UMass Nursing Students Seek to Help the Vulnerable Live Through Emergencies

Last week, Scott Merzbach, Staff Writer for the Daily Hampshire Gazette, detailed how nursing students at the University of Massachusetts are assisting elderly individuals better prepare for emergency situations. The program aims to develop an emergency preparedness plan that could ensure a better municipal response to future crises and also provide information and resources to the elderly and people with mobility limitations and chronic illnesses. The University of Massachusetts School of Nursing initiated this program after hearing complaints from elderly individuals that they lacked proper resources to deal with even a simple crisis, such as losing power for over a 24 hour period.

Click here to read more about this innovative program.

Music in Nursing Homes and Its Positive Effect

We present you with two different news stories today describing the impact that music has on geriatric residents in nursing homes.

The first story, featured on National Public Radio's, All Things Considered, detailed a documentary about the introduction of music to nursing home residents with dementia. Music had a profound effect on the mood and demeanor of these residents and contrary to what some thought would further isolate dementia residents, the personalized music playlists actually increased the social interaction staff had with the residents.

Click here to read more and view a video about this story.

Related to this story, Margaret Gillerman, reporting for STLToday.com, discussed a student project titled, "Smiles with Music". The program, which enlists teen volunteers to bring music to nursing homes and hospice care, has been viewed as a great success by nursing home residents and their family members. Family members have witnessed the positive effects of the students' visits and in doing so, have created a program for other students to participate in.

Click here to read more about the "Smiles with Music" program.

60th National Student Nurses Association Convention's Keynote Speech Focused on Closing the Nurse Safety Gap

Last week, the National Student Nurses Association (NSNA) convened for their 60th anniversary conference in Pittsburgh, PA. Mary Foley, PhD, RN, director at the Center for Nursing Research and Innovation at the University of California San Francisco School of Nursing and a past American Nurses Association president, served as the keynote speaker and addressed the issue of nurse safety to the many future and currnet nurses in attendance. While nurse safety has always been an issue in the health care sector, Dr. Foley told the attendees that there is little work actually being accomplished on the ground for nurse safety to improve. Dr. Foley also promoted her work with the safety group, Safe in Common, which just launched a new Needlestick Safety Advocacy national tour and education campaign.

Click here to read HealthLeadersMedia coverage of the conference, which also includes a short interview with Dr. Foley (on pages 2 & 3).

Georgia Perimeter College' Nursing Capstone Project Addresses Patient Diversity

With patient-centered care being a topic of interest in health care as of late, Georgia Perimeter College's School of Nursing has embraced this concept, and integrated patient-centered care into its curriculum. Yesterday, Laura Raines, of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, detailed the implementation of a senior capstone project to make nursing students more culturally aware of the multicultural population nurses work with on a daily basis.

Click here to read the full article.

Click here to read other blogposts with news stories from the AJC (they cover nursing issues on a consistent basis and are regularly featured on our blog).

Interdisciplinary Group of Students at the University of Kansas Collaborate To Improve Patient Care

Last week, Donna Peck, writing for the Kansas University Medical Center news, reported on a collaborative intiative being undertaken by students at the University of Kansas School of Medicine, Nursing and Pharmacy that utilizes all three students expertise at a family clinic. The interdiscplinary clinic, which launched in August 2011, allows third-year medical students, senior nursing students, sixth-year pharmacy students and KU law students to work together as a team, with faculty supervision, to diagnose and recommend treatment to patients at the KU family medicine clinic. This innovative program fosters interdisciplinary collaboration that these students can continue to develop as they progress throughout their career.

Click here to read the full news article.

Click here to read other blogposts about interdisciplinary collaboration.