Oregon State University Approves New Online Bachelor Program For Nursing

The Board of Trustees of Oregon State University has approved a new program- at their OSU-Cascades Branch- for licensed registered nurses to get a Bachelor of Science degree—online. The program is geared toward nurses in Central Oregon and the greater Bend area, where the need is greatest.

The bachelors program is scheduled to launch in the next academic year. It will be part-time and fully online. This gives RNs the opportunity to keep working and complete their studies at home. With five to seven credits per term, the program can be completed in two years.

OSU’s Steve Clark says the nursing program was approved because of a shortage.

“Only 40% of those nurses working in acute care settings in Central Oregon have completed their Bachelor of Science degree,” Clark says. “That doesn’t mean they’re not licensed nurses. It means that this is an opportunity for them to advance their career with education that will serve them and their patients.”

Clark says the program will be about half the cost of similar degrees in Oregon. And there will be a specific interest in achieving diversity in rural nursing care. Particular attention will be given to bi-lingual students.

Source: http://www.klcc.org/post/osu-approves-new-online-bachelor-program-nursing

Kenya: Nurses in Tharaka-Nithi issue strike notice

Nurses in Tharaka-Nithi County have threatened to go on strike if they are not paid leave and uniform allowances within 21 days.

Kenya National Union of Nurses (Knun) county chapter chairman Fabian Marigu on Wednesday said they were supposed to be paid the money in December last year.

“We request for the payment of the annual leave and uniform allowances in the next 21 days failure to which we will go back to the old dark days of unrest,” Mr Marigu said.

Mr Marigu said the regional government has not yet fully implemented the agreements signed to end the strike last year.

NO MONEY

He added that some nurses whose contracts were terminated in April 20 this year have continued working without any directive from the administration.

“The silence from county government is disturbing, especially after we signed a court consent,” he said.

Health executive Gichuyia Nthuraku said they are willing to pay out the allowances but the funds are insufficient.

“We have been able to pay all the pending allowances that we inherited from the former regime and we are ready to pay the leave and uniform allowances once we get money,” Dr Nthuraku said.

He urged the nurses to be patient.

Nurses and midwives welcome shift-by-shift nurse to patient ratios

After lengthy “negotiations” with the NSW Government and a rally outside Liverpool Hospital, members of the NSW Nurses and Midwives’ Association may have their calls answered for nurse to patient ratios – that is, if Labor gets elected.

On the final day of the NSWNMA annual conference last Friday opposition leader Luke Foley confirmed Labor would introduce shift-by-shift nurse to patient ratios.

Mr Foley said the commitment was made because quite simply “It’s time”.

“We need shift by shift nurse to patient ratios to deliver safe staffing levels, to deliver you a better workplace, to deliver a better quality of care to millions of our fellow citizens in our mighty public health system,” Mr Foley said.

“Today I also give the general commitment to shift by shift nurse to patient ratios and announce that an incoming Labor government will bring ratios to regional hospitals and bring regional staffing levels up to city levels.”

“I hear you. We have a great public health system but we have to fight to keep it that way.”

NSWNMA Liverpool president Brian Grant finally had a smile on his face and commended Labor’s commitment to the public health system.

“This was a fantastic announcement by Luke Foley and should have a great benefit to Liverpool Hospital especially the maternity peri-op emergency and some other specialist units including pediatrics,” Mr Grant said. “This will make our hospital a safer place as well as other hospitals in the state of NSW.”

It’s understood the plan will ensure nurse to patient ratios in medical and surgical wards on every shift across all major and district NSW hospitals.

Hundreds more nurses will be employed in “B” and “C” group hospitals throughout the state, lifting staffing levels up to those of “A” group hospitals in metro areas.

A couple of months ago at the Liverpool rally Catherine Jackson shared her harrowing experience of what it was like to work as a midwife under current conditions.

“There are lots of incidents in maternity,” she said.

“We work in a hard area because we work with mothers who lose their baby, too, and that can be on one shift and then we walk into the next room to a mother who’s giving birth, so it’s a struggle.”

