023Job openings in healthcare and social services have risen sharply in the last several years, and healthcare providers are taking on less-experienced registered nurses to handle the pressure. At the beginning of 2018, the average nurse’s tenure was more than six years of experience, according to a recent workforce report by the ADP Research Institute. In the five years since, however, high turnover rates and a corresponding abundance of job opportunities deflated a nurse’s average tenure to about five years of experience. 

Nurses at Prime hospital approve labor dealBecker’s Hospital ReviewDecember 13, 2023Members of the United Nurses Associations of California/Union of Health Care Professionals have approved a new labor contract with Prime Healthcare’s St. Francis Medical Center in Lynwood, Calif. The contract, approved by 81% of voting union members, covers 600 registered nurses at the medical center, according to a Dec. 13 UNAC/UHCP news release. 

Boston VNA Nurses and Healthcare Professionals Cast a Unanimous Vote Authorizing a 14-day StrikePRNewswireDecember 13, 2023Boston, MA—In response to an increase in the complexity of care required for patients admitted for care at home, in conjunction with a lack of staff and resources to provide that level of care, the 60 registered nurses and healthcare professionals who work for the Visiting Nurses Association of Boston/VNA Care, cast a unanimous vote to authorize a 14-day strike in an effort to move their administration to provide the staffing and wage enhancements they need to provide the care their patients deserve.