Nurse saves elderly man from burning Melbourne home A passing nurse has saved an elderly man trapped behind the deadlocked front door of his burning

A passing nurse has saved an elderly man trapped behind the deadlocked front door of his burning Melbourne home.

John Bustos was on his way to see a patient about noon (NZT) yesterday when he saw smoke coming from a nearby house in Noble Park.

"I thought it could have been smoke from a barbecue or someone burning off in the backyard but I just wanted to check it out," Mr Bustos told AAP.

He said that when he got to the house he saw smoke pouring from under the front door and crackling noises from inside.

"I started yelling at the front door and trying to kick it open to see if someone was inside and then I heard a man say he couldn't open the door," Mr Bustos said.

"My nursing training kicked in and I told him to make his way to the back door and to stay down low."

Mr Bustos, 32, of Lynbrook in south-east Melbourne, rushed to the back door and pulled the man, known only as Douglas, out of the house.

The Royal District nurse and former coronary care nurse said Douglas, 74, had inhaled a lot of smoke.

"I took him as far as I could from the house and then rang 000 as well as checking his vital signs," Mr Bustos said.

When paramedics arrived they gave the man the all-clear.

But Mr Bustos hadn't finished yet.

He waited to help the man's wife who neighbours said would be in shock when she saw the damage, which fire authorities estimated by $200,000, when she returned home.

"When she came back she did go into shock so I tried to make her as comfortable as I could, make sure she wasn't going to faint and once everything was under control I went off to see my original patient," Mr Bustos said.

Fire officer Barry Nash of the Country Fire Association said that when the firefighters arrived at the scene, the house was totally engulfed in flames.

He said that without Mr Bustos' help, the elderly man would have died.

"It was quick thinking on his part and without (Mr Bustos), the houseowner would not be with us yesterday," Mr Nash said.

He said half the house was gutted by the fire which is believed to have started in the kitchen.

It was believed Douglas and his wife were being cared for by family members.

Source: http://www.stuff.co.nz/4696306a12.html

Male nurse struck off after text messages to patient

A male nurse who sent a message to a woman patient at the mental health unit where he was a charge nurse asking her if she "fancied a s**g" was today struck off by the Nursing and Midwifery Council.

Dennis Dawson Dowle, of St Leonards, who worked at Woodlands, a Sussex mental health unit, said in one of a string of messages to the woman : "Hi ya, it's me. I am down at the swimming pool. Bit bored. I wondered whether you fancied s**g? Talk to you again."

The disciplinary hearing which had been told that the woman felt "angry and insulted" ruled that Dowle, who was dismissed from his job after the incident should be struck off.

Announcing the decision the tribunal chair, Angela O'Connor said: "He failed to maintain appropriate professional boundaries with the patient to a significant extent.

"It was not an isolated incident and a very serious departure from the standards to a vulnerable patient. He accepted she was upset and distressed."

She said he had "shown a lack of insight and shown a level of overfamiliarity which could never be part of the nurse/patient relationship."

She added that although Dowle claimed the message sent from the swimming pool was meant in a "jokey" way, the disciplinary panel considered his conduct was "fundamentally imcompatible" with being a registered nurse."

The hearing had earlier been told by Sarah Page, for the Council : "On 17 January 2006 Sue Brace, Modern Matron at Sussex Partnershop NHS Trust, was informed by a doctor that patient A's ex boyfriend had made a complaint about the registrant (Dowle).

"The registrant was at that time a charge nurse at the Woodlands Mental health unit where patient A (who cannot be identified) was a patient. It was claimed that the registrant had acted inappropriately.

"On 17 January 2006, Ms Brace interviewed patient A, who was a patient at Woodlands between 19 January, 2005 and 13 January, 2006. Patient A confirmed she had received a series of text and voicemail messages from Mr Dowle.

"As a result, she stated she was angry and insulted and also confirmed the day after her discharge that she met Mr Dowle at the Marina Fountain Public House because he wanted to sign discharge papers.

"Patient A confirmed that the registrant never touched her or sent any message that might imply sex except for one voicemail."

Mr Dowle, although not present at today's hearing, admitted the allegations of "inappropriate" contact by leaving six voicemail and/or text messages between 19 December, 2005, and 18 January, 2006.

