Nursing News and Research

Latest Nursing News and Research

Newly divorced middle aged women more vulnerable to contract HIV and other STDs

Newly divorced middle aged women are more vulnerable to contract HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases, according to Christopher Coleman, PhD, MPH, RN, associate professor at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing, because they tend to let their guard down with new sexual partners and avoid using protection since they are unafraid of getting pregnant.

3 Feb 2012

Plasma can be an effective method to kill pathogens on uncooked poultry

A new study by food safety researchers at Drexel University demonstrates that plasma can be an effective method for killing pathogens on uncooked poultry. The proof-of-concept study was published in the January issue of the Journal of Food Protection.

3 Feb 2012

Medicaid managed care takes hold in Louisiana; Florida report notes problems in longer waits for long-term care help

The first-stage of Gov. Jindal's Medicaid restructing begins today. In Florida, the legislative report casts doubt on some efforts there to revamp the system. Meanwhile, Illinois' governor is urging changes to Medicaid to help fix the state's budget.

3 Feb 2012

Employing freedom-restraining measures correctly can prevent fatal consequences

Being confined to bed can have fatal consequences. Incorrect fastening of restraints and inadequate monitoring led to the death of 19 people in care. Andrea M. Berzianovich and her colleagues, forensic medicine specialists from Munich and Vienna, investigated these fatalities in patients subjected to freedom-restraining measures.

3 Feb 2012

Version of 'Goldilocks' gene could determine future treatment for TB patients

'Goldilocks' gene could determine best treatment for TB patients Tuberculosis patients may receive treatments in the future according to what version they have of a single 'Goldilocks' gene, says an international research team from Oxford University, King's College London, Vietnam and the USA.

3 Feb 2012

CBO: Federal health spending to double over the next decade

In its budget and economic outlook, the Congressional Budget Office projects an 8 percent annual increase in health spending between 2012 and 2022, mainly because of an aging U.S. population and rising treatment costs. The analysis includes a bigger pricetag for a permanent fix to the Medicare physician payment formula.

2 Feb 2012

Nursing homes, hospitals warn against reimbursement cuts

As the House and Senate conferees continue to hold meetings to reach an agreement to extend the payroll tax break and the Medicare "doc fix," health care interests are offering input into the process and making pleas to ward off what they say would be deep and damaging spending reductions.

2 Feb 2012

State roundup: Mass. lawmakers fight Medicare charges

A Monterey County hospital district, which came under fire last year for giving its chief executive one of the largest public pensions in California history, announced this week that several other top officials are receiving generous retirement packages.

2 Feb 2012

Viewpoints: Debt estimates and Medicare plans; Sen. McConnell on fate of health law

Debt projections released Tuesday by the Congressional Budget Office illustrate three fiscal paths: dangerous, dumb and smart. ... President Obama has called for a balanced solution but has neither proposed serious tax reform nor adequately outlined the ways in which he would get entitlement spending, particularly Medicare, under control. The position of most Republicans, on the presidential campaign trail and in Congress, is wildly less responsible.

2 Feb 2012

Abnormal tau protein propagates along linked brain circuits

For decades, researchers have debated whether Alzheimer's disease starts independently in vulnerable brain regions at different times, or if it begins in one region and then spreads to neuroanatomically connected areas. A new study by Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) researchers strongly supports the latter, demonstrating that abnormal tau protein, a key feature of the neurofibrillary tangles seen in the brains of those with Alzheimer's, propagates along linked brain circuits, "jumping" from neuron to neuron.

2 Feb 2012

Effort to address void in worldwide medical education

Dr. Rebekah Gee, Assistant Professor at LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans Schools of Public Health and Medicine, is the lead author of an article published in the January 28, 2012 issue of The Lancet regarding the initial effort to address a void in medical education worldwide - leadership.

1 Feb 2012

New York hospital offers at-home method for tissue expansion for breast reconstruction surgery

NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center is the first hospital in the New York metro area to offer breast cancer survivors an at-home method for tissue expansion in preparation for breast reconstruction surgery. Patients use a remote control to gradually create a space within their chest wall for a breast implant.

1 Feb 2012

First signs of atherosclerotic heart disease may appear in early childhood

When we think about people with heart disease we usually think about middle-aged men. In reality, atherosclerotic heart disease is the leading cause of death for men and women in North America, but its impact starts much earlier than adulthood. Though children will rarely, if ever, have overt symptoms of atherosclerosis, the first signs of this disease appear in early childhood and perhaps even before birth.

1 Feb 2012

Older women who become pregnant from egg donation not at greater risk than younger counterparts

Although women over age 50 who become pregnant via egg donation are at an elevated risk for developing obstetrical complications, their complication rates are similar to those of younger recipients, according to a study by Columbia University Medical Center researchers to be published in the February 2012 issue of the American Journal of Perinatology.

1 Feb 2012

GOP presidential hopefuls make final pitches to Florida primary voters

Among the campaign issues are the parallels between the federal health overhaul and the Massachusetts law former Gov. Mitt Romney signed and Newt Gingrich's support of the individual mandate.

1 Feb 2012

Nursing homes hope to 'fend off' deep Medicare cuts with new approach

The nursing home industry is attempting to fend off deep Medicare cuts by proposing its own ideas on ways to reduce out-of-control Medicare spending. The proposal comes as lawmakers are considering billions of dollars in cuts to the healthcare industry to pay for a temporary postponement of physician payment cuts scheduled for March 1.

1 Feb 2012

RMC first in N.J. to offer TESSYS minimally invasive surgery for patients with herniated discs

Riverview Medical Center, part of Meridian Neuroscience, today announced it is the only hospital in the state of New Jersey to offer patients the TESSYS surgery method, a minimally invasive procedure for the treatment of herniated discs.

1 Feb 2012

Majority of children can safely quit anti-rejection drugs after liver transplant from parents

Physicians at three transplant centers have found in a pilot study that a majority of children who receive liver tissue from a parent can eventually stop using immunosuppression (anti-rejection) medications safely. These drugs, which tamp down natural immune function, have been linked to a bevy of complications, including cancer, diabetes, hypertension and kidney failure.

1 Feb 2012

Study identifies norovirus as major cause of all infection outbreaks in U.S. hospitals

Norovirus, a pathogen that often causes food poisoning and gastroenteritis, was responsible for 18.2 percent of all infection outbreaks and 65 percent of ward closures in U.S. hospitals during a two-year period, according to a new study published in the February issue of the American Journal of Infection Control (AJIC), the official publication of APIC - the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology.

1 Feb 2012

Study finds sharp increase in BMP use for spinal fusion surgery

The use of bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) for spinal fusion surgery has risen sharply over the past decade, increasing costs with no evidence of improved outcomes, reports study in the February 1 issue of Spine.

1 Feb 2012