Source: https://www.liverpoolchampion.com.au/story/5561734/nurses-and-midwives-welcome-shift-by-shift-nurse-to-patient-ratios/

Medicine a lucrative business: HC on plight of nurses in pvt hospitals

Education and medicine have become a lucrative business, the Delhi High Court remarked today while hearing a PIL alleging that nurses were being financially exploited in private hospitals and nursing homes in the city.

A bench of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice C Hari Shankar issued notice to the Centre and sought its stand on the plea which claimed that situation of nurses in private medical institutions has not improved despite a direction by the Supreme Court to protect their rights.

The Centre, represented by advocate Manik Dogra, told the court that the guidelines on salary and working conditions of the nurses have been framed and it was the duty of the individual states to implement them.

The bench observed that the petition “discloses exploitation of the nurses”. It said that “education and medicine are lucrative business now”.

It listed the matter for further hearing on October 8 with another similar plea.

The petition was moved by the Trained Nurses Association of India (TNAI) alleging non-compliance of the apex court’s January 29 direction to the Centre to form a committee to make recommendations for improving working conditions and salary of nurses in private hospitals and nursing homes.

The plea, filed through advocate Romy Chacko, claims that nurses in private medical establishments were “working on meagre salaries and living in inhuman conditions”.

Apart from seeking compliance of the apex court’s direction and guidelines on better pay and working conditions, the plea has also sought a declaration from the court that nurses in private hospitals and nursing homes are entitled to same benefits and salary as their counterparts in government hospitals.

Source: https://www.business-standard.com/article/pti-stories/medicine-a-lucrative-business-hc-on-plight-of-nurses-in-pvt-hospitals-118080101194_1.html

 

Nurses urged to do their part in preventing HCAI in patients

Nurses are urged to take a serious role in preventing Healthcare Associated Infections (HCAI) in patients under their care.

Deputy Health Minister Dr Lee Boon Chye said infection prevention and control were important components in nursing care.

“Nurses play an important role in the prevention of HCAI by ensuring all aspects of nursing practice are carried out.

“Therefore, I urge every member of healthcare including nurses to show leadership in preventing and controlling infections with their knowledge,” he said in his speech at the First National Nursing Infection Control Conference themed “War Against Sepsis:The Fight We Can’t Afford To Lose” launched, here, today.

It was hoped that their knowledge would reduce the occurrence of HCAI and sepsis and increase patients’ care, safety and quality, he added.

In the speech read by Health Ministry deputy director-general Datuk Dr Azman Abu Bakar, Dr Lee said HCAI was one of the contributing factors to sepsis among high risk patients such as the elderly, pregnant women, babies, immuno-suppressive patients like those who had AIDS, HIV and cancer.

“And Anti Microbial Resistance (AMR) is identified to be the biggest factor contributing to ineffective treatment of patients,” he said.

Sepsis is the body’s overwhelming and life-threatening response to infection.

“If it is not detected and treated in the early stages, it could lead to septic shock, organ failure and death.

“Septic is a serious infection especially in lower and middle income nations where it is a contributing factor for the mortality and morbidity of mothers and children,” he said, adding that HCAI resulted in prolonged hospital stays, increased morbidity and mortality, and increased cost of treatment.

Dr Lee said it was closely related to the occurrence of antibiotic resistance which led to difficulty in treating infections.

It has been reported that sepsis has affected some 30 million people around the world and caused death in 6 million people, he said.

However the ministry’s national data in 2017 showed a lower figure of only two patients for every 100 hospitals.

Source: https://www.nst.com.my/news/nation/2018/08/396817/nurses-urged-do-their-part-preventing-hcai-patients

Trainee Nurses Given 500 Free Tickets to Glastonbury 2019

Glastonbury festival founder Michael Eavis is to give away up to 500 tickets for the 2019 event to trainee nurses in the Mendip area, where the festival is based.

