RROHC Faculty Kimberly McNally has been elected to the helm of the AHA committee that helps trustees across the nation guide our hospitals and healthcare organizations. Congratulations Kimberly! here are a few lines from the press release from AHA.

Kimberly McNally to Chair AHA’s Committee on Governance Katherine Keene Named Chair Elect WASHINGTON (January xx, 2012) – The American Hospital Association (AHA) today announced that Kimberly McNally will be chair and Katherine Keene, will be chair-elect for the AHA’s 2012 Committee on Governance (COG). The COG is a specialty committee of the AHA Board of Trustees. The committee is responsible for leading effective involvement of the nation’s hospital trustees in grassroots advocacy, providing input into AHA’s policy development, enhancing communication with and involvement of trustees in the AHA, and providing advice on AHA’s trustee initiatives.

“Your time has come; you are at thebridge between vision and reality.”

Cheryl Clark commented on Don Berwick’s stirring address at the IHI last week:

http://www.healthleadersmedia.com/content/QUA-274103/IHI-Hospitals-Patients-Rethink-Care-Berwick-Blasts-Rhetoric

“In Berwick’s keynote Wednesday, he blasted the divisive political rhetoric
that mischaracterized the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act by
introducing  talk of “rationing” and “death panels.”

Berwick called “the distorted and demagogic use” of the term “rationing”
“another travesty in our public debate.” Rather, he said, “The true rationers
are those who impede improvement, who stand in the way of change, and who
thereby force choices that we can avoid through better care.

“It boggles my mind that the same people who cry “foul” about rationing (are
the same who) an instant later argue to reduce healthcare benefits for the
needy, to de-fund crucial programs of care and prevention, and to shift
thousands of dollars of annual costs to people—elders, the poor, the
disabled—who are least able to bear them.”

Rationing, he said, is more like what happens “when the 17 million American
children who live in poverty cannot get the immunizations and blood tests they
need…[and] when disabled Americans lack the help to keep them out of
institutions and in their homes and living independently, that is
rationing.

“When tens of thousands of Medicaid beneficiaries are thrown out of coverage,
and when millions of seniors are threatened with the withdrawal of preventive
care or cannot afford their medications, and when every single one of us lives
under the sword of Damocles that, if we get sick, we lose health insurance, that
is rationing.”"

Dr. Berwick, I would like to say this to  you:  Thank you for raising the bar on quality nationally and internationally! Thank you for having the guts to discuss these issues openly and honestly with caring for those least fortunate. Thank you for helping us improve patient care and save lives!  The full text of the Berwick speech is at http://capsules.kaiserhealthnews.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/IHI-FINAL-Forum-2011-Berwick-Plenary.pdf

Ruth Hansten

What are your perceptions of new RN competency levels?

Thomas, Cynthia M. EdD, RNC, CDONA; Ryan, Marilyn E. EdD, RN; Hodson-Carlton, Kay E. EdD, RN, ANEF, FAAN

Courtney Lyder, dean of the UCLA School of Nursing, lists 9 ways nursing is impacting the future of healthcare.   From clinical research advancements, to attention to a high quality environment and outcomes, specialization, advanced education and training, we are leaders in healthcare policy that is ethical, advocates for patient/family directed care, on a national and international basis.  We as nurses see the need to promote for social justice because we encounter the effects of poverty and ignorance on a daily basis, whether we work in public health or in a safety net hospital psychiatry unit.  Nurses lead hospitals in the C suites and as policy-makers.
Thank you for shining a spotlight on our profession!
See http://www.hhnmag.com/HHNDailyDisplay.dhtml?id=3820003826 (Hospital and Health Networks Daily) November 21, 2011

The December Journal of Nursing Administration is publishing the article that I coauthored with Nancy Bittner, Gayle Gravlin, and Bea Kalisch, called Unraveling Care Omissions.   While labor and material constraints are listed as reasons for missed or incomplete care, research completed by Bittner, Gravlin, and Kalisch would indicate that “increasing patient complexity, ineffective delegation, and poor communication have been identified as contributing factors.”  We recommend that nursing leaders should evaluate the degree of missed care and take steps to improve teamwork at the point of care.
JONA Volume 41, #12, December 2011, pages 510-512.