MHA's Organization of Nurse Executives

ANA sues HHS, alleges JCAHO lax on nurse staffing

The American Nurses Association filed suit against HHS alleging that the agency has failed to enforce Medicare's registered nurse staffing regulation. The ANA alleged that the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, which certifies most hospitals for Medicare participation, has lower standards than the Medicare regulation.

According to the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Washington, the JCAHO doesn't require hospitals to staff enough registered nurses to guarantee the "immediate availability" of an RN as required by Medicare rules. In addition, the ANA alleged that the JCAHO doesn't hold hospitals to the federal standard for reviewing and revising staffing schedules to meet patient-care needs and adjust for nurse absenteeism. The ANA asked the court to require HHS to ensure JCAHO-certified hospitals actually meet the Medicare standard. An HHS spokeswoman said in an e-mail that the agency had not received the litigation and declined to comment. Two ANA states affiliates, New York and Washington, joined the suit.

[ via Modern Healthcare ]

Report examines ways to retain older nurses

Flexible work hours, increased benefits, new managerial roles, better designed hospital equipment and facilities, and more autonomy in decision making are among the factors that would encourage older nurses to stay in the workforce, according to a study released today by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The authors recommend hospitals create expanded roles for older nurses with appropriate continuing education to train them for these positions.

"Among the baby-boomers aged 55 and older are healthy and vibrant retirees or soon to be retirees, with a robust 10 to 30 years of additional life expectancy," the report states. "These individuals are fast becoming the largest untapped source of potential labor in the U.S. economy" and could help stem the national nursing shortage.

American Organization of Nurse Executives CEO Pamela Thompson praised the Foundation for its work in addressing the nursing shortage. The report "compliments and validates the ongoing work of AONE to better integrate the aging nursing workforce into care environment," she said. AONE is an AHA subsidiary.

[ via AHA News ]

Coalition urges Congress to increase funding to address nurse shortage

The American Hospital Association and 14 other health care organizations on June 2 called on House appropriators to provide at least $175 million for nursing workforce programs in fiscal year 2007, up $25 million from the current fiscal year. The programs, authorized under Title VIII of the Public Health Service Act, helped more than 50,000 students pursue nursing education last year, the groups wrote in a letter to Rep. Ralph Regula, chairman of the House Labor, HHS and Education appropriations subcommittee. The panel is expected to begin drafting an appropriations bill next week.

The groups noted that workforce data points to a long-term nursing shortage, with supply falling nearly 30% below demand by 2020. “Given adequate resources, Title VIII programs would resolve the shortage by increasing the supply of nurse faculty, recruiting diverse student populations, assisting students in completing their nursing studies…and promoting innovation in education and practice,” they said. The letter will be available soon at www.aha.org.

[ via AHA News ]