ER patients prefer inpatient hallways

Two out of three emergency department patients who are admitted to the hospital prefer to board outside the emergency department in inpatient hallways, according to the Annals of Emergency Medicine. “Boarding” refers to the wait patients experience when they are admitted to the hospital before a bed is available. “In addition to raising patient satisfaction, transferring admitted patients out of the emergency department reduces crowding and gridlock, two of the most pernicious problems in emergency departments across the country,” said study author Jesse Pines of the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. The study, conducted over a four-week period at an urban teaching hospital, surveyed 431 admitted patients. Of those who expressed a preference for boarding location (64 percent of the total), 59 percent preferred inpatient hallways and 41 percent preferred emergency department hallways. During the study period, the average weekly emergency department boarding time ranged from eight to 12 hours.

Boomers bring new demands, challenges to healthcare system

The over-65 population will nearly triple between now and 2030 as a result of the aging Baby Boomers, adding new demands and challenges on an already stressed-out health system, according to a report by First Consulting Group.

The first Boomers will turn 65 in 2011 and, according to the report, more than 37 million of them will be managing more than one chronic condition by 2030: Nearly 14 million Boomers will be living with diabetes; almost half of the 37 million Boomers will be living with arthritis (down from 2020, when the number with arthritis will peak to just over 26 million); and more than one out of three Boomers—over 21 million—will be considered obese.

As patients live with multiple chronic diseases, demand for services will increase. Over the next 20 years, Boomers will make up a greater proportion of hospital patients, as they live longer but suffer from combinations of complex conditions. At the same time, the number of registered nurses, primary care physicians and specialty physicians will not keep pace with demand.  The study was requested by the American Association of Hospitals to help hospitals better prepare for the impending tidal wave of Baby Boomers and their care needs. The full report is available online at www.aha.org.

Antibiotic-resistant infections on the rise

Hospital stays for a type of antibiotic-resistant infection have increased nearly 10-fold since 1995, according to the latest News and Numbers from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). The agency found that the number of hospital stays for patients infected with methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) climbed from 38,100 in 1995 to 368,800 in 2005, the latest year for which data are available. MRSA, which is resistant to commonly used antibiotics such as amoxicillin and penicillin, occurs among hospitalized patients who have undergone surgery or who have suppressed immunity due to diseases such as leukemia and HIV. However, more recently there has been an increase in cases of MRSA infection, sending otherwise healthy patients to the hospital. The bacteria can be transmitted from person to person and can be potentially life threatening. The elderly and infants are the most susceptible. This infection occurs most commonly in patients with skin infections, complications from medical care, pneumonia and septicemia.

Turned away from nursing school? Pack your bags …

Qualified applicants who are turned away from nursing school because of the nurse faculty shortage may have an attractive alternative: offshore outsourcing. The Aug. 9 edition of Time magazine reports that St. Kitts, Belize, Jamaica and other island destinations are using the U.S. “nursing school slot shortage as a selling point to recruit American students.”

Brandon Bartholme enrolled at the International University of Nursing in St. Kitts as a last resort. “I realized to be a nurse, I’d have to leave the U.S.,” says Bartholme.

There are 200 students enrolled at the university, which welcomed its first class in 2005. Tuition is a whopping $8,800 a semester, but nursing student Kristal Nicks says the price is worth it. “I’m tired of waiting to become a nurse.”

University students attend classes in St. Kitts for three semesters but finish their clinical studies back home at a partner school in the United States.

Although his school can’t take on every qualified nursing student full time, James Utterback, president of Seminole State College in Oklahoma, says the school can accommodate a few for a semester’s worth of instruction.

On the Web: Healthcare and the presidential campaign

With healthcare emerging as the top domestic issue in the 2008 presidential election, the Kaiser Family Foundation launched a new Web site—www.health08.org—that will provide analysis of health policy issues, regular public opinion surveys, and news and video coverage from the campaign trail. The site is a hub of information about health and the election, including original content produced by Kaiser and easy access to health-related resources from the campaigns, other organizations and news outlets. You also can sign up for a weekly e-mail roundup of developments related to health and the election.

Addressing the Nursing shortage

Partners in Nursing’s Future is a nine-state, 10-foundation collaborative aimed at exploring solutions to the nursing industry’s most pressing issues. The new program is headed up by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Northwest Health Foundation. The five-year project sought proposals from local foundations interested in addressing distinct nursing workforce issues. The first group of recipients was selected in 2006. The program is now receiving proposals for the second group of recipients. To learn more about the Partners Investing in Nursing’s Future program and its grantees, visit www.partnersinnursing.org.

By the numbers

Employer-sponsored workplace savings plans are prevalent in the nursing industry and participation rates are high.

95 percent of all nurses say that their employer offers a retirement savings plan.

90 percent of those who are offered a workplace savings plan participate.

88 percent of nurses who participate in a plan would not work for an employer who did not offer one.

$64,000 is the average workplace savings plan balance for nurses.

68 percent of nurses cite their plan as one of the top three expected sources of income in retirement, and 40 percent say it will be their number-one source of income.

Source: Fidelity Investments Nurses Study.