A nurse at a New York prison earned more than $630,000 in overtime in less than five years, putting on her time cards that she worked 192 days straight — or every day for more than six months — mostly in 16.5-hour overnight shifts, her hard work angering everyone from accountants to polititicians.
Beth Whaanga is a beautiful, blond, 30-something Australian woman who works as a RN. Last month, she posted a photograph of herself in a fluttery red dress on Facebook. Then she posted a picture of what she looks like beneath that dress. And those seminude images created a stir.
In the last five years, the number of data breaches in the medical sector has quadrupled. Last year, for the first time, the medical sector experienced more breaches than any other. It’s again on track to lead in 2014, according to the ID Theft Center. While the health care industry has long suffered fraud by providers or employees fraudulently billing insurers, Medicare, or Medicaid, the medical industry is only just now trying to catch up to the quickly growing threat from hackers.
On one hand, things are looking pretty dandy for nursing in the United States: the Bureau of Labor Statistics projected a 19 percent growth in employment for registered nurses from 2012–2022. Compare that to an 11 percent average growth rate for all occupations. That's a reason to celebrate.
To meet the health care needs of the nation, a growing, vibrant NP workforce is needed. The Affordable Care Act, although contested on numerous occasions, is expected to provide health care for an additional 34 million people who are currently lacking coverage. An influx of NPs is needed to meet this growing need. The Institute of Medicine Future of Nursing report has called for eliminating scope of practice restrictions on NPs in all states to increase access to care and provide needed primary care services. This will allow NPs to provide a broader range of services without restrictions on practice. However, the challenge of having an adequate supply of NPs remains.
Hospitals are freeing up nurses to do the one thing they often don't have enough time for: taking care of patients.
Registered nurses are delaying retirement, a work decision that will help make new accountable care models and the move away from fee-for-service medicine more achievable under the Affordable Care Act.
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Editor-in Chief:
Kirsten Nicole
Editorial Staff:
Kirsten Nicole
Stan Kenyon
Robyn Bowman
Kimberly McNabb
Lisa Gordon
Stephanie Robinson
Contributors:
Kirsten Nicole
Stan Kenyon
Liz Di Bernardo
Cris Lobato
Elisa Howard
Susan Cramer
