Nurses Face Epidemic Levels of Violence at Work
Violence against nurses is at epidemic levels. In 2014, three in four nurses experienced verbal or physical abuse-such as yelling, cursing, grabbing, scratching, or kicking-from patients and visitors, according to a January study in the Journal of Emergency Nursing. Three in 10 nurses reported physical abuse, the study found. Between 2012 and 2014, nurses and nurse assistants experienced higher rates of workplace violence injuries than other healthcare sector workers, according to an April study by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The problem is getting worse, the study found. Nurses' and nurse assistants' rates of workplace violence injuries rose steadily over the 2-year period. Despite its prevalence, violence against nurses is often considered "part of the job," warns Jane Lipscomb, PhD, RN, FAAN, a professor at the University of Maryland School of Nursing. She recently wrote a book about violence against nurses after a close friend-a nurse-was killed at work. "This topic is personal for me," she said in a news release about the book. Even so, Gillespie concedes that violence against nurses will never completely end, in part because many patients lack the cognitive ability to control themselves, especially in stressful environments like emergency departments. That's why healthcare workers and administrators need to take universal precautions to prevent violence-much like they do to prevent contracting infectious diseases, he says. "If we take the stance that everyone has the potential to be violent, then nurses will interact with people differently and be more likely to protect themselves." To read the full article visit: http://www.rwjf.org
More States Removing Barriers to Nurses' Scope of Practice
Five years ago, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) released a groundbreaking report that called for the removal of barriers to advanced practice nursing-and state legislators are responding. "The successes have been fairly great," Ken Miller, PhD, RN, FAANP, president of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners (AANP), said at a recent panel discussion in Washington, DC, about the impact of the IOM report. "It was definitely a launching point," adds Taynin Kopanos, DNP, NP, AANP's vice president of state government affairs. The report calls for a radical transformation of the nursing profession to improve health and healthcare. A key recommendation is to remove barriers that prevent nurses from practicing to the full extent of their education and training. Doing so, the report states, will improve patient access to high-quality care, especially in remote and underserved areas. Still, legislators in many states have run into formidable opposition-particularly from organized medical groups at the state and national levels-in their efforts to remove practice restrictions on APRNs, Miller said.
"So where do we go from here?" Miller asked. "We have to continue to educate the legislators, we have to work with federal agencies to provide neutral language to their outdated rules and regulations, work with stakeholders to decrease costs and provide safe quality care in a timely fashion, and continue to provide care to the most needy in rural and underserved areas of the country." For the full article visit http://www.rwjf.org
Postpartum Depression
A new video about postpartum depression marks the launch of a mental health education collaboration by two NIH Institutes and one of the nation's largest African-American women's organizations. The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) and the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) have partnered with Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. (DST) to create the Mental Health Across the Lifespan Initiative. This initiative seeks to raise awareness about issues affecting women and their families throughout the lifespan, including mental disorders such as postpartum depression, and issues that can impact mental health, including bullying and aging. The effort stresses the importance of recognizing signs of illness and of seeking help and treatment from healthcare providers. The partners collaboratively identified the initiative's target areas to provide information to multiple populations served by the organization including youth, older adults, and women of childbearing age. The focus on postpartum depression responds to a provision of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010, which calls for increased support, education, and research related to postpartum depression by the federal government. Educational modules-including presentations, guidance documents, and resource materials-have been developed for each of the target areas that will be administered by DST members in the communities they serve. The video, part of the module on postpartum depression, features a former patient and clinical researchers involved in NIMH's intramural postpartum depression studies. For more information visit: http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/educational-resources/the-mental-health-across-th
American Diabetes Month(R)
The vision of the American Diabetes Association is a life free of diabetes and all of its burdens. Raising awareness of this ever-growing disease is one of the main efforts behind the mission of the Association. American Diabetes Month(R) (ADM) is an important element in this effort, with programs designed to focus the nation's attention on the issues surrounding diabetes and the many people who are impacted by the disease.
Here are just a few of the recent statistics on diabetes:
* Nearly 30 million children and adults in the United States have diabetes.
* Another 86 million Americans have prediabetes and are at risk for developing type 2 diabetes.
* The American Diabetes Association estimates that the total national cost of diagnosed diabetes in the United States is $245 billion.
ADM takes place each November and is a time to come together as a community to Stop Diabetes(R)!