Other messages said : "Hi, Dennis up at Woodlands, I have a couple of forms for you to sign, if you don't want to, it doesn't matter", "Hi, wish you the best of luck today, Den xx", and "Good morning have a really nice day. Hope to speak to you later xx"

Ms Page said Ms Brace interviewed Dowle on 18 January, 2006 and he denied any "impropriety". He said he had arranged to meet with patient A at a pub as she had discharged herself and he needed her to complete some forms.

"He said that he had not ever left a message that could be construed to be of a sexual nature. At a subsequent meeting on 31 January, 2006, Mr Dowle confirmed his mobile number which matched the number patient A provided.

Added Ms Page : "The Trust has been unable to locate patient A, for an investigation as she did not return to Woodlands.

"However, at the meeting on 17 January, 2006, Ms Brace listened to the voicemail messages through a loud speaker and read the text messages.

"Her notes of the meeting record what the messages said. A further witness John Robinson, the accommodation officer at the trust, confirmed that when he met patient A on 17 January, 2006, he also listened to voicemail messages and read the text messages.

"Mr Dowle was dismissed from the trust on 27 June, 2006. He appealed the decision but later withdrew his application."

http://www.worthingherald.co.uk/hastingsnews/Male-nurse-struck-off-after.4401259.jp

Lack of school nurses puts kids at risk

By Susan Abram, Staff Writer

Article Last Updated: 08/08/2008 04:31:25 AM PDT

NORTH HOLLYWOOD -- The backpack Evangeline Arafiles slings across her shoulder each morning holds the tools of her trade: a lilac-color stethoscope, thermometer, oximeter, penlight and stopwatch.

There isn't a Band-Aid in sight.

As a school nurse at Lowman Special Education Center, Arafiles oversees about 150 students, and there often is another registered nurse with her on site.

And despite having to insert catheters, inject insulin, treat seizures and monitor asthma, because she only has to look after 150 kids, she's one of the lucky ones.

"If you were to compare a school nurse from 40 years ago, she was someone who usually waited for a student who needed a Band-Aid," said Nancy Spradling, executive director of the California School Nurses Association.

Once known as "Band-Aid Queens," Arafiles and other school nurses have increasingly become a safety net for thousands of children.

But as their roles have changed, the nurse-to-student ratios haven't, a concern among industry groups who say complacency, budget cuts, a personnel shortage within the profession and an overall misperception of what school nurses do all collide to place children at risk.

Federal guidelines require one nurse for every 750 students. But California ranks 44th in the nation, with a ratio of 1:2,300. Of the nearly 1,000 school districts statewide, half have no school nurses at all, Spradling said.

Within the Los Angeles Unified

School District, the second-largest in the nation, there are 600 registered nurses for nearly 700,000 students - or a ratio of 1:1,167, school officials said.

But in some parts of the city, that ratio can swell to 1:4,000.

The shortage comes at a time when children's health issues are grabbing more headlines:

The leading cause of absenteeism among LAUSD students with chronic diseases is asthma, which afflicts some 63,000 students.

Of children born in 2000, about one-third of the boys and 39 percent of the girls will develop type 2 diabetes, according to the California Center for Public Health Advocacy analysts' estimate.

Less than 21 percent of LAUSD students met all the criteria considered to comprise a healthy lifestyle, according to California's statewide fitness exam.

A school nurse's job already was challenging because of a federal mandate in 1975 that required schools to accommodate disabled students.

"We welcome those kids. We want them to come to school and they have that right," Spradling said. "But today, school nurses are managing kids who need pharmaceuticals, children with cardiac problems, cancer, kidney treatments."

Burden of care

The lack of nurses has placed a burden on teachers, office workers and other staffers, but many don't want to be in a position to give first aid, said A.J. Duffy, president of United Teachers Los Angeles.

"The ratios are too high," he said. "Teachers have been told in the past that they would have to do certain things. At one point, the district wanted teachers to give shots. Our nurses were up in arms."

The California chapter of the American Nurses Association filed a lawsuit last week against the state's Department of Education, which is calling on unlicensed volunteer school employees to administer insulin to students with diabetes.

"Not only is the California Department of Education breaking state law with this directive by violating the established scope of nursing practice, but by negating the need for licensed nurses to administer insulin, they are placing the children at risk," Rebecca Patton, president of the ANA, said in a prepared statement.

