Nursing News and Research

Latest Nursing News and Research

NIH awards LSUHSC $9 million grant to develop pneumonia vaccine

Dr. Judd Shellito, Chief of the Section of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans, has been awarded approximately $9 million in grant funding to develop a vaccine against Pneumocystis, an important cause of pneumonia in people with HIV infection. This potentially fatal illness is the most common serious opportunistic infection in people with HIV.

7 Oct 2011

Health Robotics to unveil i.v.STATION ONCO oncology robot at 46th midyear ASHP

Health Robotics today announced that it plans to unveil its revolutionary 2nd generation oncology robot i.v.STATION ONCO at the American Society of Health System Pharmacists (ASHP) 46th Midyear Clinical Meeting & Exhibition, to be held at New Orleans, Louisiana on December 4-8 2011.

7 Oct 2011

Cuomo aides pressed NYC to support Medicaid deal

The Bloomberg administration was reluctant to agree to execute a deal brokered by state officials and a powerful union, The Wall Street Journal reports. In other Medicaid news, Kansas officials describe efforts to revamp its program and Wisconsin boosts campaign against fraud.

7 Oct 2011

UC Davis, UCSF seek to predict and prevent osteoarthritis in young people

How people walk, jump and run and how their knees look in an MRI scanner may hold the secret to predicting years or even decades in advance whether they will develop osteoarthritis, the common degenerative joint disease that strikes half of all Americans by the time they reach the age of 70.

7 Oct 2011

'Super Committee' cuts in Medicaid spending could have major impact on state budgets

Also, in other Medicaid news, a Florida official testifies in court that the state system for children has no major problems while criticism grows of plan to turn over the Medicaid program to managed care companies.

7 Oct 2011

New WPI smart-phone app can measure heart rhythm, respiration and pulse rate

An iPhone app that measures the user's heart rate is not only a popular feature with consumers, but it sparked an idea for a Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) researcher who is now turning smart phones, and eventually tablet devices, into sophisticated medical monitors able to capture and transmit vital physiological data.

7 Oct 2011

JCO publishes data from Celgene's ABRAXANE Phase II combination trial on pancreatic cancer

Celgene International Sàrl today announced that results from a clinical study of ABRAXANE in combination with gemcitabine in 67 patients with previously untreated advanced pancreatic cancer were published in an online article by the Journal of Clinical Oncology ahead of print.

7 Oct 2011

Person's insurance status determines nursing home hospitalizations

The decision by nursing homes whether or not to treat an ill resident on-site or send them to a hospital are often linked to that person's insurance status. A new study out this month shows that on average individuals enrolled in Medicaid are 27 percent more likely to be sent to the hospital than individuals with private insurance - decisions that often result in higher costs of care and poor health outcomes.

4 Oct 2011

Hospital Punta Pacifica receives official JCI accreditation

Hospital Punta Pacifica (HPP) in Panama City, Panama, has been awarded the official accreditation of Joint Commission International.

4 Oct 2011

Viewpoints: Mixing Obama and Ryan's plans, cancer rationing and stalling federal aid

What has been revealed is that the systems set up during an industrial era to provide health care, retirement income and support during economic downturns are inadequate for and ill-suited to our post-industrial, globalized economy. ...one can imagine a system in which all workers and nonworkers are required to buy insurance from the government-regulated exchanges being set up in each region or state under the Obama health-care reform plan.

4 Oct 2011

Hospitalization for an acute event can lead to long-term institutionalization

Confirming many elderly patients' worst fears, a national study has shown that being hospitalized for an acute event, such as a stroke or hip fracture, can lead to long-term institutionalization in a nursing home. Equally alarming, researchers found that direct discharge to a skilled nursing facility -- a common practice designed to reduce hospital stays -- put patients at "extremely high risk" of needing long-term nursing home care.

4 Oct 2011

Federal officials extend Ariz. Medicaid program while reviewing new plan; Wis. announces eligibility changes to cut budget shortfall

In other state Medicaid news, doctors in Washington state are suing to stop a new rule that limits enrollees' visits to the emergency department and Gov. Cuomo's administration dismisses a proposal for N.Y. to pay for transgender surgery.

4 Oct 2011

Post Acute Medical acquires Hill Country Specialty Hospital

Post Acute Medical today announced the purchase and immediate operation of 40-bed Hill Country Specialty Hospital.

3 Oct 2011

Mayo Clinic expands Medical School to Arizona

Mayo Clinic announced the expansion of Mayo Medical School in Rochester, Minnesota, to Arizona, creating a branch to be called Mayo Medical School -- Arizona Campus.

3 Oct 2011

NHI partners with Polaris Hospital affiliates to develop acute care hospital in Murfreesboro

National Health Investors, Inc. announced today it has entered into a development and lease transaction with affiliates of Polaris Hospital Company to develop a 60-bed general acute care hospital in Murfreesboro, Tennessee that will provide acute psychiatric and in-patient rehabilitation services. NHI's total commitment to the project is $21.5 million.

3 Oct 2011

Study compares treatment plans for CyberKnife treatment delivery system

Radiosurgery is a non-invasive medical procedure in which focused beams of high-energy X-rays target tumors and other abnormalities in the body. A single large dose of radiation is capable of ablating a lesion that might not be amenable to surgical removal. However, some radiosurgery systems, such as the CyberKnife (CK), can be relatively time-consuming because the treatment planning requires the delivery of up to several hundred cone-shaped beams to adequately cover an irregularly shaped tumor.

3 Oct 2011

Allied Health Professionals, RNs ratify new three-year contract agreement

More than 3,000 Registered Nurses and Allied Health Professionals working in 10 of Ontario's Community Care Access Centres (CCACs) have voted to ratify a new three-year contract.

3 Oct 2011

National Healing to merge with Diversified Clinical Services

National Healing Corporation, a provider of wound and disease management solutions for hospitals, and Diversified Clinical Services, also a provider of specialized wound care management services to hospitals, today announced that they have signed a definitive agreement under which the two companies will merge.

1 Oct 2011

Alliance for Quality Nursing Home Care President expresses concern over job instability

Pointing to new job losses at a Nebraska nursing home attributed to a new federal Medicare regulation reducing funding by 11.1 percent, the President of the Alliance for Quality Nursing Home Care today expressed concern that the Nebraska job loss example represents the leading edge of additional job losses and layoffs at skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) throughout the nation, as facilities, care staff and patients struggle with an accumulation of Medicare and Medicaid funding reductions.

1 Oct 2011

Dade Medical College to Go Pink once again in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month

Once again this October, Dade Medical College will "Go Pink" in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. In an effort to increase awareness and preventative care for this disease, the college will be donating 500 mammography screenings to benefit low-income and uninsured women in the community, a private investment of more than $50,000.00.

1 Oct 2011