Building What's Next for Nursing to be the theme of the NCSF Spring Conference at the Signature Grand
The Nursing Consortium of South Florida looks forward to presenting What's Next for Nursing; Engaging, Embracing and Empowering for Greater Resilience & Results. This one-day educational conference will be held in-person at the Signature Grand and virtually on the 20th of May. During the worst of the COVID pandemic, the Consortium convened nurse leaders to determine a path forward for the profession. Early implementations of the strategies identified as critical to successfully rebuilding nursing will be spotlighted at the conference. To take advantage of early-bird rates, please click here to register today. Poster abstracts are being accepted through the 8th of April. For available sponsorship opportunities, please click here. Don't miss what is sure to be an extraordinary learning and networking opportunity. |
Consortium leaders join Dr. Nick for Healthcare Upside
Down podcast
Dr. Nick Terheyden recently invited Consortium
president Maria Suarez and executive director Ralph Egues to join him for a
podcast conversation on the nursing shortage. To listen to the What would
Florence Think with Maria Suarez and Ralph Egues, please click here.
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New report calls for global action plan to
address nursing workforce crisis
A new report by the
International Council of Nurses, the International Centre for Nurse
Migration, and CGFNS International, provides a blueprint for what needs to be
done at the national and international level to guide nursing workforce
planning globally. It says countries should commit to prioritising nurses for
vaccinations, provide safe staffing levels, expand their domestic nurse
education systems, increase the attractiveness of nursing careers for women and
men, adhere to ethical international recruitment standards, and monitor
countries’ ability to be self-sufficient to meet their nursing workforce
requirements. To read the report, please click here.
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ANA webinar April 28 “Preparing the Future Nursing Workforce”
The
American Nursing Association invites Nursing Leaders to attend an important,
on-demand webinar April 28 at 1 PM ET, on “Preparing the Future Nursing
Workforce.” This 90-minute event looks at the coming
challenges and opportunities for the Nurse Leader. The webinar presenter is Kristy Chunta PhD, RN, ACNS, BC, a Professor
and the Coordinator of the Doctoral Nursing Program at Indiana University of
Pennsylvania. The impact of the pandemic has accentuated and hastened the
challenges the nursing profession has faced for many years in terms of an aging
workforce, severe shortages of RNs, lack of decision-making authority,
inadequate working conditions and compensation issues. Nursing leaders are called
upon to deeply consider how to improve this situation in their own
organizations and in the nursing profession. This LIVE 90-minute webinar is
FREE, interactive and reserved for ANA members only. You don't have to attend
the live presentation to view the webinar, but you must register to receive
24/7 access to this webinar recording. Registration closes April 27 but do it NOW -- space is limited! Please click here to read more or to register.
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Concerns raised over
Congress asking White House to investigate nurse staffing agencies
A letter from members of Congress sent to Jeffrey Zients,
COVID-19 Response Team Coordinator at The
White House asking for an inquiry into nurse staffing agency price gouging, has
caused some concerns in the nursing community about potential negative
side-effects such as state-level pay limits on nurses themselves. The American
Nursing Association noted such concerns in a recent email to MedPage Today,
saying that it supports an effort like this only if it targets agencies
themselves while protecting nurse pay. "If legislation were to directly
impact [staffing agency] overhead, then we believe nurses' pay would not be
impacted," the organization wrote. "However, if staffing agencies
were capped at a certain percentage of pre-pandemic rates, then nurses could
potentially see a decrease in wages." Please click here to read more. |
Miami Cancer Institute celebrates five-year anniversary
Consortium member Baptist Health South Florida’s Miami Cancer
Institute has celebrated its 5-year anniversary of making it possible
for patients in South Florida to receive life-saving treatments from some of
the nation’s top cancer specialists – without having to leave the area. CEO
and executive medical director, Michael Zinner, M.D., said, “We’re proud of
what we have achieved in such a short time.” The Miami Cancer Institute is one of the largest cancer
centers in Florida. It has surgical, medical and radiation oncologists prepared
to treat every common and rare cancer. This clinical expertise is combined with
the latest cancer-fighting technologies, all under one roof. Please click here
to read more. |
HHS distributing additional $2 billion in Provider Relief
Funds
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, through
the Health Resources and Services Administration, is making more than $2
