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Although health care organizations are using innovative strategies to recruit and retain nurses and federal, state, and local government agencies are providing financial support to help alleviate shortages, the national nursing shortage will continue to be one of the greatest challenges to the health care industry for many years, according to a report issued by Fitch Ratings, an international credit rating agency based in New York City.
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The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced a 3.3% increase in Medicare payment rates to home health agencies for fiscal year 2004.
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The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has published two proposed rules in the Federal Register to enhance worker protections from respiratory hazards on the job.
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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued guidance advising states that hospital workers and others caring for patients infected with the monkeypox virus and close contacts of people or animals confirmed to have the virus should receive a smallpox vaccination to protect against the possibility of contracting the illness.
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Most of us have been there dealing with the patient who refuses to comply with our treatment plan, who is uncooperative and generally unpleasant.
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As an adjunct to its disease management programs, ConnectiCare, a regional HMO based in Farmington, CT, has launched a pharmacy quality improvement program to promote the use of medications that are nationally acceptable treatment standards and to identify and prevent potential drug safety adverse events.
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Nurses in HealthPartners' outpatient case management program go through extensive training to help them assess a patient's readiness to change.
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It is quite true that there are common warning signs that can indicate potential workplace violence problems, says Eugene A. Rugala, supervisory special agent for the FBIs National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime at the FBI Academy in Quantico, VA. There even is a profile of the typical offender. However, he warns, when training employees its important to also remind them that every case is different.
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A by-product of efforts to increase patient empowerment and involvement in their own care is the use of quality-of-life assessments in evaluations of state Medicaid programs.
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The goal of an initiative to support new training, technical assistance, and grant-making for up to six states interested in developing quality-focused pharmacy management strategies, which will start this fall, is to find feasible solutions that improve quality, reduce costs, and are amendable to all stakeholders.