TONL Monthly
 
December 2014 In This Issue
Nursing Leadership
Practice and Patient Care
Education and Events
Public Policy
Members in the News
Healthcare Industry
Texas Nurses Association
Intercom Inc.
Sphere3, LLC
Nursing Leadership
 
   
The 2014 TONE Excellence in Leadership Award recipient is Dr. Jane McCurley, Chief Nursing Officer for St. David’s North Austin Medical Center in Austin, Texas.

Dr. McCurley has been a CNO for 13 years, previously with HCA for 10 years at Las Colinas and North Hills in the North Texas Division. Jane is active in professional organizations and currently serves on the Texas Organization of Nurse Executives Board as President-Elect. She also serves on the Political Action Committee at the national level with the American Organization of Nurse Executives. She is a Regional Nurse Leader for Central West Texas Team Coalition. Jane has spoken at the state and national levels on leadership and accountability for the patient experience and how to become a Top 100 Hospital.
 
The Ebola outbreak is shining an international spotlight on the critical—but often unseen—work of nursing in the United States and abroad, nurse leaders say. Nurses play a vital role in direct care for patients with Ebola, shaping health policy, and raising awareness about the deadly virus.
SOURCE: SHARING NURSING’S KNOWLEDGE (ROBERT WOOD JOHNSON FOUNDATION)
 
By Debra Wood, RN
The fall 2014 update to The Leapfrog Group’s Hospital Safety Score found 23 fewer hospitals receiving "A" grades, but many of those who did credit their nurses for making it possible. "An ‘A’ rating is all about getting outcomes, and nurses are key to that," said Maggie Hansen, RN, chief nursing officer at Memorial Regional Hospital in Hollywood, Fla., which earned its second "A" this year. "They are the driver and the biggest group in the labor pool in the process of care provision."
SOURCE: NURSEZONE NEWSLETTER
 
Practice and Patient Care
Becker’s Hospital Review lists the 44 hospitals recognized by the Joint Commission for collecting and reporting data on five or more core measure sets in 2013 and achieving "Top Performer" thresholds on all of those sets. See the story "44 Hospitals Stand Out Among Joint Commission’s Top Performers" by Shannon Barnet by clicking on the link below.
SOURCE: BECKER’S HOSPITAL REVIEW
 
By Heather Punke
The Association of periOperative Registered Nurses plans to release an update to its 2007 Recommended Practices for Managing the Patient Receiving Local Anesthesia next year. Mary Ogg, MSN, RN, a perioperative nursing specialist and lead author of the 2015 Guidelines for Care of the Patient Receiving Local Anesthesia, recently shared five updates to previous recommendations with Periop Insider, AORN's weekly newsletter.
SOURCE: BECKER’S HOSPITAL REVIEW
 
By Eugene Litvak, PhD
Nursing unions are campaigning strenuously in Washington, DC and state capitals for legislation mandating nurse-patient ratios in hospitals. They are right to highlight the connection between those ratios and quality healthcare, but the solution that they propose focuses on the wrong end of the problem and is generating a political stalemate rather than progress. The best way to address the problem is not through mandates but through optimal management of patient flow and transparency.
SOURCE: BECKER’S HOSPITAL REVIEW
 
Grand Canyon University
Hill-Rom
Texas Nurses Association
Education and Events
Four $1,500 Scholarships to be awarded to four TONE members pursuing advanced degrees. The scholarships will be awarded based on
• Academic Achievement
• Community Service
• Financial Need

For more information about the scholarships including criteria and online application, please click the link below.
 
In 2010, Texas Nurses Association created a Health Information Technology (HIT) Task Force, and in concert with TONE, appointed members from each organization to serve. The task force builds on the work of the national Technology Informatics Guiding Education Reform (TIGER) initiative to use informatics in nursing practice and education to improve patient care.

You can see the PowerPoint presentation about HIT and access other materials about the program by clicking on the "Learn More..." link below.
 
Public Policy
Representatives from the Department of Health and Human Services and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated the House Energy & Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations Nov. 18 on the U.S. public health response to Ebola.
SOURCE: AHA NEWS NOW
 
The U.S. Supreme Court heard an obscure case last month about teeth whitening that could have wide-ranging implications for nurses and other health professionals. The ruling could impact efforts to allow nurses to practice to the full extent of their education and training.
SOURCE: SHARING NURSING’S KNOWLEDGE (ROBERT WOOD JOHNSON FOUNDATION)
 
Members in the News
 
   
Remember, you can access TONE benefits only if you keep your membership up to date. Now is the time to renew! Click on the link below to renew.
 
Healthcare Industry
Overall hospital prices increased 0.4% in October, and were 1.1% higher than a year ago, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on Nov. 18. Prices for the subgroup of general medical and surgical hospitals increased 0.4%, and were 0.9% higher than in October 2013, according to the BLS' Producer Price Indices, which measure average changes in selling prices received by domestic producers for their output.
SOURCE: AHA NEWS NOW
 
By Rachael Zimlich
In 2004, leaders in nursing education embarked on a movement to make the Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) the ideal degree level for advanced practice nurses by 2015, replacing the master’s degree. Many schools have moved forward with the transition and now offer the DNP, according to a study commissioned by the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) Board of Directors by the RAND Corp. Yet many schools will not be prepared for next year’s deadline and have maintained both master’s and DNP options for their Advanced Practice Registered Nurse (APRN) students.
SOURCE: HEALTHCARE TRAVELER
 
 
Texas Organization of Nurse Executives
PO Box 26496 | Austin, TX 78755
info@tonl.org | www.tonl.org

 

Advertise

We would appreciate your comments or suggestions.
Your email will be kept private and confidential.