OHSU's Gleevac still works on Leukemia

Gleevac was found to increase life expectancy in ALL leukemia patients. Gleevac is a new type of drug, I learned in a recent pharmacology class that it actually changes two sections of chromosome that promote the disease. It's exciting to me because drugs that target faulty genetic code can actually cure cancer, unlike current treatments that don't address the underlying cause, bad DNA. Now, if we could only prevent our DNA from getting so f*&!'d up to begin with..

Health Care Reform: Health Mandates vs. Universal Health Care

Health Mandates are features of health care reform plans proposed by Hillary Clinton and John Edwards. Barack Obama has floated a plan without mandates. What are these mandates you ask? They are a requirement that people buy health insurance like car insurance.

There are several problems with this idea. One is cost. The linked article mentions these plans costing 10% of a person's income. This would not be supported by people getting employer sponsored health care for free or people without insurance but who can't afford 10%.

It's unfortunate that no major candidate is proposing universal health care. The American Nurses Association supports universal hc but apparently this is too far left to be considered by the so-called mainstream (read 'just right of center') Democratic candidates.

I think of health care like school districts, police, and fire departments. Could you imagine a fire department not responding to a fire because it wasn't profitable? Yet people are doing the same thing with health care.

Pamplin News: 'Emanuel Losing Accreditation?' Not

The Spotlight, a Pamplin Media-Owned newspaper, states on 12/4 that Emanuel followed incorrect restraint and resuscitation procedures in the death of Glenn Shipman. What the story fails to mention is that textbook procedures may have been difficult with this patient since he was 450 lbs., psychotic and had been tasered by police prior to hospitalization. None of that justifies negligent care of course, but it does underscore the difficulty of caring for such a patient.

The article also mentioned that Emanuel was losing its JCAHO certification. According to an indirect source (the spouse of an Emanuel employee), Legacy sent an email to its employees stating that Emanuel has passed JCAHO certification.

I'm no "scab"!!

Let me start by saying I hate telemarketers. All telemarketers. But by far the worst are the dregs of society calling me lately from "nurse staffing" companies. They offer obscene amounts of money to work at hospitals where nurses are on strike.  In other words to be a "scab". 

I have several problems with this. First of all, those nurses are striking for fair wages, safe staffing ratios, benefits and other reasonable demands. Secondly, if the hospitals can afford to pay "scabs" the wages they are offering, they can certainly afford to negotiate with the nurses on strike. Thirdly, I hear all kinds of rational for nurses crossing picket lines; "The patients still need care", "Someone still needs to work" ,"I need the money". I disagree with all of these excuses. Nurses should have one of the strongest political voices in the United States today. Crossing picket lines is one of the reasons we don't. It isn't good for us and it isn't good for our patients.

So, all you telemarketers stop calling me. I'm no "scab"!!

National Nurse

More on the Oregon Nursing shortage

Yes, there is an Oregon nursing shortage.

Oregon's Nursing Shortage Info

Progress on the Strategic Plan and Nursing Workforce Initiatives

1) Nursing education programs are expanding to double enrollment as planned. Between 2001 and 2004, the number of graduates from RN education programs increased by 45 percent. Update: The 2006 data from OSBN on number of graduates tells us we have increased the number of graduates from RN education programs by 76 percent since 2001.

2) Oregon has a large pool of qualified nursing school applicants, two to three times more than it has the capacity to educate at present. Update: In 2006, nursing schools in Oregon report, on average, 6 applicants for every position.

3) Nearly one-half of Oregon's RNs are 50 years of age or older. The proportion of nurses over 50 has more than doubled in the past 20 years.

4) An exodus of retiring nurses is now underway. By 2025, 41 percent of currently licensed RNs are expected to retire.

5) By 2010, an estimated 65 full-time equivalent nursing faculty positions in Oregon will be vacated due to retirements. Update: As of June 2006, nursing schools in Oregon report that they presently have 16 unfilled positions, that their anticipated recruitment need in the next 2 years is 56 nursing faculty, and that they anticipate 36 additional nurses will retire in the next 3-5 years. That is a need for 92 additional nursing faculty in the next 5 years. Faculty must be prepared at the Master's and Doctoral levels.

6) Six percent of RNs currently working in the state plan to leave Oregon's nursing workforce for reasons other than retirement within the next two years. Nurses under the age of 40 are more likely to have plans to leave than those 40 or older.

7) Demand for RNs will continue to grow steadily. An additional 15,700 RN job openings are expected statewide over the next 15 years.

8) The age distribution of Oregon's population will change dramatically over the next 20 years. The number of Oregonians 65 and older will exceed one million by 2005, accounting for nearly 25 percent of all the state's residents. Older residents generally consume more healthcare.

Senate Bill 4- A Comprehensive Nursing Shortage Bill
Senate Bill 4 declares a nursing shortage in the state of Oregon. The bill also includes funding for OCN, faculty development and nursing student scholarships. The bill includes two retention elements for state RN's; one addresses retirement and the other insurance. SB4 establishes OCN, in partnership with the Oregon Healthcare Workforce Institute, as advisory to state entities involved in nursing workforce development.

National Nurse-General PDX connection

A local nurse is spearheading a drive to create an office of national nurse with the US government.

This site states:

An Office of the National Nurse would:

• Establish symbolic national leadership by elevating and strengthening the Chief Nurse Officer of the USPHS to make this position visible to the nursing profession and the public.
• Complement the work of the US Surgeon General.
• Promote involvement in the Medical Reserve Corps to improve the health and safety of the community.
• Incorporate proven evidence-based public health education when promoting prevention.

It sounds like this office would increase nurse visibility and enhance the sense of professionalism to nursing.

Is it me?

Or do I detect a negative tone emanating from the Trib?
This latest expose of people dying in the hospital under suspicious circumstances 'proves' that all hospitals and those who work in them are pure evil. Or is that the unstated conclusion the Trib wants us to make?

Employment and the Nursing Shortage

There is a nursing shortage. I've seen it on the hospital floors. I've seen four nurses resign from a floor in one day because they could quickly move somewhere else.

However, I've also heard that Portland is a difficult market to get employed in, especially for a new grad nurse. For example, I am a new grad (actually will graduate next week), I've had one interview, didn't get it and have applied to 10 other positions without getting one interview. I've received good evals from my clinicals and fairly decent grades in school. This is a nursing shortage?

What is your experience with the market? Discuss..

Inaugural Post

Welcome to the Portland (OR) Nursing Blog

We aim to discuss issues relevant to the PDX nurse and nurse hopeful such as employment, nursing school, OSBN and any of a myriad of other issues that relate to nursing.