Speaking at Shepton Mallet’s summer fete in July, Eavis said he made the decision following a conversation with the local NHS trust chairman, who had complained about a lack of trainees.

The tickets are available to Mendip-area students who are enrolled on a nursing course this year, according to a statement on the Glastonbury festival’s website. A spokesperson for the festival told the Guardian that, as well as a gesture of support for the NHS, Eavis wants the initiative to encourage more people to take up the profession.

Somerset has a shortage of registered nurses, with inpatient beds at Shepton Mallet, Chard and Dene Barton community hospitals temporarily closed last October as a result.

In February, Hayley Peters, chief nurse for the Taunton and Somerset NHS Foundation Trust, stated that “there are no more nurses in Somerset”. The trust unsuccessfully attempted to recruit nurses from India in 2016.

The issues in Somerset are part of a nationwide crisis, with the Royal College of Nursing finding the UK “desperately short of nurses”. In January, it was found that only one in seven nursing positions in England were filled, with some areas filling less that 1% of their positions. Agency nurses, brought in to fill the gaps in NHS provision, cost the NHS £2.4bn in 2017.

Glastonbury festival, meanwhile, is preparing for its 2019 edition, following a fallow year. The rumour mill around headline performers has begun, with co-organiser Emily Eavis saying that Paul McCartney – soon returning with new music – is “top of our list”.

Regarding the Sunday afternoon “legend” slot previously filled by Dolly Parton, Barry Gibb and others, Emily told Radio 2: “I’ll give you a clue: it’s a female. She is not British, but I can’t give you any more clues because it will get me into trouble.”

Mendip trainee nurses keen to take up Eavis’s offer should email ticketing@glastonburyfestivals.co.uk with their Glastonbury registration number.

SOURCE: https://www.theguardian.com/music/2018/aug/01/trainee-nurses-given-500-free-tickets-to-glastonbury-2019-amid-staffing-crisis

Kenya: Crisis Hits Nyamira Hospitals as Nurses, Doctors Stay Away from Work

People living with HIV and kidney patients are major casualties of the ongoing paralysis of healthcare services in the county as nurses continue to boycott work.

Public hospitals have been deserted for two months now and patients who cannot afford treatment in private hospitals are being turned away.

The nurses, like other county employees, have not been paid for three months. According to the county officials, this is due to hitches and delays in the budget-making process.

Although other county services have also suffered as a result of the salary stand-off, the health sector has been hardest hit.

The HIV and renal clinics have remained non-operational as the medics demand their unpaid salaries.

Patients who were receiving dialysis services at Nyamira County Referral Hospital are now going to the neighbouring Kisii Teaching and Referral Hospital.

Stop working

The various workers’ unions – Kenya National Union of Nurses, Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists Union and Clinical Officers National Union – ordered all their members to stop working until all their salary arrears were paid.

The county government has been silent concerning the crisis; the county assembly is also non-committal about resolving the situation.

When contacted, the Health executive declined to comment about the matter and instead referred The Standard to the chief officer, who also said he was not in a position to issue a statement about the crisis.

“At the moment I don’t have anything to say about the situation,” said Chief Officer Jack Magara.

County Commissioner Isaiah Nakoru has declared the ongoing paralysis of health services as a human rights concern and called on the county government to act urgently.

Mr Nakoru said the situation was a clear indication the county leadership had failed to deliver basic services to its people.

Clear violation

“Denying people their basic right to healthcare is a clear violation of their human rights as enshrined in the Bill of Rights. County leaders should not take this lightly,” Nakoru said.

Last week, Deputy Governor Amos Nyaribo said the matter was being addressed and promised the workers that money would be available by end of the month (July).

A spot check by The Standard yesterday showed families opting to take their sick relatives to private hospitals.
Source : Standard Digital

Kenya: Elgeyo Nurses Issue Strike Notice After Cut In Hardship Allowance

-Hardship allowance was cut for those on study leave

Nurses and doctors’ unions in Elgeyo Marakwet have asked the county government to reinstate hardship allowances for health workers on study leave.

