Lifestyle Counseling in General Practice May Prevent Further Weight Gain
Lifestyle counseling by nurse practitioners (NPs) or general practitioners (GPs) leads to similarly effective prevention of further weight gain among overweight and obese patients, according to 3-year results of a randomized controlled trial reported in the February 28 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine.
According to Nancy C. W. ter Bogt, MSc, from the University Medical Center Groningen, the Netherlands, and colleagues
Weight regain after initial loss of weight is common, which indicates a need for lifestyle counselling aimed at preventing weight gain instead of weight loss This study was conducted to determine whether structured lifestyle counseling by nurse practitioners (NPs) group compared with usual care by general practitioners (GP-UC) in overweight and obese patients can prevent (further) weight gain
The study sample consisted of 457 patients with a body mass index (calculated as weight in kilograms divided by height in meters squared) of 25 to 40, and either hypertension or dyslipidemia or both, seen at 11 general practice locations in the Netherlands. Mean age was 56 years, and 52% were women. Participants were randomly assigned to the NP group, receiving lifestyle counseling with guidance of the NP using a standardized software program, or to the GP-UC group, receiving usual care from their GP. The primary study endpoints were changes after 3 years in body weight, waist circumference, blood pressure, and fasting glucose and blood lipid levels.
NPs Top Physicians in Small Patient Satisfaction Survey
Nurse practitioners (NPs) outscored physicians in a patient satisfaction survey among low-income primary care patients in Michigan, according to researchers at the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners (AANP) 26th Annual Meeting in Las Vegas.
The survey, released Friday, found that only 50% of physician patients reported that they felt that doctors “always” listened carefully, compared with more than 80% of NP patients.
The US Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality’s Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems questionnaire was given to a random sample of 97 low-income NP patients and 99 low-income physician patients in Flint, Michigan. All patients were aged 16 to 62 years and were enrolled in a county-funded public healthcare plan.
For 15 of 18 core questions, “the difference in satisfaction between patients in the NP and physician groups was significant, all in favor of NPs,” study researcher Susan Lyons, RN, MSN, from the University of Michigan in Flint, said in a news release.
What is a Travel Nurse?
The travel nursing and the Travel Nursing Industry was formed in accordance with the scarcity of nurses. They travel to work temporarily in a short term nursing positions. This reaction was applicable only in the US. Unlike in the Philippines nurses need to find a job for them to apply what they have studied and practice. The existing severe shortage of nurses in the U.S has augmented the needs for this kind of position that is why the travel nurse was created and offered as a job.
Normally a travel nurse work under a short term contract. It ranges from 4 to 13 weeks. Outside the country normally it lasted a year or depends on the signing contract of the travel nurse. Commonly an extension of job position is offered permanently by the hospitals at the end of the contract. To find a job or a position as a travel nurse is to find it in the big medical facilities advertise directly for nurses. Although the best and easiest way is to sign up with a nursing recruiter or the travel nursing agency for them to find a suitable jobs that fits on the specific job description they are looking for. And in case there are available positions, easy on both sides to contact the said involve persons.
The standard requirement for becoming a travel nurse is a minimum of one year clinical experience in one’s specialty. It is very much suitable to have at least two or more years of experience prior to becoming a travel nurse. The travel nurse should familiarize and experience the most difficult jobs he/she might experience in the actual job, in order for them to train and make acquainted with the situations. They should be knowledgeable and expected to be experienced as a travel nurses in their specialty for them to land a job.
The salary and benefits as a travel nurse are widely variable, Remuneration may change based on the place they work with. The need of the hospital or the nursing unit, the supposed staffing needs or requirements by the unit manager and the ability to travel of the nurse, all of these may negotiate of the concern parties. Travel nursing positions often pay more than immobile nurse jobs depending on locations and demand. Many benefits and remunerations are offered to the travel nurse; these include the tax benefits, or called the tax advantage or per diem in Latin word, the traveler maintains a tax home while working and living away from home.
Many additional costs may be reimbursed to changeable degrees depending on what company they are working with, the recruiter and the negotiating skills of the traveling nurse. Sometimes the nurse will dream of travelling as a means of getting financially ahead and seeing and travelling the world for free and at the same time earning money.
Becoming a professional travel nurse and becoming successful one has to be expert in using good financial planning, flexible outlook in life and at work, knowing what companies and recruiters to deal with, to have a harmonious relationship with them.
Hospitals Embrace Wireless Radiography
Radiography systems outfitted with wireless interfaces are redefining how radiography is practiced and equipment is purchased.
Hospitals are sharing wireless detectors across mobile radiography systems and radiography/fluoroscopy systems, as administrators plan future purchases to capitalize on newfound efficiencies. Left in the dust is computed radiography (CR), whose phosphor plates now serve as the stepping stones to digital radiography (DR).
With wireless detectors priced at approximately $100,000 each, sharing is crucial in today’s cost-conscious environment. Besides allowing a detector to travel on rounds with a mobile radiography unit in the morning and join the emergency department in the afternoon and evening, sharing allows hospitals to experiment with workflows and ramp up their purchases as demand allows.
