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‘That’s what nurses do': Nurse practitioner survives cancer battle, joins COVID-19 fight

Jul 31, 2020

FLORESVILLE, TEXAS – A nurse practitioner is ready to suit up and save lives once again. Raynell Odom was set to open her own practice, but in April, she flew to New York City to join in the fight against COVID-19 despite her health issues. “In my family, the joke is, ‘If you don’t get cancer, you’ll get diabetes. Well, I got both,” Odom said. In 2006, Odom battled breast cancer, and she...

Mobile Infirmary nurses, unsung heroes amid the pandemic

Jul 30, 2020

MOBILE, Ala. (WKRG) — The coronavirus pandemic is far from over, and with hospitals not allowing visitors, plus other restrictions, nursing and medical staff have had to step into new roles and responsibilities. Mobile Infirmary Chief Nursing Officer Ursula Lawrence spoke with us about what life is like as a nurse during this pandemic. She says her nursing staff has had to wear many hats during this time of crisis....

Need a Nurse for That? Listen to YSN Alum’s Podcast

Jul 27, 2020

Angelarosa DiDonato ’18 DNP has an oft-repeated saying: “I have a nurse for that!” And if you listen to her Amplify Nursing podcast, you can hear how true that is. An early episode features a chat with retired Rear Admiral Karen Flaherty-Oxler, MSN, RN, the first woman CEO of the Corporal Michael J. Crescenz VA Medical Center in Philadelphia. In her interview with DiDonato, Flaherty-Oxler shares how her nearly four...

US to Provide $5 Billion to Fight Coronavirus in Nation’s Nursing Homes

Jul 22, 2020

An employee wearing a glove cleans shopping carts at Walmart, July 22, 2020 in Burbank, California. President Donald Trump has announced the U.S. government will provide an additional $5 billion in aid, equipment and training to the nation’s nursing homes, many of which are hot spots in the coronavirus pandemic. He said COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, poses "the greatest...

School of Nursing prepares students to serve victims of child abuse

Jul 20, 2020

According to the United States Department of Health and Human Services, 677,529 children were substantiated victims of abuse or maltreatment in the United States in the 2018 fiscal year; 71,140 of these cases were reported by healthcare professionals, who are considered mandatory reporters. Pandemic-related closures of schools and businesses mean many mandatory reporters, including teachers, day-care workers and coaches, are no longer...

College: Interest in Nursing Profession Going Strong Despite COVID-19

Jul 16, 2020

The pandemic has slowed down many facets of our lives, but one thing that remains untouched is the number of nursing program applicants to Houston Community College’s Coleman College for Health Sciences in the heart of the Texas Medical Center. There have been three applicants for every available slot for the past three years, said Coleman College President Dr. Philip Nicotera. Even as COVID-19 cases rise, he said, the...

Michigan nursing home residents get first in-person visits in months

Jul 14, 2020

For two residents at Martha T. Berry Medical Care Facility in Mount Clemens, their first in-person reunions with loved ones during the coronavirus pandemic doubled as birthday celebrations. Nursing home staff set up 6-foot-long tables in a spacious room, decorating for the occasion Monday with purple, silver and magenta balloons. Nicole Carr, who turned 48 one day earlier, sat in her wheelchair across the table from her...

Methodist Hospitals nurse dedicated to patient care

Jul 10, 2020

Like many in the profession, Debra VanWoerden grew up in a family of nurses. And though neither her mother nor aunt necessarily encouraged her to follow them into the field, her early fascination with medical research and patient care propelled her into a diverse and gratifying nursing career at Methodist Hospitals that is approaching three decades. She currently manages the staff of an orthopedic medical-surgical unit,...

Despite changes in heath care, compassion, strength, dedication of nurses is ever-present (Letters)

Jul 08, 2020

It could not be more timely that the World Health Organization designated 2020 as the International Year of the Nurse and Midwives on the 200th anniversary of Florence Nightingale’s birth . Nurses have been and will continue to be the frontline in the pandemic providing vital services to patients, families, and communities. Florence Nightingale was a English social reformer, statistician, and founder of...

First, They Saved Lives. Now, Nurses Want To Save America.

Jun 22, 2020

In late March, as the coronavirus silently spread across New York City, Phara Souffrant Forrest, a maternal child health nurse running for state assembly in Brooklyn, called up a prospective voter. As soon as she introduced herself, the woman on the other end of the line interrupted. “‘Oh, you’re a nurse?’” Forrest, 31, a democratic socialist, recalls her saying. The woman explained that her daughter was...

VA nurse’s idea: bar code scanning to support patient care

Jun 19, 2020

Sue Kinnick introduced the now-familiar bar code scanner in 1995 at the Topeka Veterans Affairs Medical Center . Since then, it has become a standard in the health care industry. Here is her story. At the crossroads of technology and patient care stand the nurses who have chosen nursing informatics as their specialty. Today, informatics is an integral part of health care delivery. Health information technology promotes safe,...

RI Lawmakers Call For Increased Staffing, Pay In Nursing Homes

Jun 19, 2020

PROVIDENCE, RI — Several Rhode Island lawmakers and members of the health care industry are calling for changes in the state's nursing homes. The Nursing Home Staffing and Quality Care Act would create minimum standards for staffing and patient care hours. According to Adanjesus Marin, an activist with Raise The Bar, said Rhode Island ranks 42nd in the country in terms of the hours of care nursing homes residents receive and is...

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