Kenya National Union of Nurses and Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Union said the Department of Health scrapped the allowances for 18 workers without consultations.

KNUN county secretary general Benson Biwott said services will be paralysed in all hospitals if the allowances are not paid before Monday next week.

He said the nurses, doctors, clinical officers, public health officers and laboratory technologists on study leave were given permission by the county government.

“We are giving the administration seven days to reverse the decision failure to which we shall resort to industrial action. We won’t sit back and watch as our members are discriminated against,” Biwott said.

Public Health Workers Union secretary Martis Lokalis said the move will discourage staff from seeking further studies.

“It is unfair, demeaning and frustrating to deny workers their allowances,” Lokalis said.

However, Health CEC Kiprono Chepkok said the workers do not deserve hardship allowance because they are studying in counties that are not gazetted as hardship areas.

Chepkok said it is improper for the county government to pay allowances for workers who are not in the county.

“You cease to receive hardship allowance when you move from a county gazetted as a hardship area. Some workers are now full-time students at Moi University in Uasin Gishu. They can’t enjoy allowances because the county isn’t gazetted as a hardship area,” Chepkok said.

He said the county is in the process of recovering money previously paid to the health workers on leave.

Regulations state that officers on long courses abroad will be paid a living allowance to cater for subsistence, accommodation, and excess baggage.

Government officers attending full-time courses in local institutions outside their duty stations will be eligible for living allowances.
source: Star Newspaper

NANNM Response to the Patient’s Bill of Rights Animation Video

We are very much concerned with a demo made by @CPCNig and tweeted by none other person that the number 2 citizen of the country, @ProfOsinbajo which was unveiled at the launch of the Patient Bill of Rights today.

Unfortunately, we at @nannm_nigeria did not receive any invite to the ceremony and in all ramifications, the demo was in bad faith. We wish to register our displeasure which portrays the nursing profession in bad light (whether intended or not for such purpose).

It is unfortunate that while the rest of the world is shifting their focus on nursing profession via the #Nursingnow2020 project which aims to raise the profile and status of nurses and nursing, Nigerian leaders choose to denigrate these hardworking, selfless professionals.

@CPCNig, @ProfOsinbajo, @Fmohnigeria neglected real issues affecting consumer satisfaction in the health sector but rather decided to blame nurses for what they obviously had no control over. I think government officials & agencies must be responsible enough to say the truth.

When will @CPCNig and @Fmohnigeria let Nigerians know that one Nigerian nurse cares for an average of 20 patients as against the @WHO standard of 1:4? When will Nigerians be told that we have health facilities twice the number of nurses in many local governments in Nigeria?

When are we to address the fact that many health centres do not have registered nurses attached to them? When will we address the fact that many local governments have only one doctor posted there and (s)he is permanently in the local government secretariat.

When do we address the fact that Nigerian nurses& midwives are overworked and underpaid? When will we address the fact that @AsoRock has stopped funding the midwifery service scheme thus preventing many trained midwives from practicing? Or the understaffing of our hospitals?

These and many more are the real issues affecting consumer satisfaction and NOT what you erroneously portrayed. When will @AsoRock stop playing politics with citizens’ lives and address real issues by #investinginnursing? No wonder our poor ranking in health indices.

We demand that @CPCNig take down the aggravating demo from the media and apologize to nurses and nursing profession in Nigeria. That is not what nursing represent. Our present situation is sadly a reflection of the qualities of our leadership.

We are willing to work with relevant stakeholders to promote consumer rights within the health sector but no one or profession has to be denigrated in the process. Here’s a true representation of what nurses do…
https://t.co/UqnlWaiMHS
Thanks.

Germany in Desperate Need of Nurses Due to Aging Population

The German government has announced 13,000 more jobs for hospitals and care homes, but there is still a shortage of qualified medical staff. DW spent a shift with two nurses to learn more about the care sector crisis.

