NEWS HIGHLIGHTS
 AONE is moving. Update your records!
The AONE Chicago office (operations/membership) will be closed beginning March 11 at 12:00 p.m. CT and will re-open Monday, March 15 due to our upcoming move. If you need assistance on March 11 or 12, contact the AONE DC office at (202) 626-2240. Thanks for your cooperation.
New address effective 3/15
155 N. Wacker Drive, Suite 400
Chicago, IL 60606
312-422-2800 (same main number)
312-422-4503 (same fax number)
1. Obama urges Congress to act swiftly on health care reform
2. Nursing salaries likely to stay flat, says researcher
3. AHA issues model letter for commenting on EHR incentives rule
4. Baucus jobs bill amendment contains hospital provisions
5. Yale nursing school applications fall six percent
6. Burgess: CMS needs to ‘rethink' meaningful use rule
7. Southern California college announces certification of master of science in nursing
8. Hawaii university to launch nursing program
1. Obama urges Congress to act swiftly on health care reform
President Obama this week urged congressional leaders to schedule a final vote on health care reform legislation within the next few weeks. He called for an up-or-down vote, signaling support for the use of the budgetary process known as "reconciliation," which requires a simple 51-vote majority for passage in the Senate. The White House last week released a summary of the president's health care reform proposal, which was largely based on the Senate's Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (H.R. 3590). The president said his nearly $1 trillion proposal is a compromise plan that combines the best ideas of both Democrats and Republicans. In a letter yesterday to congressional leaders, the president voiced support for adding at least four policy priorities identified by Republicans at a February 25 meeting on health reform. These include support for an additional $50 million in grants for medical liability demonstrations; ways to increase doctor reimbursement if Medicaid is expanded; allowing high-deductible health plans to participate in the health insurance exchange; and using "medical professionals" to conduct random undercover investigations of health care.
2. Nursing salaries likely to stay flat, says researcher
As a faculty researcher at the Center for the Health Professions at the University of California, San Francisco and a nursing professor, Joanne Spetz, PhD, believes that as the economy improves and more people seek health care, there will be an increase in demand for nurses, reportsADVANCE for Nurses. "The employment situation for nurses will come down to a broader question of what the economy does over the next year," she said. "If the economy is really moving into recovery mode and does stabilize, we'll see changes in overall employment patterns." However, she does not believe the increased demand will translate into better salaries for nurses. According to the ADVANCE for Nurses national salary survey results , nearly half of respondents, 48 percent, did not experience a change in salary during the past 12 months.
3. AHA issues model letter for commenting on EHR incentives rule
The American Hospital Association (AHA) last week released a model commentletter that hospitals can use to help draft their own comments on the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services' (CMS) proposed rule on the electronic health records (EHR) incentive program for Medicare and Medicaid. The letter offers a number of specific recommendations, and focuses on several areas of concern to hospitals, including an alternative approach for defining "meaningful use" of EHRs. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act provided Medicare and Medicaid incentives to hospitals deemed meaningful users of certified EHR technology. While adoption of EHR technology is voluntary, hospitals that have not become meaningful users will see reductions in their Medicare payments beginning in fiscal year 2015. CMS has said it is important to hear specific hospital and physician stories of EHR adoption, vendor relationships, challenges and alternatives to their proposals. The AHA is encouraging hospitals to tailor the letter using examples from their EHR adoption experiences. CMS will accept comments on the proposed rule through March 15.
4. Baucus jobs bill amendment contains hospital provisions
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT) this week offered a substitute amendment to the American Workers, State, and Business Relief Act of 2010 (H.R. 4213), the Senate's latest jobs bill. It contains several provisions that are critical to hospitals, including a six-month extension through June 30, 2011 of the Medicaid federal medical assistance percentage for states included in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA); an extension of the COBRA benefit subsidy; and a delay until September 30 of the 21 percent Medicare payment cut for physicians that took effect earlier this week. The amendment also contains extensions through 2010 of several rural health programs, and would ensure that hospital-based physicians, who practice in hospital-owned outpatient centers and clinics, qualify for federal health IT incentives under the ARRA. (AHANewsNow, 3/2/10)
5.Yale nursing school applications fall six percent
The number of applications to the Yale School of Nursing's largest master's program fell six percent for the 2010-2011 academic year, according to an article in theYale Daily News. The graduate entry pre-specialty in nursing program-which offers a master's degree to students with no previous nursing education-received 352 applications for a class of about 110 students this admissions season, a drop from the yearly average of 375, director of admissions Angela Kühne said. Kühne and School of Nursing dean Margaret Grey attributed the drop in applications to the school's elimination of its spring application deadline and to the recession causing fewer people to make a career switch into nursing. Applications to the academic master's in nursing program - for students with a nursing background - stayed level at 75 applications. The Yale School of Nursing ranked seventh in the most recent U.S. News & World Report survey of American nursing schools.
