Nursing, Healthcare Informatics and Technology 2006

Scientists Turn Stem Cells Into Disease-Fighting T-Cells

2006-07-18T11:11:00.000-07:00

It is a wonderful time to be alive and to see what scientists are doing to assist patients afflicted with chronic diseases. For example, the author of this article points out how Stem Cell research is assisting our immune system to stave off disease. The online edition of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences tells us of the first time scientists have derived T-cells (produced by the thymus) from embryonic stem cells. This is a major breakthrough for the possible treatment of T-cell and other blood diseases. Perhaps this is a lead in the cure for the AIDS epidemic. Let's hope so.

Nursing Shortage Predicted

2006-07-18T11:04:00.000-07:00

A "new" nursing shortage is reported in the NCEMNA news. The purported "crisis" could bear a shortage of 1 million nurses or more and there is a grave concern about how healthcare managers will deal with such a shortage. Fortunately, the report points out the need for the profession to create a better image and to look carefully at the nurse educator shortage problem. What do you think is the primary problem with the image of nursing? Why do you think nurses are still underpaid? Your comments on this news article are appreciated.

Education Times Are A Changing!

2006-05-27T13:27:00.000-07:00

A professor in the United Kingdom is podcasting his lectures and taking questions from his students via Instant Messaging. Those questions will be answered via a blog. This is one example of distance education!

Hospitals Train Staff With iPods

2006-03-30T06:38:00.000-08:00

Hospital administrators at two Glasgow hospitals are using Mp3 technology to train novice staff members. The hospital managers have provided hospital "tours" for providing information about "super" bugs, how to provide mobility for patients and how to handle violent behavior in the hospital setting. Following the hospital tours the staff are provided a follow-up computer-generated test.

"Using technology - the iPod - means we can make sure all new staff are trained to exactly the same standard," said Alastair Kirk, training and development manager at NHS Greater Glasgow.

Computer Technology Opens a World of Work to Disabled People

2006-03-04T06:57:00.001-08:00

Thousands of people across the United States that suffer from various forms of disabilities are finding hope and work by using advanced technologies. Even those individuals who are plagued by spinal cord injuries or vision loss may benefit from the great amount of technology that is present in today's society. Steven Singley, 41, who is quadriplegic as a result of a car accident 20 years ago, has a special setup that helps him take calls for Office Depot from his home in Centerville, Utah. His right arm, which has limited movement, is strapped to the armrest of his wheelchair, allowing his hand to pivot on a trackball and his pinky knuckle to tap a clicker. A splint with a rubber tip is hooked to his palm so he can type on a keyboard sitting on his lap.

Faster Than Fiber

2006-03-04T06:05:00.000-08:00

A Virginia-based telecommunications company, Giga Beam, has developed WiFiber, a wireless high-speed data transferring system that can stream 90 minutes of video from one point to another in as little as six seconds. Blasting beams of data through free space is not a new idea. LightPointe and Proxim Wireless also provide such services. What makes GigaBeam's technology different is that it exploits a different part of the electromagnetic spectrum. Their systems use a region of the spectrum near visible light, at terahertz frequencies. Because of this, weather conditions in which visibility is limited, such as fog or light rain, can hamper data transmission.

Conference Focuses on Nursing Excellence

2006-03-04T05:54:00.000-08:00

Nursing students and renowned nursing leaders converge on March 23, 2006 in Augusta Georgia to advance their knowledge and showcase "excellence" in nursing. Dr. Joan Shaver will be the keynote speaker of this conference sponsored by the Beta Omicron Chapter of Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society. Dr. Shaver, Dean of the School of Nursing at the University of Illinois Chicago will speak about leadership skills that foster "innovation and development for individuals and organizations."

"Other conference activities will cover topics such as innovations in bio-behavioral nursing research, sexual risk reduction, health literacy interventions, reducing inpatient mortality, family-centered care, and inter-hospital nursing education consortiums."