“110/70 — you have normal blood pressure, that’s good,” says nurse Valentina. She makes a note, inquires how the patient is feeling and then rushes off to see the next person. “We have to check on 23 patients today before the doctor tends to them at eight,” Valentina explains. Often, she admits, that leaves little time to chat.

The 48-year-old Oleg Busch, who heads the surgical ward at Helios hospital in the western German city of Siegburg, also works as a nurse. He’s been doing so for over 20 years now. Oleg likes his job, even though it can be very stressful at times.

Understaffed hospitals

Germany faces a massive lack of medical care personnel, which means many hospitals are overburdened. Nurses complain that they are too short-staffed to properly tend to their patients. Currently, roughly 1 million people work in the country’s nursing industry. It is projected that 3 million nurses will be needed by 2060, given Germany’s aging population. In late 2015, there were 2.9 million individuals in need of care — by 2030, this figure is expected to rise to 4.1 million.

Busch believes Germany is in dire need of additional care personnel, and his hospital is no exception. “Ideally, we should have three certified care-givers working the morning shift, just like today,” he says. However, Busch concedes that such ideal staffing conditions are difficult to achieve, as there simply aren’t enough nurses.

Patients are always his absolute priority, which can sometimes mean having to put bathroom and meal breaks on hold. Sometimes, there is not even enough time to complete all the patient paperwork, and it has to be postponed.

German government vows to improve situation

German Health Minister Jens Spahn, Family Minister Franziska Giffey and Labor Minister Hubertus Heil want to remedy this problem. Together, the three unveiled a plan for “concerted action regarding the care sector.” It envisions better nursing wages and working conditions through collective bargaining agreements. Spahn also wants to hire additional care personnel from abroad.

Christina Körner of the Johanniter Education Center in Bonn says this plan would merely relieve the symptoms rather than address the underlying problem. Körner, who is a trained nurse, is critical of the fact that the workload continues to increase in Germany’s health care sector, but staff numbers aren’t keeping up. “Their job is getting more and more demanding,” she says. “I can say this because I have 20 years experience working in the sector.”

Körner does not believe that hiring foreign care personnel to compensate for staff shortages is a good idea in the long term. People from other cultures need time to integrate into German society she says, stressing that there is not enough staff capacity to help foreign workers settle in.

Nurses fed up with heavy workload

Despite the hard work, Busch says he likes being a nurse. “I enjoy working with people and helping them,” he explains, adding that the rewarding work sometimes helps him forget about the inconveniences and little annoyances that come with the job.

Busch believes that nursing is only for people who deeply care about working with others. “Anyone who says they want to be a nurse because the money is good is in the wrong job. Here, the patient is the focus. Anyone who enjoys doing that will always have a future,” he says while putting together medical records for the doctor — several patients are set to undergo surgery today.

Körner sees a future for the nursing industry in Germany. After completing vocational training, she studied health and care education. In 2016, she became a member of the executive board of the German Nurses Association. “I believe it’s almost inevitable that the caregiver sector will develop and progress,” Körner says. “There are so many different education programs on offer, some for people with prior work experience and regular university degrees, too.”

Establishing an appropriate framework to make this vocation more attractive is key, believes Körner. “We have grown used to the current situation and keep telling ourselves ‘we will manage somehow,'” Körner says. However, she admits that Germany’s caregivers are becoming increasingly discontent with the heavy workload. “Maybe now would be a good time for the new government to tackle the issue and initiate a public debate on the matter,” she says.

Conditions must improve

As Busch’s shift comes to an end, he is preparing the hand-over with his colleagues. It entails telling the late night staff how the patients are doing. What matters most to him, says Busch, is knowing he has fulfilled all his daily tasks. Alas, often he is forced to work extra hours to get everything done. “The conditions need to be right, things are totally different when we are not short-staffed,” he says. As Busch closes the file, he bids farewell to his colleagues. “This is about human lives,” he says. “And that requires having reliable and trustworthy caregivers.”

Credit: Theresa Sostmann Dw.com