New FL BON Continuing Education Requirement in Effect

The Florida Board of Nursing now requires Registered Nurse s to complete a 2 hour Human Trafficking course every renewal cycle.  The new requirement takes effect with current renewal cycles that began on May 1, 2017 and end in April of 2019.  For additional guidance on when you are required to take this new course, please click here for a related infograph or contact CE Broker at support@cebroker.com or (877) 434-6323 Mon-Fri 8AM-8PM EST.

How to improve care for high-need, high-cost patients

A new AHA issue brief offers resources and strategies to improve care for "high-need, high-cost patients" – adults who have three or more chronic diseases and functional limitations in their ability to care for themselves or perform routine daily tasks. Please click here to access the resource. 

Hospitals Try Free Dorms to Attract Nurses

Hospital leaders must be more resourceful than ever to grapple with the growing influx of patients nationwide and a nursing shortage that will not abate according to STAT News. For example, WVU Medicine in West Virginia, Va., was hindered by the “negative connotation” of its location, Chief Nursing Officer Doug Mitchell said. So, the hospital offered free dorms to prospective nurses who would rather commute long distances than move to the area, and hundreds of nurses signed on. Other hospitals are testing creative tactics such as offering signing bonuses and subsidizing education for candidates. But, these recruitment strategies only address the symptoms, not the source of the nursing shortage, some say — which is rooted in the resources available to nursing schools

Institute issues guidance for protecting medical device systems from ransomware

The ECRI Institute has released guidance to help hospitals protect their medical device systems from ransomware attacks. The report provides recommendations for adapting general cybersecurity principles to the particular requirements of medical device systems, including do’s and don’ts for quickly responding to emerging threats.

CDC: Over 100 million Americans had diabetes or prediabetes in 2015

An estimated 12.2% of U.S. adults had diabetes in 2015, including one in four aged 65 and older, according to the latest national estimates released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Nearly one-quarter of the 30.2 million adults with diabetes were not aware they had it, based on data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey and Census Bureau. Fasting glucose and hemoglobin A1C levels were used to derive estimates for undiagnosed diabetes and prediabetes. About one-third of adults (84.1 million) had prediabetes, blood glucose levels at risk of progressing to diabetes, including nearly half of adults aged 65 and older. "Consistent with previous trends, our research shows that diabetes cases are still increasing, although not as quickly as in previous years," said Ann Albright, director of CDC's Division of Diabetes Translation. "Diabetes is a contributing factor to so many other serious health conditions. By addressing diabetes, we limit other health problems such as heart disease, stroke, nerve and kidney diseases, and vision loss."

ISMP releases medication safety self-assessment tool

The Institute for Safe Medication Practices yesterday released a tool to help hospitals and outpatient facilities evaluate their safety practices for "high-alert" medications, identify opportunities for improvement and track their experiences over time. Providers who submit their assessment findings to ISMP anonymously via a secure internet portal by Dec. 15 will receive a weighted score to compare themselves to demographically similar organizations, the institute said.

HRSA Awards $1.39MM Federal Grant to FIU Nicole Wertheim College of Nursing & Health Sciences to Close the Gap in rural Primary Care Workforce

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) has awarded a $1.39 million grant to Florida International University (FIU) Nicole Wertheim College of Nursing & Health Sciences to implement the Advanced Nursing Education Workforce (ANEW) program.  This unique, two-year nursing education initiative will provide academic and clinical training to advanced practice nurses seeking to provide primary care in rural and underserved areas.  The program will provide select FIU graduate nursing students with traineeship awards through a competitive application process and will match them with rural primary health care sites in Hendry and Glades counties.  For additional information, please contact Dr. Tami Thomas at tthomas@fiu.edu or (305) 348-7743.

Group offers guidance for engaging new clinicians in patient safety

The National Collaborative for Improving the Clinical Learning Environment this week released guidance to help health care system leaders work with clinical educators to create learning environments where new clinicians actively engage in patient safety activities. The document provides a framework and recommendations for engaging new clinicians in patient safety and instilling life-long behaviors that promote safe systems of care. "Our hope is that executive leaders can take this information and set of recommendations...to develop strategies that fit their organization and create learning environments that help new clinicians engage in patient safety," the project co-chairs said.

Webinar Nov. 9 on improving care for hospitalized adults with SUDs

The Physician Leadership Forum will host a Nov. 9 webinar on a team-based approach to improving care for hospitalized adults with substance-use disorders. Honora Englander, M.D., associate professor of medicine and director of the Improving Addiction Care Team at Oregon Health & Science University, will discuss the program and how a team-based approach is helping to improve care for adults with SUD. To register for the 2 p.m. ET webinar, please click here.

CDC: Sexually transmitted diseases at record high

More than 2 million cases of chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis were reported in the U.S. in 2016, a record high, according to the latest annual report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Chlamydia cases grew 4.7% to nearly 1.6 million; gonorrhea cases grew 18.5% to more than 468,000; and primary and secondary syphilis cases grew 17.6% to nearly 28,000, including a 28% increase among newborns. "Every baby born with syphilis represents a tragic systems failure," said Gail Bolan, director of CDC's Division of STD Prevention. "All it takes is a simple STD test and antibiotic treatment to prevent this enormous heartache and help assure a healthy start for the next generation of Americans."

CDC issues report on antibiotic use, stewardship

A new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report provides an overview of antibiotic use in U.S. health care settings and what health care providers, patients, insurers and others can do to support appropriate antibiotic use to prevent antibiotic resistance.

FDA to extend REMS requirements to immediate-release opioids

FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, M.D. has announced that the Food and Drug Administration intends to update its Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy requirements for extended-release and long-acting opioid analgesics, and extend the same requirements to immediate-release opioid analgesic products. The existing REMS requires companies that manufacture extended-release and long-acting opioid analgesics to make education programs available to prescribers and patients. According to Gottlieb, the new REMS will modify the prescriber education blueprint to include more information on pain management, safe use of opioid analgesics, addiction medicine and opioid use disorders. The REMS also will require manufacturers to make training available to more than physician prescribers, such as nurses and pharmacists involved in pain management. In addition, he said the agency is exploring whether provider education should be mandatory. According to FDA, about 90% of opioid prescriptions in the U.S. are for immediate-release formulations.

HHS awards grants to prevent opioid misuse among women, girls

The Department of Health and Human Services' Office on Women's Health awarded 16 organizations, none in South Florida, about $100,000 each to help prevent opioid misuse by women and girls in underserved communities. "These awards will build partnerships among community-based organizations that consider the unique needs of women and girls, with the ultimate goal of preventing and reducing the impact of the opioid epidemic," said Vanila Singh, M.D., chief medical officer for the department's Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health. According to HHS' Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, heroin use, overdose deaths from prescription pain killers, and opioid-related hospital stays are increasing faster for women than men. OWH recently released a report examining the impact of the opioid epidemic on women and promising practices that address their specific needs.