Nursing

Pay raises, reduced turnover rates paint brighter picture

Hourly pay for nursing home registered nurses and licensed practical nurses ticked up in 2018, according to the latest version of the industry's largest salary survey.

Male nurses averaging $6K more in pay

Women may do more of the nation's nursing work, but men are still getting paid more to do the same jobs.

CNA medication assistants can reduce staff shortages

When facing a shortage of licensed nurses, certified nurse aides trained as medication assistants can serve as a viable alternative, according to a pilot detailed in the Annals of Long Term Care.

Homelike settings ease job conditions

Reduced teamwork can be an additional overtime cost

Ethics training for nurses curbs burnout

Study uncovers deep effects of night shift work on body

CMS forms free infection control course

SNF supervisor pilot boosts culture and staff retention

Night shift may hike Type 2 diabetes risk

High court to consider case cutting unions' forced fees

Nurses like 12-hour shifts, if done right

Working 12-hour shifts may have a positive effect on job satisfaction and allow nurses more flexibility to further their education, according to a study conducted in Pennsylvania.

Female nurses on night shift develop higher cancer risks

Training feasible even when cash is tight

Videoconferencing is one of the best ways to make ongoing education for geriatric workers more feasible, a study at a for-profit skilled nursing facility in Chicago shows.

Study: RNs better trained to identify high-risk Rx errors

Registered nurses may be more likely than licensed practical nurses to identify high-risk medication errors in nursing homes, new research suggests.

Reframe the 'lost pleasure' of giving up smoking: study

With increased pressure on nursing homes to become smoke-free environments or create safe spaces for residents to smoke, residents and employees may both feel greater pressured to quit.

Treatment of staff correlates to sickness

While long-term care providers juggle staffing during cold and flu season, research indicates there may be a factor in their control: How they treat staff.

Many LTC nurses wonder if they belong, new study finds

Long-term care nurses often feel isolated from the rest of the healthcare workforce, asking themselves, "Am I actually a nurse?"

SNF specialization might help outcomes

Patients discharged to a skilled nursing facility after trauma had lower odds of mortality when the facility had fewer beds per nurse, new research shows.

Disinfectant exposure may increase nurses' COPD risk

Nurses who regularly use bleach and other disinfectants on the job appear to have a higher risk of developing chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), according to research presented in September at the European Respiratory Society International Congress.

Nurses need YouTube image help: study

The nursing profession could use an image boost, according to an analysis of videos in searches for "nurses" and "nursing" on the video-sharing website YouTube.

Clinical staff more critical of safety inside nursing homes

Nursing home administrators perceive a better safety culture in their facility than clinical staff, according to a new report.

Longer work weeks are heart unhealthy

For many long-term care nurses, the idea of working only 40 hours a week, even with scheduled shifts, may seem laughable.

Assertiveness training called key to improving nursing care

Nurses showed short- and long-term benefits after just three hours of an assertiveness training program, according to results from a University of Miyazaki study.

Health literacy low for Medigap seniors

Health literacy is lacking for individuals with Medigap coverage compared to other elderly populations, new research has found.

Institutional procedures trail online education, study finds

As online nursing education increases in popularity, researchers are finding institutional procedures may not be keeping up.

It's official: Good help is difficult to find

High turnover rates and small selection pools make it more difficult to hire entry-level healthcare employees, according to a task force report.

Control could offset fatigue problems

The best way to combat universal fatigue among nurses might be to grant them more control over their schedules.

SNF aides rated among the unhealthiest eaters in U.S.

Nurses and doctors may be the healthiest workers in the U.S. labor force. But no field other than firefighters and law enforcement has worse health and eating habits than healthcare aides, 40% of whom are nursing home caregivers.

Nurses are called unsung health heroes

The vast majority of American nurses promote a culture of health in their communities but rarely get credit for their efforts, according to a recent study published in the journal Policy, Politics, & Nursing Practice.

Benefit of enforced worker flu shots overblown: study

Reviewers of four trials often used to support mandatory flu vaccination policies for long-term care workers say the benefits were overstated. But the lead researcher still says he recommends vaccination for healthcare workers.

Aides want more EOL care involvement

Frontline workers often are the first to notice dementia patients' pain and detect changes in their behavior, but a new study finds long-term care and hospice facilities need to do more to include them in end-of-life treatment.

Web program helps relieve nurse stress, researchers say

An online support program helped nurses manage workplace challenges and reduce stress in a randomized study.

Sleep deprivation doesn't discriminate

Investigators at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) and their Canadian partners reported that cognitive impairment is the same among men and women who work shifts, despite the fact that women typically get less sleep and have more work-related stress.

Diminished nurse skill mix is linked to poor outcomes

Healthcare settings that substitute lower-level staff for registered nurses do so at their own peril, according to an extensive review of nurse skill mix at more than 240 hospitals in Belgium, England, Finland, Ireland, Spain and Switzerland.

Self-advocacy might protect against workplace rudeness

A strong sense of self-efficacy can help nurses cope with disrespectful workplace behaviors that otherwise threaten their health and well-being, a study of Canadian workers finds.

Social bonds at work boost health: study

Health at work is largely shaped by the relationships and social groups formed there, according to a meta-analysis of more than 19,000 people published in Personality and Social Psychology Review.

DONS who seek consensus suffer fewer citations: study

Nursing homes whose leaders welcome staff input and share decision-making authority have fewer deficiencies, according to a study published in Health Care Management Review.

Nursing assistants often go uninsured

One-fifth of nursing assistants who work in nursing homes do so without health insurance, according to a report from the Paraprofessional Healthcare Institute.

Brain can rewire after sleep deprivation, researchers say

As little as five hours of sleep deprivation can bring on the kind of physical changes that lead to memory loss, according to a study conducted in the Netherlands and Pennsylvania.

Prior health work increases RN salaries

Prior experience in some health-related fields equates to higher wages for registered nurses who earn a bachelor of science in nursing.

Degraded nurses more likely to leave for better job: study

A small study of Iranian nurses examined a troubled group: Nurses who leave because of threats or poor treatment by other staff.

Nurses with a say are more likely to stay

Maintaining a low turnover rate among nursing staff during a time of high demand for positions may relate to autonomy of the job.

Second chance helps nurses overcome language mandate

Amid the growing pressure of nursing staff shortages, an overseas healthcare regulator is relaxing its rules for language testing.

Providers competing on nursing shortage

With increased nursing demand on the horizon in the U.S., long-term care providers are now offering a wide variety of incentives to bring more nurses to their facilities.

Staffing shortages can fuel increased discharge delays

Providers feeling the pinch of a nursing shortage only need look across the Atlantic to see the possible consequences of being understaffed.

Nursing remains atop job growth charts

Job growth for registered nurses is on pace to produce nearly 450,000 new positions by 2024, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Shift work exacting a heavy toll on women, study reveals

Shift work could negatively affect women more than men, suggests a British study comparing performance after 28-hour schedules that delayed sleep-wake cycles.