Research Focuses on Heart Health

2006-02-16T12:05:00.000-08:00

It is a fact. Heart disease is the number one killer of women in this country. Nurse researchers at Decker School of Nursing at Binghamton University are embarking on a grant funded research study on the improvement of heart healthy behaviors of women living in rural areas. Researchers will use two techniques in an effort to encourage study participants to be physically active, eat at least five servings of fruit and vegetables daily and not smoke.

ASC-TSJC Nursing Program Expands

2006-02-16T00:09:00.000-08:00

The nursing shortage experienced in this country is twice the national average in the state of Colorado (11%). It is even more accenuated in rural areas. And, the Colorado Center for Nursing Excellence predicts the shortage will perhaps nearly triple by 2020. There needs to be a significant increase in the number of nursing students and educators in order to stave off this estimate.
The joint nursing program received a major boost this summer, with the award of a 3-year, $330,048 Health Professions Initiative Grant from the Colorado Trust. The grant funded the addition of two nursing faculty members at Adams State, providing greater mentoring for program faculty and allowing time for TSJC instructors to upgrade their qualifications. Program faculty teach on both campuses.

U.S. agency pushes use of electronic health records

2006-02-15T05:42:00.000-08:00

There has been much discussion regarding the adoption of the Electronic Health Record (EHR). Havenstein reports the involvement of the government in encouraging citizens to embrace the adoption of EHRs by twirling "breakthrough projects" at the Health Information and Management Systems Society conference. In the past the Office of the National Coordinator (ONC) for Health Information Technology has focused their efforts on encouraging physicians and hospitals to adopt the EHR. However, now the ONC is narrowing in on informing patients about the EHR in order to create a certain "demand" by the public. I think that ONC's efforts may work with patients that have a higher level of education, however I am concerned about those patients that are not aware of the uses of technology in healthcare environments. As in education, healthcare officials need to be constantly aware of the digital divide and look to reduce the division so all citizens have an opportunity to understand the advantages and disadvanatges of healthcare technology.

DataLabs Announces eClinical Collaboration Software to Manage Clinical Trial Processes

2006-02-15T05:29:00.000-08:00

A recent press release informed readers of Data Lab's "Site Manager (TM)." Site Manager is an innovative clinical trial software that affords researchers the opportunity to efficiently select clinicl trial sites. This program was created by "Broadpeak," and then purchased by DataLabs in 2005. Site Manager facilitates all internal and external collaboration for study activities, from start to finish and it accelerates the time for recruiting qualified investigators, initiating each site (including the collection and versioning of regulatory documents), communicating with investigative sites, and providing a central portal in which to manage the progress of each clinical trial.

Disaster Preparedness

2006-02-13T00:15:00.000-08:00

Jossi reports on the importance of data backup and adequate storage- especially in the event of a natural disaster. Last year's storms that devastated the Gulf Coast reminds us about the need to prepare for natural disasters. Humans become complacent and believe it will never happen to them or their environment. This article points to some very interesting facts and suggests what one needs to do to have adequate plans in place.

Thoughteracy for All

2006-02-13T00:05:00.000-08:00

A colleague sent me this "thoughtful article" on literacy. Interesting for educators to ponder.

Such limited and primarily alphabet-based definitions of literacy may have been appropriate, and perhaps even sufficient, until the emergence of sophisticated tools of information and communications technologies, such as the computer, cell phone, video cameras, text scanners and text-to-speech converters, and voice recognition and language translation technologies. These new and versatile technologies will slowly but surely initially diminish and then eventually altogether do away with peoples’ reliance on soon to be obsolete skills such as reading and writing.

Soarian's Innovative Workflow Technology Enhances Care Delivery; Live Customer Workflows Show Increased Quality, Safety and Efficiency In Care Delive

2006-02-09T00:05:00.000-08:00

It is working. Technology is improving healthcare delivery outcomes and reducing costs simultaneously. Siemens Medical Solutions, "Soarian (R)" health information solution is demonstrating to be effective. Soarian's core differentiator is its unique-to-healthcare workflow engine that facilitates and tracks technology-driven "workflows" designed to help users increase efficiency, improve patient safety, and achieve desired clinical and financial outcomes - while supporting key quality and regulatory initiatives.

