Nurse - First Army Surgeon General

The First Woman and Nurse was confirmed by Congress!
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IOM Future of Nursing/Affordable Care Act and PH Nursing

Dr. Susan Zahner gave the keynote at the Quad Council Learning Institute on 10/30/11 during APHA. "Implications of the Future of Nursing IOM Report and the Affordable Care Act for Public Health Nursing". It is now available at the link below. 

http://media.son.wisc.edu/video/player.php?id=207

Survey on experience as a bedside nurse (no longer available)

Posting for Nursing graduate students - please assist if you can.
I'm happy to post IRB approved surveys via this blog as appropriate for nursing.

Dear Fellow Bedside Registered Nurses,

This is Ebele Onyedumekwu and Annie Nguyen, we are ADN-MSN students at Mount St. Mary's College in Los Angeles. We are collaborating on our Master’s Thesis Research Project and we would like to ask you to help us by participating in our online survey. The survey is completely anonymous and only takes about 7 minutes or less to complete.If you decide to participate, please do so by September 16, 2011. We really appreciate your time and consideration. Thank you so much!

 Here is the link to the survey:

 http://www.mindgarden.com/login/key/bcb3-4e2f32639b7a2

Instructions for the survey:

Please don’t be alarmed when you are brought to the log-in page, it is actually very simple =)

1.  You will be prompted to provide an email address; however to maintain   anonymity it can be a made up one as long as it is still at an appropriate address like @yahoo.com, @hotmail.com, @msmc.la.edu, @aol.com, etc.

2. Then create a password

3. Then you will be taken to a short survey

Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions or concerns. Thank you so much!

Sincerely,

Ebele Onyedumekwu
Annie Nguyen anguyen314@yahoo.com 

FDA: Beware counterfeit “morning after pill” Evital

FDA: Beware counterfeit “morning after pill” Evital

Nursing the Answer to Skyrocketing Health Care Costs

The biggest contributors to skyrocketing costs are the aging of the population and expensive care for the sickest patients.

We need to deploy nurses to coordinate care, provide health education, promote prevention activities along with working with communities to address the social determinants that make people sick.

Nurses, both BSN and advanced practice, providing cost effective care, could help to gradually create a healthier population over many years.

The cost savings will come in two phases. Initially, through better coordination of care and compliance with complex health regimens AND

over many years as factors making people sick are addressed.

For more info on the skyrocketing costs - see the AP article.

Health care tab set to skyrocket | Business | PE.com | Southern California News | News for Inland Southern California

To join the efforts on the Future of Nursing Campaign see:

http://thefutureofnursing.org/

Human Subjects Protections Public Comment Period OPEN

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE July 22, 2011

Contact: HHS Press Office (202) 690-6343

HHS announces proposal to improve rules protecting human research subjects

Changes under consideration would ensure the highest standards of protections for human subjects involved in research, while enhancing effectiveness of oversight

NOTE: The ANPRM comment period closes 5:00 p.m. Monday, September 26, 2011.

www.hhs.gov/ohrp/humansubjects

Clinical Preventive Services for Women: Closing the Gaps

Check out the new IOM Report released July 19, 2011.

Clinical Preventive Services for Women: Closing the Gaps

Memo to Aspiring Nurse Executives and Leaders: "This is Your Time!"

Memo to Aspiring Nurse Executives and Leaders: "This is Your Time!"

Keep your eye on the prize - reducing Health Disparities - REACH US 2011 Conference California

This was a great conference about the state of health disparities in the U.S. and particularly in the Western U.S.
Focusing on projects and outcomes - REACH US programs target community efforts to improve health.
Under the new Affordable Care Act - the REACH program will be dissolved in 2012 with efforts rolled into other categories.
See posting here

5 Things We Need To Know About Serotonin

5 Things We Need To Know About Serotonin

Excerpted from Health Commentary:

First, it was identified in intestinal cells
Second, it’s a tiny molecule
Third, only 5% of our body store of serotonin exists in the brain
Fourth, ....at about 8 weeks of gestation, the mother’s placenta turns huge stores of tryptophan into serotonin and ships them ..to... the (baby's) brain... instigates rapid growth of new neural connections.
Fifth, we have a long way to go to really understand serotonin. Eg:, adult healthy bones, ... rely on the balancing forces of brain serotonin induced bone cell growth and gut serotonin induced bone cell destruction. Which is to say, when it comes to serotonin there is more then meets the eye, and it’s not as simple as popping a(n) (SSRI) pill.

Check out the full article - and watch for more news about Serotonin. Could it play a role in perinatal mood?

Denim Day April 27, 2011 There is no excuse and never an invitation to rape

Speaking out on Post Partum Depression

I was honored to moderate this panel of survivors at the Inland Empire Perinatal Mental Health Collaboratives' 2nd annual workshop held April 19, 2011 in Riverside, CA. Video from Local TV News report

Embracing Families: Upcoming Event- Perinatal Mood Disorder Workshop

Embracing Families: Upcoming Event- Perinatal Mood Disorder Workshop: "Please Join Us for our 2nd annual Perinatal Mood Disorder Workshop April 19th, 2011 8:30 a.m. To 4:30 p.m. (Registration is 8:00 a.m. to ..."

Important Post on Institute of Medicine Future of Nursing

California Healthline discusses the importance of nurses to health care in the state.  Includes 5 minute video discussion and LINK to the full report.
http://www.californiahealthline.org/special-reports/2011/california-colleges-universities-mulling-ways-to-expand-role-of-nurses-in-primary-care.aspx

Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities Persist in California

Best Wishes for a Healthy and Prosperous New Year - as we know they go hand in hand.

For those of you looking to address health disparities, here's some new data out on affected populations and conditions.

Reported in the California Healthline January 5, 2011.

OSHPD's second annual report on racial and ethnic health disparities found general improvement across most of the 16 outpatient care measures and 15 hospital inpatient measures studied between 1999 and 2007.

However, the study found that significant disparities still exist, particularly in outpatient care. The findings suggest that after patients are admitted to a hospital, health outcomes are relatively similar across racial and ethnic groups (Robertson, Sacramento Business Journal, 1/3).

Read more: http://www.californiahealthline.org/articles/2011/1/4/racial-ethnic-health-disparities-persist-in-california-study-says.aspx#ixzz1ABfN59YN