Duffy said even though the nurses could train teachers, the district training would likely fall short of what teachers need to know in a medical emergency.

"We have a certain degree of student population that are at risk and they have a right to have a medical professional to be there for their needs," Duffy said.

Last year, the LAUSD was ordered to pay $7.6 million to the family of an epileptic boy who suffered a seizure at a North Hollywood elementary school, according to published reports.

The boy's family said the response to his seizure in 2005 was inadequate because several minutes passed before CPR was administered by a playground supervisor. There was no nurse on campus that day. The district argued that adults responded as best they could.

Grants are sought

Federal legislation was introduced again in June by Rep. Carolyn McCarthy of New York and Rep. Lois Capps, D-Santa Barbara, once a school nurse herself. They are asking the secretary of health and human services to make grants available to eligible states to help reduce the nurse-to-student ratio.

"We're all very concerned about access to health care in the federal government," Capps said. "When kids come to school and they've never had a checkup, they come with a lot of health problems and it's a real challenge."

Still, in its most recent budget, the LAUSD cut funding for nurses to early childhood education classes or preschool.

"That, to me, is a challenge because how do we meet those needs of those in early education?" said Connie Moore, the district's director of nursing services.

"Through early detection, we can see if a child needs a pair of glasses or has an ear infection. If we just had a nurse in every school, we would be available to follow up with these children."

The district is now filling a dozen vacancies and has been able to hire 100 nurses in the past two years, especially for schools near downtown.

But there is competition for registered nurses from hospitals, and other health settings also are facing shortages.

Meanwhile, Arafiles considers herself lucky. She remains on campus all day. There is a second school nurse on staff. And she oversees fewer students than most of her peers.

Still, the job can be challenging.

"The work is rewarding," she said, "but we are stretched to the limit."

susan.abram@dailynews.com

http://www.dailynews.com/breakingnews/ci_10133395

One Nurse, One Patient, One Shift

Transforming Care at the Bedside initiative takes hold across Florida

Phyllis Class, RN
Editorial Director Florida/Southeastern/South Central editions

Mention snorkeling to Florida nurses and most conjure up images of tropical waters, coral reefs, and exotic fish. But to nurses working on Transforming Care at the Bedside (TCAB) units, it means something else altogether. Nurses "snorkel" or brainstorm ideas on improving patient care in the trenches.

The American Association of Nurse Executives (AONE) is leading the Transforming Care at the Bedside initiative, supported by a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The program's goal is to improve quality of care on medical/surgical units, says Pamela Thompson, RN, MS, FAAN, chief executive officer of AONE, who recently addressed The Nursing Consortium of South Florida.

TCAB's initiatives include multidisciplinary rounds at the bedside, a color-coded system to manage RN patient load, standardized change-of-shift reports, streamlined documentation, liberalized diets, and rapid response teams. The results so far have been impressive. Turnover on pilot units dropped from 5.8% to 3.4% in 2006, and time at the bedside increased from 40% to 50%, says Thompson.

The program's themes include safe and reliable care, vitality and teamwork, transformational leadership, patient-centered care, nurse autonomy, and ownership of practice. Front-line nurses on TCAB units use rapid-cycle testing methodology to develop, test, and implement change. Their mantra is "one nurse, one patient, one shift."

Participants gather periodically at strategic meetings across the nation. Mercy Hospital in Miami is one of 68 hospitals nationwide with TCAB units. "The energy that comes back from these meetings is incredible," says Claudia DiStrito, RN, BSN, MSH, senior vice president/nursing and patient services at Mercy.

Since Nursing Spectrum explored the TCAB unit at James A. Haley VA Hospital in Tampa one year ago, TCAB has been introduced to all inpatient units, says Daniel J. O'Neal III, RN, GCNS-BC, CNL-BC, evidence-based practice specialist. Best practices at the facility as a result of TCAB include electronic change-of-shift reports with handoff at the bedside, post-discharge follow-up calls using a script, hand-held wireless PDAs for documentation in isolation rooms, medication lists for patients, a newsletter to enhance communication, and markers on hall baseboards to measure how far postop patients walk.

Nurse executives agree one of the toughest things about TCAB is letting go and allowing nurses to be autonomous. Yet engaging front-line staff helps identify talent and helps with succession planning, says O'Neal. Problems are now "owned" by staff nurses. Instead of saying, "They ought to fix this," they say, "Let's get together to work on this problem."