For example, at The Chester County Hospital (TCCH), West Chester, Pa., 4 percent of patients entering the hospital have a history of Methicillin Resistant Staphylcoccus Aureus (MRSA) infection and they account for 8 percent of all patient days. Before TCCH began using Soarian's workflow management tools, a study of 30 patients showed that approximately 25 percent of MRSA patients with prior positive results who should have gone into isolation upon admission were missed at initial bed placement, but likely detected during admission assessment. This would necessitate an immediate transfer to isolation status.

Health Language, Inc. Delivers for HL7 Vocabulary Mapping Project

2006-02-09T00:02:00.000-08:00

Health Language, Inc. was selected last year by Health Level Seven, Inc (HL7) to render services to map the HL7 version 2 and 3 vocabularies. This mapping project was a part of helping meet the goals of the HL7 National Library of Medicine contract of ensuring that the HL7 Vocabulary Standards were in step with the Consolidated Health Informatics (CHI) vocabularies.

Nursing college makes gains in federal money

2006-02-09T00:01:00.000-08:00

The school of nursing at The University of New Mexico is making great strides in obtaining federal research dollars. It is ranked 40th out of a listing of 5o0 schools of nursing competing for research funding. The NINR is a component of the National Institutes of Health, an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NINR supports clinical and basic research to establish a scientific basis for the care of individuals across the span of their lives.

Allevo Adopts RFID-Based Nursing Program

2006-02-08T06:19:00.000-08:00

A radio frequency Identification technology is being implemented in the Netherlands to improve the provision of care to patients in this European country. The Nokia's RFID technology being used allows the health care providers to "maintain up-to-date, accurate information real-time," van Campen said. The way it works is with iO, every client is provided with a contact free chip card when they become Allevo clients. At each visit, the nurse touches the chip card using a Nokia 3220 phone with RFID reader to register their visit, eliminating the need to fill in forms and giving the nurse the most up-to-date information on the client.

Of course the use of this technology as implanted chips is an ongoing controversial issue that is being discussed by healthcare providers worldwide.

Technology Provides Nursing Staff Access to Open Shifts Across Six Campuses

2006-02-08T06:06:00.000-08:00

Organizing and providing adequate staffing at hospitals has been an ongoing challenge. However, "Bid-Shift" has announced the implementation of a bidding system at a hospital in Corpus Christi, Texas that allows for a computerized approach to staffing nurses at various hospitals. In the past, staffing nurses has been a labor intensive and time-consuming job. And, now with the use of this new system, hospitals are able to look across a network of hospitals and open up opportunities for nurses to work across various hospitals.

CHRISTUS Spohn Health System is implementing BidShift as a means to leverage the existing resource pool across all six campuses, gain process efficiencies in the filling of open shifts, and assure optimal coverage. One of the health system's primary goals is also aimed at giving nursing staff more choice and flexibility over the shifts they work, which is reflected in their theme for the program, "It's your time, your choice." The health system is using regular pay with targeted incentives for the hardest-to-fill shifts to optimize deployment of nursing resources where they are needed most.

His Subject: Highly Evolved and Exquisitely Thirsty

2006-02-07T13:28:00.000-08:00

It amazing that bloodsuckers that spread parasites among frogs and fishes are used in medicine as anticoagulants. Carl Zimmer reports on a researcher, Dr. Siddall, from Canada that has an affinity for leeches. Actually, to the point of traveling to far off exotic places to find different kinds of leeches. Turning himself into bait is paying off. Dr. Siddall's research has shown that the ancestors of leeches were probably freshwater worms that fed harmlessly on the surface of fish or crustaceans, as the closest living relatives of leeches do. Not only do these worms have the most leechlike DNA of any animal, but they also grow the same sucker on the base of their tail that leeches use for crawling.