Nursing Career Options
Nursing career options has many varieties of career paths. It is one of the great strength of the nursing professions. When it comes to specialties and work environments from which a nurse can pick-out. Many opportunities for the nurses are available and they are continued to expand motivated by a number of trends. If not successful on a given career many opportunities related to nursing are available.
For example the challenge for nurses is growing along with increasing number of patients, most of the people now are living longer with many different kinds of chronic conditions. The baby boomer age group is aging and health reform could potentially allow 38 million people engage in more precautionary care than they have in the past years. In addition, new ways and technologies are creating new positions for the graduates nurses in the country. Because of the healthcare system is changing and creating more career opportunities for nurses.
Begin to have tasks and augment leadership healthcare. There are a thousand of opportunities for the nurses to concentrate and a lot of professional development around those kinds of different specialties as a nurse. Aside from their positions as a nurse, there is a much attention given on reducing and minimizing medical errors in, making sure the patients are safe while they are inside the hospitals. In this situation this will need more nurses and more specialized nurses to attend to their needs. Because of the expertise of the nurses which are at the bedside of the patient most of the time, and they know the patients very well, this importance on quality and safety of care creates opportunities for the nurses to be at the vanguard of the health care conversation.
Nursing career options can be from acupuncturist nurse to wound/ostomy/continence care nurse practitioner. And among the more exceptional careers included in nursing career options are the aromatherapies, cruise ship/resort nurse, veterinarian nurse educators to educate more nurses. These are the areas of nursing that offers a huge potential and gives also a high salary for the nursing career.
Other nursing career options are the areas experiencing growth are informatics. In this scenario the nurses can unite clinical and information management skills and the legal filed. The nurse attorneys, legal nurse consultants and the forensic nurses can also be considered as a nursing career options. Moreover, it is also high in demand and a highest paid nurse is the nurse anesthetist, because these nurses have their own practice and sometimes they work in mutual practices with anesthesiologists. Many career choices and options are available specially if finished master’s degree.
Hospice Nurse
A hospice nurse is a kind of care and values of care that gives extra attention on the palliation of a terminally ill patient’s symptom. These symptoms can be diagnosed true physical, emotional, spiritual or sometimes social in nature. The idea of a hospice has been surfacing since the 11th century. From then on hospices were places of hospitality for the sick which needed some extra attention, wounded that needs to be treated immediately, for the dying as well as for the travelers and pilgrims.
In today’s modern perception of hospice includes palliative care for the incurably ill given in such institutions as hospitals or the nursing homes. Meaning of a nursing home is that a home that is normally the highest level of care for older people outside of a hospital. They provide what is called the custodial care for the patients. They look for them 24 hours a day. Others also provided to those who would rather die in their own homes.
The hospice nurse can execute many traditional nursing duties such as observing, meaning the patients conditions can monitored by means of looking at him/her and can find already what needs to be done and what attention should be given on him/her. Assessing, after the observation assessment on the patients conditions must be attend to on what medical assistance should be needed. Recording the symptoms of the patients, what particular behavior they posses and what kind of medical attention they needs. All this observation, assessments and others they will come up with a closely meeting from the physicians, administration f the hospitals, medications and they will provide the emotional support which is very important from the patients. Because there are times that they just needed some attention from their families, and the only reason for them is to bring out what is their deepest emotional feelings so that they will lessen their pain or agony in the situation.
Hospice nurses have the most difficult jobs, because they deal with the terminally ill patients. They know the patients are dying. The medications that the hospice nurse administer the symptoms and then they recorded it, they know that they are not giving the patients the medical cure or to aid the patients somewhat they make it a point that their remaining days as comfortable as possible. Most of their attention on the patients is to give them the advice, to accept the situation and by means of these they lessen the pain they are experiencing. Being a hospice nurse needs a lot of extraordinary temperament, meaning dealing with dying patients entails a lot of guts. They need great caring, patience, and resolve. Not all nurses can handle such situations as this that is why being a hospice nurse requires a lot of unique assembly of character trait, talents, and patience.
How to become a Registered Nurse?
Registered nursing is one of the most fastest-growing career fields in and out of the country. Becoming a registered nurse in the Philippines needs to have a degree in Bachelor of Science in Nursing BSN a 4 year course in college. To achieve this one has to finish all the necessary requirements of the school as well as the curriculum of the higher education. As a nursing student, the studies and practice will not end there.
Becoming a registered nurse has to take the Licensure examination given by the PRC or the Professional Regulation Commission. The student needs to have a thorough review on the given field in order for them to pass the examinations. The others may take it already if they think they can pass. Others enroll in a review schools so that they will have the chance or the confidence in taking the examinations for them to qualify as a registered nurse by means of passing the board exams with flying colors. After the examinations have been taken, and the results will come out after a year of waiting, the results will be published on different reading materials like newspapers, in the internet or in the office of the PRC.