billion in Provider Relief Fund Phase 4 General Distribution payments to more
than 7,600 providers across the country at end of January 2022. These payments
come on the heels of the nearly $9 billion in funding that was already released
by HHS in December 2021. With this announcement, a total of nearly $11 billion
in Provider Relief FundF Phase 4 payments has now been distributed to more than
74,000 providers in all 50 states, Washington D.C., and five territories. This
is in addition to HRSA’s distribution of American Rescue Plan (ARP) Rural
payments totaling nearly $7.5 billion in funding to more than 43,000 providers
in December 2021. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra said, “Provider
Relief Fund payments have served as a lifeline for our nation’s heroic health
care providers throughout the pandemic, helping them to continue to recruit and
retain staff and deliver care to their communities.” Please click here to read
more. |
FDA authorizes remdesivir for use with non-hospitalized
COVID patients
The
Food and Drug Administration has expanded the approved uses for Vekury (remdesivir) to
include non-hospitalized patients aged 12 and older who test positive for
SARS-CoV-2, weigh at least 88 pounds and are at high risk of progressing to
severe COVID-19. The agency also authorized emergency use of the drug for high-risk,
non-hospitalized pediatric patients who weigh less than 88 but more than 8
pounds, including patients under age 12. The drug previously was limited to
hospitalized patients. The expanded uses are based on results from a clinical trial that showed the drug reduced
hospitalizations in high-risk, non-hospitalized patients. See updated provider and patient fact sheets. Please click here to read
more.
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Congress
urges White House to investigate nurse staffing agencies
In
a letter signed by nearly 200 House members, Congress is asking
White House COVID-19 Response Team Coordinator Jeffrey Zients to investigate
reports that nurse staffing agencies are taking advantage of the COVID-19
pandemic to increase their profits at the expense of patients and the hospitals
that treat them. The letter said, “We urge you to enlist one or more of
the federal agencies with competition and consumer protection authority to
investigate this conduct to determine if it is the product of anticompetitive
activity and/or violates consumer protection laws. The situation is urgent and
the reliance on temporary workers has caused normal staffing costs to balloon
in all areas of the country. We have received reports that the nurse staffing
agencies are vastly inflating price, by two, three or more times pre-pandemic
rates, and then taking 40% or more of the amount being charged to the hospitals
for themselves in profits.” Please click here to read more.
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GOA criticizes HHS and other top agencies and calls for
major reforms
The Government Accountability Office (GAO), in its ninth
comprehensive report at the end of January, has severely criticized the
department of Health and
Human Services (HHS) for how it has been handling public health emergencies, including COVID
19. The GOA has placed HHS on its “High Risk List” of government programs and
operations that are vulnerable to waste, fraud, abuse, or mismanagement, or in
need of transformation. The report also criticized other departments or
agencies and it made five recommendations for improvements. Please click here
to read more.
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CDC provides new materials for working with pregnant and postpartum patients
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has
released a new webpage and
suite of materials for healthcare professionals as part of the Hear Her
campaign, which aims to reduce pregnancy-related deaths. Over 700 women die
every year due to pregnancy-related complications, and two in three of these
deaths are preventable. Healthcare professionals play a critical role in
eliminating preventable maternal mortality. The website contains specific
information for obstetric providers, pediatric staff, and other healthcare
professionals. Please click here
to read more.
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Lee Health relocates Regional Trauma Center to Gulf
Coast Medical Center
As part of a major expansion to better serve the
Southwest Florida community, Lee Health has relocated its Regional Trauma
Center
in Fort Meyers
from Lee Memorial Hospital to Consortium member Gulf Coast Medical
Center. To prepare for the trauma center relocation, Gulf Coast
Medical Center underwent an extensive $315 million expansion project, which
added 268 new inpatient beds, bringing the hospital’s total bed count to 624
from 356. The project also includes an expanded emergency department and
intensive care unit (ICU) spaces. “We are committed to caring for our
community, and by relocating our Regional Trauma Center to Gulf Coast Medical
Center, we are ensuring that we have adequate treatment space to serve the
trauma service needs of our growing population,” said Dr. Larry Antonucci,
president and chief executive officer of Lee Health. The Gulf Coast facility
also offers a more centralized location to provide trauma services. Please
click here to read more.
