Nursing CE via the Nursing Reference Center

CINAHL in partnership with EBSCO's Nursing Reference Center provides easy access to continuing education opportunities for Nurses. CINAHL [the Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature] is accredited as a provider of continuing education by the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) and the International Association for Continuing Education and Training (IACET).

With your login access to EBSCOhost and the Nursing Reference Center (NRC) database, you can easily stay current in your profession by working through the interactive modules online. They contain the latest topics on patient care and drug administration. This resource can also earn you contact hours toward re-licensure.
Read more about this opportunity by clicking on the title; or just login to EBSCO [3rd link in left sidebar on Library Home page), then go to the NRC and click on the tab called 'Continuing Education'.

Nevis puts Health Personnel Recruitment at Top of 2010 Agenda

Caribbean News Net reported ~ Thursday, January 14, 2010.

CHARLESTOWN, Nevis -- Minister of Health in the Nevis Island Administration (NIA) Hensley Daniel, has underscored the need for additional medical staff on Nevis and said that 2010 would see a renewed effort in the recruitment process. Daniel told the Department of Information in a recent interview that the Ministry of Health would endeavour to do all it could to attract students toward careers in health.... Click title to read rest of article.

International Summit on Nurse Faculty Migration

To develop a fuller understanding of global nursing faculty migration, thirty global nurse leaders will convene with key stakeholder organizations such as the World Health Organization, International Organisation on Migration, International Labour Organisation, and the World Trade Organization next July (2010).
An Elsevier Foundation grant has been awarded to the International Council on Nurses (ICN) and the Honor Society of Nursing, Sigma Theta Tau International (STTI) to hold “The International Summit on Nurse Faculty Migration”. It is hoped that the outcomes from the summit will advance this pressing issue at the global level; while consulting, coordinate and implementing results at the local level.

“Learning from past lessons, we know that nurse faculty migration may pose a high risk problem for many countries,” said David Benton, CEO, International Council of Nurses. The goal is to "proactively manage the looming crisis and improve healthcare delivery by preparing sufficient numbers of nurses to meet the needs of the future.”

Watch for further information about this event...

Call for Radical Change in Nursing Education

The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching has joined it's voice to several other scholarly studies since 2003, with the release of it's report “Educating Nurses: A Call for Radical Transformation".

“Redesigning nursing education is an urgent societal agenda," the authors write. "The profound changes in nursing practice and health care call for equally profound changes in the education of nurses and the preparation of nurse educators. Unfortunately, the current climate rewards short-term focus and cost-savings over the quality of nursing education and patient care."

Click on the links to read the report's findings and recommendations.

The Cost of Nurse Migration

The cost of CARICOM nurse migration is the focus of this news article reporting on a recent meeting at the PAHO headquarters in Barbados.

"Emigration of nurses is costing some CARICOM countries an estimated US$16 million in losses. This cost accounts for training and retraining people to replace those nurses who leave for greener pastures."

This is indeed worisome, as is the cost to many other countries when their nurses emigrate to a CARICOM nation. However it was acknowledged at this meeting that the problem is a global one...

"In order to address this worldwide shortage of nurses, governments and professional organisations must find creative ways of making the profession more attractive.”

Click post title to read article from the Stabroek News.

Championing Global Nursing Education

ICN Nursing Education Network (ICNEN) Memership is Growing!
"With the new international realities of migration, advances in communication technology, and a worldwide nursing shortage, educating and preparing a diverse nursing workforce has become a critical priority. To address this, the International Council of Nurses has established the ICN Nursing Education Network (ICNEN) in order to provide a forum to address nursing education issues worldwide."

NDNQI for Nursing Quality Improvement

The National Database of Nursing Quality Indicators® (NDNQI®) is a proprietary repository of nursing statistics. The American Nurses Association collects and evaluates this unique, unit-specific, nurse-sensitive data from hospitals in the United States.

Participating facilities can then use this comparative data for quality improvement purposes.
Click here to read more from ANA about the database.

Interdisciplinary Teamwork Under Stress

Disruptive behavior by doctors and nurses persists according to this research news reported in American Medical News ...by Amy Lynn Sorrel.
On their worst behavior ~ A national survey of physician and nurse executives asked how many had observed or experienced these behavior problems from doctors or nurses in their organizations:

Degrading comments and insults ~ 84.5%
Yelling ~ 73.3%
Cursing ~ 49.4%
Inappropriate joking ~ 45.5%
Refusing to work with colleague ~ 38.4%
Refusing to speak to colleague ~ 34.3%
Trying to get someone unjustly disciplined ~ 32.3%
Throwing objects ~ 18.9%
Trying to get someone unjustly fired ~ 18.6%
Spreading malicious rumors ~ 17.1%
Sexual harassment ~ 13.4%
Physical assault ~ 2.8%
Other 10.0%

"Ninety-seven percent of respondents experienced unprofessional outbursts and overreactions, with most saying these happened several times a year and sometimes even weekly. Most survey respondents, 48%, said doctors and nurses were equally culpable for the conflicts, but 45% said doctors were mostly to blame."