6. Burgess: CMS needs to ‘rethink' meaningful use rule
Representative Michael Burgess, MD (R-TX), who serves on the House Energy & Commerce Committee, this week called for a "good deal more flexibility" for hospitals in the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' (CMS) proposed rule for "meaningful use" of electronic health records. Addressing American Hospital Association (AHA) members during the association's Town Hall Interactive webcast, Burgess said it would be "very difficult" for hospitals to meet the rule's criteria and called its timeframes "unrealistic." Burgess and Representatives Zack Space (D-OH), Eliot Engel (D-NY), and Cliff Stearns (R-FL) are asking House colleagues to sign aletter urging CMS to make changes to the proposed rule.
7. Southern California college announces certification of master of science in nursing
InterAmerican College in National City, CA, this week announced the approval and certification of its master of science in nursing program by the Board of Registered Nursing in California. The certification is being lauded as a major milestone for InterAmerican College and its nursing students. The master of science in nursing (MSN) program embraces a nursing conceptual framework based on the person, health/illness, the environment and professional nursing and is grounded in the biological, psycho-social and nursing sciences. The next learning cohort for the MSN program will begin this summer; applications are currently being accepted. ( PR Newswirepress release, 3/2/2010)
8. Hawaii university to launch nursing program
Chaminade University in Honolulu, HI, received approval yesterday from the Hawaii State Board of Nursing to launch a long-anticipated undergraduate nursing program this fall, reportsPacific Business News. Students who enroll in the program's first class of 40 to 50 will earn a bachelor of science degree in nursing in 2014. Chaminade's president Dr. Bernie Ploeger said 1,000 nursing school applicants are turned away each year in Hawaii because there is no room in existing nursing programs. Chaminade has been actively recruiting prospective students from Hawaii, Guam, Samoa and the Federated States of Micronesia. The school has been named the Sallie Y. Miyawaki School of Nursing in honor of the late wife of Edison Miyawaki, who endowed the program with $5 million in November 2009.
|
AONE NEWS AND RESOURCES
Registration open for Aspiring Nurse Leader Institute (ANLI) sessions
Register a member of your team for a session in one of AONE’s Aspiring Nurse Leader Institute (ANLI) sessions. ANLI is designed for staff nurses, charge nurses, nurse coordinators or nurse managers aspiring to a nurse leadership role. This workshop gives participants an overview of the many facets of nursing leadership including staff management, financial planning and delegating with skill. ANLI sessions are planned for June 14-17 in Nashville, TN and November 7-10 in Scottsdale, AZ. Learn more about ANLI and apply now on theAONE website. Don't delay...spots are limited!
AONE 43rd Annual Meeting and Exposition—early bird registration ends Tuesday, March 9
There are only a few days left until the close of early bird registration for the AONE 43rd Annual Meeting and Exposition to be held April 9-13, in Indianapolis, IN. Take advantage of the reduced online fares through Southwest Airlines. Our endnote speaker, Susan Dentzer, will conclude her presentation at 4:00 p.m. on April 12; Southwest has many direct flights in the late afternoon available as low as $89, so you could attend this session and still make your flight. To book your hotel room, refer to the housing link in your registration confirmation email. In order to stay in the AONE room block, we ask that you do not contact the hotels directly. Register now — Housing— Virtual Advance Program
AONE webinar series available on-demand
Did you miss a recent AONE webinar due to a scheduling conflict? Recent webinar sessions have included, “Transformation via Technology: Creating the Ultimate Healing Environment in an All Digital Hospital” with Lamont Yoder, RN, MSN, MBA and “Why Nurses Still Must Learn to Delegate...and How” with Ruth Hansten of Hansten Healthcare, PLLC. Recordings of these and other AONE webinars are available on-demand on theAONE website.
AONE Chicago moving to new offices
Effective March 15, AONE Chicago (operations/membership) will be located at 155 N. Wacker Drive, Suite 400, Chicago, IL 60606. The main phone number (312-422-2800) and fax number (312-422-4503) will both remain the same. Be sure to update your records. The AONE Chicago office will be closed from 12:00 noon Central Time on Thursday, March 11, through 9:00 a.m. Monday, March 15. AONE staff in Chicago will not have access to telephone or e-mail messages during this time; however the AONE Washington, DC office will remain open and can be reached at 202-626-2240.
|