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Long-distance record set in cross-country lung transplant case
Paragonix Technologies achieved a milestone event for
its lung transport device, Paragonix LUNGguard™ System, as the device safely completed
a donor lung transport from Alaska to North Carolina. It is the longest case in
terms of transport distance (4,788 miles) and total ischemic time (13 hours) for
the Lung Preservation system. The lung transport was completed for Duke University Hospital, one of the largest organ
transplant centers in the world. Dr. John C. Haney, Assistant Professor of
Surgery at Duke University commented, “While we consider many factors in
selecting a donor, distance is a significant risk factor to moving forward.
Transplant centers around the country are seeking ways to overcome the
challenges associated with safely transporting organs further and new
technologies show promise.” Please click
here to read more.
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FDA says stop using Empowered Diagnostics COVID-19 Tests
The Food and Drug Administration has announced a
Class 1 recall of two COVID-19 tests the agency had not authorized or approved.
Due to the potential for false results, FDA said health care providers and
testing programs should consider retesting patients with an authorized test if
they administered the CovClear COVID-19 Rapid Antigen Test less than two weeks
ago and suspect an inaccurate result, or administered the ImmunoPass COVID-19
Neutralizing Antibody Rapid Test and suspect a recent or prior COVID-19
infection. Empowered Diagnostics is recalling the CovClear COVID-19 Rapid
Antigen Test and the ImmunoPass COVID-19 Neutralizing Antibody Rapid Test, and
the FDA has identified this issue as a Class I recall, the most serious type of
recall. Please click here to read more.
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UM partners with Steward Health Care to launch clinical
education program for nursing students
Consortium member University of Miami School of Nursing
and Health Studies has partnered with Steward Health Care System to place nursing students in clinical
rotations and preceptorships in Steward’s five recently acquired South Florida
hospitals: North Shore Medical Center, Coral Gables Hospital, Hialeah Hospital,
and Palmetto General Hospital in Miami-Dade County, and Florida Medical Center
in Broward County. The agreement will also include Continuing Education
opportunities for all nurses at Steward South Florida facilities, providing
valuable enrichment training to ensure consistent world-class clinical care and
patient experience. Dean Cindy L.
Munro, PhD, RN, ANP-BC, FAAN, FAANP, FAAAS, said, “We are happy for the
opportunity to partner with Steward, an innovator in community-based,
value-driven, and outcome-focused care, to provide unique and beneficial
clinical experiences for our nursing students throughout the community.” Please
click
here to read more.
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Nicklaus Children's Hospital to double inpatient psychiatry unit in honor of $5 million gift from Michelle and Michael Hagerty
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With a gift of $5 million from local philanthropists Michelle and Michael Hagerty, Consortium member Nicklaus Children’s Hospital plans to establish a new unit to support the growing need for pediatric mental healthcare
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In recognition of the generous gift, the hospital will name the new facility the Hagerty Family Behavioral Health Unit. In a joint statement Michelle and Michael Hagerty said, There is no greater inspiration than a healthy child. We feel very strongly about the mission of Nicklaus Children’s Hospital and the wonderful care they provide to children and adolescents, particularly in the area of mental health. Being parents of two children makes us very aware that there is no greater investment than the health and well-being of young lives. We are so grateful for Nicklaus Children’s Hospital and thank the doctors, nurses and medical staff. You truly are heroes every single day.” Please click here to read more.
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FAU online Masters programs in nursing among U.S. News & World Report Top 20
The online Master’s in Nursing programs offered by
Consortium Member Florida Atlantic University have moved to No. 20 on the U.S. News & World Report’s 2022 annual national rankings; up from No. 32 in 2021. Safiya George,
Ph.D., dean of FAU's Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing said, “The
recognition of the online master’s in nursing programs we received speaks to
the quality of the college’s programs and the dedication of our faculty and staff.
We pride ourselves on educating the next generation of exceptional health care
providers that can help our nation in its continued struggle with the COVID-19
pandemic and beyond.” Please click here to read more.
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