Source: "Bad Blood: Doctor-Nurse Behavior Problems Impact Patient Care," American College of Physician Executives 2009 Doctor-Nurse Behavior Survey, Physician Executive Journal, November/December.

Nursing Degree Requirement on the Horizon for the UK?

The British government recently announced that by 2013, the minimum education for nurses will be raised from diploma to degree level, which means three or four years of post-secondary education and training.
The Royal College of Nursing is quoted as calling this "an important and historic development", while the UK Department of Health feels the additional education will better equip nurses leading to higher quality patient care. However the move is not without controversy due to the already critical shortage of nurses.

"An increasingly high percentage of nurses working in the NHS are foreign nationals, and raising the bar at entry point would have to be communicated clearly and rolled out internationally as the NHS is staffed by an international resource pool."

As reported in Nursing In Practice, Nov 17, 2009.

Searching of a Scholarship? Need Help to Repay your Loan?

Keep in mind the National Health Service Corp!
Check out the opportunities for "primary health care providers to join the National Health Service Corps, which now has thousands of openings for qualified clinicians, plus two programs that make service in the corps very attractive at this time. A scholarship program provides payment of tuition and other reasonable academic costs, plus a stipend, in return for service in a designated health care shortage area upon graduation. And a loan repayment program provides immediate academic debt relief for licensed clinicians who will work, for a salary, in these same underserved areas." [NLN]

Ninth Annual International Research Internship for Nurse Researchers

Internships Announcement: "Multiply Interventions for Community Health" The Ninth Annual International Research Internship for Nurse Researchers will be held in Jamaica ~ May & June 2010.

"A unique, intensive training opportunity for junior nurse researchers in Canada, Jamaica and the Caribbean, Kenya, Uganda, and South Africa to launch their research career and network internationally."

Application deadline: January 4, 2010
Note: Selection is competitive and limited seats are available

INTERNSHIP FOCUS:

Community health services & policy research

Global health issues

Developing research networks

Grantsmanship and publication skills

Linking with local, national, and international decision-makers

Working on interdisciplinary teams

Innovative research methods

Developing programs of research

Mentorship

Click on title for more details, eligibility, application form, etc.

The Simulation Center for Clinical Interdiscplinary Practice

Announcing the launch of Dr. Robert Ross's latest brain child!

The Simulation Center for Clinical Interdiscplinary Practice

with the base of operations in our amazing, state-of-the-art Simulation Laboratory/ Virtual Hospital right here on our UMHS/IUON campus in St. Kitts! For more information and dates for uncoming training courses view the SCCIP-SK website.

Why limit your career horizons?

Holland America nurse explains the scope of clinical practice at sea
Published on AdvanceWeb ~ International, October 29, 2009
by Valerie Newitt

"Nursing takes on new "heights" for those who choose to practice the profession at sea. Imagine climbing into a basket lowered from a helicopter hovering over a ship in mid-ocean. Up and away, and you're in the copter. The basket is lowered again, this time to retrieve a sick passenger, now your patient, in dire need of a ship-to-air evacuation. The scenario is not all that unusual, if you are a nurse at sea, said Laura Vlaadingerbroek, MSN, RN, chief medical officer aboard Holland America Line's Zaandam." Click on the title to read the full article.

Are you a 'Curious Practitioner'?

The 'curious practitioner': effective lifelong learning. Nursing in Practice Sept/Oct 2009, No.50
by Sue Spencer, Coventry University, UK

How committed are you to providing well-informed and up-to-date nursing practice? This article explores the value of being what it calls a 'curious practitioner'. It will help you to

"explore some creative ways of transferring learning in all domains of your life to your professional practice."

"If you are a curious and questioning practitioner, you cannot help but be engaged with lifelong learning, as each day generates questions that need answers. Finding the answers to those questions is the start of lifelong learning and continuing professional development."

Protection for Healthcare Workers in the Caribbean

Protection of healthcare workers in the Caribbean region is receiving some attention at last. The First Regional Meeting for Latin America and the Caribbean on Health Protection for Health-Care Workers was held September 22nd-24th, 2009 in Maracay, Venezuela.

The meeting was organized by "PAHO/WHO, in collaboration with the Ministry of Health of Venezuela, the Instituto de Altos Estudios de Salud Dr.Arnoldo Gabaldon, and the U.S. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)" and brought together "policymakers, academics, hospital managers, epidemiologists, front line workers, and civil society from across the region".

"Healthcare workers are often exposed simultaneously to a variety of work hazards from various natures, including biological, chemical, physical, and psycho-social ones."

During the meeting "participants had the opportunity to gain hands-on experience on EPINet, a surveillance system for tracking needlestick injures and blood and body fluid exposure among healthcare workers."
Click on the title to read more from the PAHO website.