So Many Pills, So Little Clarity

2006-02-07T13:13:00.000-08:00

Duenwald reports on the increasing numbers of medications that Americans are taking each year. An all time record (3.36 million billion) of prescriptions were filled last year. And, many times patients are not fully educated on the potential side effects of the medications or contraindications. Therefore, more and more Americans are at risk for harmful side effects unless they receive adequate information about the drugs that are being prescribed. Unfortunately the drug manuals are cumbersome and online guides may not be reliable. "To find a good online site, look for those that offer unbiased information, said Eileen Early, the editor of electronic health information for the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee. Doing a key-word search using a specific drug name may get you to a site operated by the pharmaceutical company that makes it, Ms. Early said."
This is good information for healthcare providers who wish to educate their clients.

Mississippi's 'Heart Man' Examines Links Between Race and Disease

2006-02-07T12:41:00.000-08:00

Dr. Taylor, also known as "heart man" in Jackson, Mississippi, practices what he "preaches." While the "plat du jour" for many people living in the southern states is eggs fried in lard, Dr. Taylor reaches for fresh fruit and granola. He undestands that role modeling is a powerful tool.

From now until 2014, Dr. Taylor and his team will be following 5,302 black residents of three Mississippi counties — Hinds, Rankin and Madison — observing their lives and how their heart health is related to their environment.

For the study's participants, there will be periodic medical examinations and referrals for care when problems are detected. The ultimate aim of the $54 million investigation, Dr. Taylor said, "is to gain the information we need to stop an epidemic of cardiovascular diseases within the African-American community."

Hospitals may want to rethink cell phone bans

2006-02-02T12:02:00.000-08:00

Britt reports that physicians use cell phones in hospitals that prohibit their use due to reported electronic magnetic interference. However, researchers report the use of cell phones rarely causes any interuption of electronic magnetic interference. Furthermore, it has been reported that when physicians communicate via their cell phones, thre are less medical errors due to quick communication to various healthcare providers. "The study is published in the February issue of Anesthesia & Analgesia. It was based on 4,018 responses from attendees at the 2003 meeting of the American Society of Anesthesiologists. Of those who responded, 65 percent reported using pagers as their primary mode of communications, and of those, 40 percent reported delays in communications."

Rapid communication in clinical settings...saves lives!

Monster and the AACN

2006-02-02T07:53:00.000-08:00

In an attempt to increase the number of nurse educators, Monster Healthcare has joined the American Association of Colleges of Nursing to create a scholarship program. "All efforts to address the shortage of nurses in the U.S. will fail unless we focus on increasing the supply of faculty needed to prepare new nurses," said AACN President Jean E. Bartels. "AACN applauds Monster Healthcare for recognizing one of the root causes of our nation's current nursing shortage and taking decisive action to address this concern."

This year's recipients of the scholarship program have been announced and may be viewed at
http://www.aacn.nche.edu/Media/MonsterWinners.htm

Congratulations to the recipients of this year's awards!

Need for nurses spawns building

2006-02-02T00:11:00.000-08:00

Feldstien reports a $40 million building will be constructed to meet the increasing need for nurses in the United States. The construction of the new Barnes-Jewish hospital in St. Louis will assist the school in becoming one of the top ten nursing schools in the United States. It replaces one constructed more than 75 years ago. It will include simulated operating rooms and patient rooms as well as wireless Internet access and video conferencing. "It's really getting us to the 21st century of technology," said Coreen Vlodarchyk, vice president of patient care services and interim dean of the college. "Right now our labs are old and tired and not where we want them to be."

National Institute of Information and Communications Technology, JVC Develop 8-megapixel High-resolution Robotics Technology

2006-02-02T00:03:00.000-08:00

Robotic technology is being proposed for telemedicine and nursing application purposes. The "humanoid" robot has a vision resolution of 8 megapixels (similar to the limits of human vision) and arms, hands, and fingers. A person wearing data gloves embedded with joint bending sensors can manipulate the robot's arms and fingers via a network.