Nurses

Nursing workforce diversity increases, but room for growth remains

April 2, 2024 - The nursing field is getting closer to improving medical workforce diversity, with new figures from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) showing greater proportions of non-Hispanic Black and non-Hispanic Asian people working as licensed registered nurses. The report, which used data from 2022, showed a net 3 and 4...

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In medicine’s push for workforce diversity, culture of belonging is key

by Sara Heath

In the past decade, and especially in the last five years, healthcare has been working to crack the code of embedding antiracism into the fabric of the industry through workforce diversity. But far from the quotas sometimes conjured when...

More Patients Visit NPs & PAs as Usual Source of Care, Primary Care

by Sara Heath

The landscape for people’s usual source of care is changing, with fewer people reporting a regular primary care provider, according to a Fast Facts report from the Employee Benefit Research...

Nurse Practitioners Predict Doc Shortages, Care Access to Loom in 2024

by Sara Heath

Provider shortages, appointment wait times, increasing patient demand, and a shift toward more primary care are top of mind for nurse practitioners going into this year, says the American Association...

Which Healthcare Players Yield the Highest Patient Satisfaction?

by Sara Heath

While patient satisfaction with clinicians such as doctors and nurses is still high, that’s not necessarily the case with every healthcare player, according to recent Gallup polling. The survey...

Same Home Care Nurse May Cut Hospital Readmissions for LEP Patients

by Sara Heath

Organizations looking to cut down on hospital readmissions among their limited English proficiency (LEP) populations getting home-based care may consider deploying the same nurse for every visit,...

A Quarter of Patients Face Two-Month Appointment Wait Times

by Sara Heath

Appointment wait times are reaching a boiling point, with new data from the American Association of Nurse Practitioners (AANP) pitching nurse practitioners themselves to fill in patient care access...

How Staffing Problems Cause Racial Health Disparities in Nursing Homes

by Sara Heath

Nursing homes serving mostly Black patients employ fewer registered nurses than facilities serving mostly White patients, a staffing issue that researchers from NYU said could be driving racial health...

Full Nurse Practitioner Scope of Practice Led to Greater Workforce Diversity

by Sarai Rodriguez

New research out of West Virginia University revealed that granting full nurse practitioner (NP) scope of practice can foster greater workforce diversity that reflects the demographic of patient...

States Weigh Laws for Nurse Practitioner Full Practice Authority

by Sara Heath

At the height of the pandemic, states across the nation issued executive orders granting nurse practitioner full practice authority, a temporary move that leaders said would help expand patient access...

Patient Education, Nurses Cut Medication Adherence Woes by A Third

by Sara Heath

A group of researchers from Johns Hopkins Medicine may have cracked the code on medication adherence, outlining two viable options involving patient education and nurse feedback to increase the number...

Advanced Practice Providers Extend Patient Access to Mental Healthcare

by Sara Heath

Two studies published in the September 2022 issue of Health Affairs give credence to the expanded scope of practice for advanced practice providers, like nurse practitioners and physician assistants,...

Most Patients Back Expanded Nurse Practitioner Scope of Practice

by Sarai Rodriguez

As more states consider expanding nurse practitioners (NP) scope of practice, a recent poll conducted by Morning Consult on behalf of CVS Health found that most patients want broader NP authority so...

96% of Nurses Lack Tools Needed for Patient Engagement, Education

by Sara Heath

Nurses need more access to the time and tools needed to support patient engagement and education among an increasingly stigmatized chronic care patient population, according to surveying from Wakefield...

Kansas Nurse Practitioners Gain Full Practice Authority

by Sarai Rodriguez

Kansas is the latest in an expanding number of states giving full practice authority to nurse practitioners (NPs), according to an announcement from Kansas Governor Laura Kelly. The bipartisan bill...

New York Legislation Expands Nurse Practitioner Scope of Practice

by Sarai Rodriguez

New York Governor Kathy Hochul recently signed state legislation that will grant nurse practitioners (NPs) a wider scope of practice, eliminating previous barriers that would have limited patient...

Nurse Practice Authority Gains to Benefit Patient Access to Care

by Sara Heath

More states across the country are enabling full practice authority for advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs), according to new data in The Nurse Practitioner, which nursing leaders have...

Suboptimal Nurse Staffing Ratios Tied to Adverse Patient Safety Events

by Sara Heath

Healthcare organizations with suboptimal nurse staffing ratios are more likely to see higher mortality rates and longer hospital stays, two key adverse patient safety events that can also cost...

Nurse Practitioners Boost Patient Satisfaction, Quality Outcomes

by Sara Heath

Having more nurse practitioners as part of inpatient staff can help improve patient satisfaction while cutting healthcare costs and adverse outcomes, according to new data from the University of...

AANA Name Change Sparks Controversy, Patient Safety Concerns

by Jill McKeon

The American Association of Nurse Anesthetists will now refer to itself as the American Association of Nurse Anesthesiology (AANA), but industry groups are concerned about how the name change will...