Finding the name on the lists is the happiest day of someone who took the examination; because the hard work and perseverance at long last resulted in a positive way. Being a licensed nurse is a noble profession. This is where the story will start. Being registered nurse in the Philippines, one has to put into practice for a year in a hospital. Apply his/her profession as a nurse in different hospitals before going into other places like abroad. They must volunteer to work at a hospital before landing a career outside the country.
Registered nurses (RNs) make up the majority of the workers in the health care industry. They usually hold the position of seniority over the practical nurses and the nursing assistants, because of their qualification as a registered nurse. The registered nurse is accountable for the needs of the patients who suffer from different illnesses. They usually provide care, attention, and cater the different needs of the patients regarding the assisting the n the operating rooms, assisting the doctors if there’s a patients undergoing an operation, ambulatory care, giving assistance on the ambulance in case of emergency, intensive care, physicians offices doing the paper works regarding the medical records of the patients, health care clinics or specialized practices.
Tips on Home Care Nurse
Home care means it is a nursing home that is usually the highest level of supervision for older adults outside of a hospital or in the care of a medical Institution. It gives what is called the custodial care to the elderly. This includes the in and out bed, attending for his/her daily needs if necessary, helping in feeding the patients, dressing, walking sometimes if cannot manage alone standing, bathing, monitoring and most importantly caring for them.
The decision of the family to move the love ones into a nursing home doesn’t necessarily mean that the family duty to care for the have been neglected. This just shows that the family needs some extra attention on their love ones, because not all the time the family can attend to their needs and the best way for them to monitor and give some extra an attention is to bring their loved ones to home care. Considering that the home care is a place for the old aged person and this place can surely give the highest level of supervision on the part of the patients. It is an ideal decision to find a place where the family members need will be met.
The decision to move to a nursing home can be a stressful one on both sides of the family, on the part of the family member and for the concern adult. When transferring the old ones into a nursing home many considerations must be discussed. Because the loved one is the one who live on the nursing home, just make sure everything will fall into proper places.
When looking for a place to stay for the love ones, consider the following; has the senior been assessed recently? Meaning is considered as the next step from hospitalization, if yes a more formal assessment by a medical ream can help explain the seniors’ needs. Secondly, can the seniors needs be met safely in other housing situations, again if the answer is yes a skilled nursing facility maybe the best options for the family to consider. Thirdly, can the primary caregiver meet the senior’s needs? Again if this means yes, then it is a badly needed for a medical team or a caregiver to attend to his/her.
Other concern in finding a nursing home care is thru referrals, if the family physicians or specialist have any recommendations then that are the best referrals are given by the family doctor. The family members should educate themselves, online information for nursing homes include ranking sites that make use an existing state data to rate the nursing homes. In this way can measure on where to put the loved ones. Consider the medical needs; many nursing homes may have more expertise in the situations. The other consideration is the factor in distance of the nursing home care, the more convenient and accessible the place, the easier for the family member and friends to the loved ones. Other small details should also be considered like the cleanliness, the food, on what kind of meal do they usually serve. Activities are they involved in the community development of the place or any other programs and activities that they will do.
If loved ones already there in the home care, keep them in regular contact and always stay involved on what activities and actions they discuss.
The real score of nursing shortage in the Philippines
Is there really a nursing shortage in the Philippines or is there an oversupply of nurses in the Philippines? The answer to these questions is both yes. There is a nursing shortage in the Philippines and at the same time an oversupply of nurses. While in economics, the demand is immediately address by supply, in reality, this is not necessarily so.
The nursing shortage in the Philippines is reflected by the poor state of healthcare system in the Philippines. According to the National Health Institute of the University of the Philippines, six of 10 Filipinos who submit to illness die without getting medical attention. While this sounded preposterous in urban communities and cities, this is a painful reality in rural communities especially located in the outskirts of the country. Apparently, doctors and nurses are not available in the rustic countryside because no one is willing to go and work there. Hence, while we may have an oversupply of healthcare workers particularly nurses in urban centers, there is practicality one to none healthcare workers in the rural borders of the country where the government do not bother reaching, where only charitable missionaries work and where nursing professionals would not go because they will be deprived of the modern life.
Specialization Spotlight: Orthopaedic Nursing
Orthopedic or orthopedic nurses are nurses who specialized in the treatment, care and prevention of people with musculoskeletal disorders or muscle and bone problems. These musculoskeletal problems typically included bone fractures, join displacements, back pains, Arthritis/ rheumatism, congenital malformations, musculoskeletal injuries and chronic disorders such bone density losses.
These musculoskeletal disorders require specialized treatment and procedural skills that Orthopaedic nurses must be knowledgeable. These skills included continuous passive motion therapy, which involved the constant but controlled motion of a join using a CPM device for rehabilitation; casting/ splinting or the encasing of a limb or body to keep broker bones together while healing; and external fixation or the surgical procedure in which holes are drilled and bolts/ wires are used to align the bones when healing.