Nursing News and Research

Latest Nursing News and Research

Lawsuit alleges hospice co. improperly pushed patients through nursing homes; N.Y. prosecutor investigates hospital practices

Kaiser Health News reports that a lawsuit unsealed this week alleges that a national hospice company committed Medicare fraud by improperly cycling patients through nursing homes. In the meantime, a N.Y. prosecutor is investigating a hospital's management practices.

6 Jan 2012

First Edition: January 5, 2012

Today's headlines include a report that health law opponents want to add plaintiffs to their lawsuit as well as dispatches from the GOP primary election compaign trail.

5 Jan 2012

Loyola celebrates first baby of 2012

Ja'Nyah Crawford-Scotland was born at 11:01 a.m. on New Year's Day, the first baby to be born at Loyola University Medical Center in 2012. The healthy baby girl weighed 6 pounds, 3 ounces.

5 Jan 2012

USP seeks feedback on recommendations for pharmaceutical supply chain integrity

As the pharmaceutical industry continues to globalize, the challenges of securing complex supply chains and protecting patients from counterfeit medicines, as well as the consequences of lapses in security or proper handling, have mounted.

5 Jan 2012

Scope and power of today's nursing practice

From educators and students in the classrooms to nurses at the bedside and healthcare policy makers on Capitol Hill, today's nursing practice involves engagement on multiple levels. The latest issue of Johns Hopkins Nursing magazine looks at the scope and the power of this practice and the nurses influencing it.

5 Jan 2012

Industry report finds nursing homes losing money as states cut Medicaid

Also, California officials prepare to appeal federal court decision striking down cuts to some providers, and Wisconsin announces that its shortfall is less than expected.

5 Jan 2012

Re-introduction of rotavirus vaccine does not increase intussusception rates in the U.S.

The rotovirus vaccine was pulled from the marketplace in 1999 after being associated with painful gastrointestinal complications, however, the updated rotavirus vaccines do not appear to increase the occurrence of these potentially fatal side effects, according to a new study by child health experts at C.S. Mott Children's Hospital.

5 Jan 2012

New brochure makes planning and monitoring post-cancer exercise easy

Not only is overall quality of life higher in cancer survivors who exercise, but the rate of cancer recurrence is lower. Unfortunately, though most doctors recommend exercise, many patients fail to follow through.

5 Jan 2012

RNF123 gene may play a role in major depression

Psychiatric disorders can be described on many levels, the most traditional of which are subjective descriptions of the experience of being depressed and the use of rating scales that quantify depressive symptoms. Over the past two decades, research has developed other strategies for describing the biological underpinnings of depression, including volumetric brain measurements using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and the patterns of gene expression in white blood cells.

4 Jan 2012

First Edition: January 4, 2012

In today's headlines, Romney wins a historically close contest in Iowa caucuses and Wall Street Journal readers favor televising the Supreme Court arguments regarding the health law.

4 Jan 2012

Amyloid precursor protein fragment may be a biomarker for autism

Immune system abnormalities that mimic those seen with autism spectrum disorders have been linked to the amyloid precursor protein (APP), reports a research team from the University of South Florida's Department of Psychiatry and the Silver Child Development Center.

4 Jan 2012

Research reveals how bats parse duties at single neuron level

Imagine listening to music while carrying on a conversation with friends. This type of multi-tasking is fairly easy to do, right? That's because our brains efficiently and effectively separate the auditory signals - music to the right side; conversation to the left. But what researchers have not been able to do in humans or animals is to see a parsing of duties at the single neuron level - until now.

4 Jan 2012

Alteration in ISG15 pathway triggers breast cancer metastasis

Research led by Shyamal Desai, PhD, Assistant Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans, has discovered a key change in the body's defense system that increases the potential for breast cancer to spread to other parts of the body.

4 Jan 2012

Medicaid news: Texas to limit dual eligible reimbursements, Wis. to lift cap on long-term care

It may soon become harder for the neediest Texans to receive medical treatment. That's because statewide regulations scheduled to go into effect Sunday would limit reimbursements paid to medical providers for patients covered by both Medicare and Medicaid. The change would impact approximately 333,000 patients, mostly elderly, low-income residents, but also younger patients who are disabled. Slashing the Medicaid co-pay was part of the plan approved by state lawmakers earlier this year to help balance the state's budget.

4 Jan 2012

Hydrogen sulfide decreases manufacture of kidney scarring matrix proteins

Hydrogen sulfide, a gas notorious for its rotten-egg smell, may have redeeming qualities after all. It reduces high glucose-induced production of scarring proteins in kidney cells, researchers from The University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio report in the Journal of Biological Chemistry.

4 Jan 2012

Bingo enhances cognitive performance in people with Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease

Bingo, a popular activity in nursing homes, senior centers and assisted-living facilities, has benefits that extend well beyond socializing. Researchers found high-contrast, large bingo cards boost thinking and playing skills for people with cognitive difficulties and visual perception problems produced by Alzheimer's disease (AD) and Parkinson's disease (PD).

4 Jan 2012