---

To comment, e-mail pclass@gannetthg.com.

http://include.nurse.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080728/FL02/107280033

Nurse's aide gets 3 1/2 years in prison

Stole at least $7,000 in jewelry from disabled patient

BY DAN ROZEK Staff Reporter/drozek@suntimes.com

A nurse's aide who stole at least $7,000 in jewelry from the quadriplegic woman she was caring for was sentenced Wednesday to 3½ years in prison for the thefts.

Latasha Powell, 36, was convicted last month of stealing rings, chains and other jewelry from the 61-year-old Bensenville woman, who is disabled by polio and uses a respirator to help her breathe.

In a written statement, the victim said she remained angry about the 2006 thefts, many of which she said took place while she was sleeping.

"Ms. Powell obviously studied my sleep patterns and assessed the noise levels that would awaken me so that she could steal from me while I was in a deep sleep," the victim wrote.

Powell argued unsuccessfully during her trial that she received much of the jewelry as gifts from her employer. The victim dismissed those claims in her statement.

"I find it unacceptable that Ms. Powell would come along and take from me, many of the items that I worked so hard to purchase," wrote the victim, whose condition has worsened over the years.

DuPage County State's Attorney Joseph Birkett called Powell's actions "absolutely deplorable."

http://www.suntimes.com/news/24-7/1072475,CST-NWS-care24.article

Travelers reap benefits of nurse vacancy rate

By LJ Anderson / Daily News Columnist

In a high-demand field like nursing, traveling nurses or "travelers" reap the benefits of this demand by working wherever and whenever they want. With a national RN vacancy rate of over eight percent, according to a 2007 American Hospital Association survey, one of the ways in which hospitals fill the staffing gap is through the use of traveling nurses. It's an expensive option for the hospital, but for the traveler, short-term assignments and benefits, such as free housing, offer an attractive career option. These nurses need to adapt quickly in a new environment, but for many, it's well worth the adjustment.

Dialysis nurse Donna Shultz, RN, and her husband lived on a farm in New Hampshire for 25 years where they raised their four children. They relocated to Arizona, rented out their home, and now pursue the traveling nurse lifestyle. Shultz is currently on a six-month assignment at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital until October of 2008.
Q: Where, and in what clinical situations, have you worked as a traveling nurse?

A: Generally, I work in hospitals in which there is a dialysis unit where patients come for treatment. However, when the patient is too unstable, such as on telemetry or in the ICU or CCU, dialysis is done at the bedside - since the machine and water purifier are portable.

I have been in nursing for 16 years, and traveled for four of them. I have worked in several states, including
MaineGeneral Hospital, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in New Hampshire, Banner-Good Samaritan in Arizona, Washington Hospital Center in Washington, D.C., and here at Lucile Packard Children's and at Stanford University Hospital. By far these two hospitals - Lucile Packard and Stanford - make it hard for travelers. Once you start working at one, you want to stay and stop traveling.

Q: What does it take to adapt quickly to a new clinical environment?

A: My philosophy is "When in Rome, do as the Romans." There is more than one way to do things, but as a traveler, it is important to follow the procedures of each facility. I focus on being safe, and dialysis is pretty much the same procedure wherever I go. Most places have a preceptor and a short orientation period, and I will typically use the preceptor as a go-to person after orientation is over. (As for the patients), I say to them, "I'm new to this facility, but I do this all over the country. I'm a traveler." That intrigues them, and helps them feel more comfortable and at ease.

Q: Have you had any negative experiences, and if so, why was that?

A: Yes. I have been expected to, and have worked 16-hour days without a break. I've worked with substandard equipment, and I've had to do extensive computer charting without any training on the computer program. In general, this was due to a severe lack of staff. I was hired onto a 100-bed outpatient dialysis unit and by the time I arrived, one of the two charge nurses had gone out on maternity leave, and the other one had quit. I was the charge nurse, didn't know the doctors and had to handle all the issues. You learn to get along, but those three months felt like an eternity.

Q: What are the benefits of being a traveling nurse?

A: I can travel all over the United States, and I am able to get assignments in cities that I choose for a minimum of three months. If there is a need and I like the facility, I can renew the contract for several more months. Because we live in each place an average of six months, we get to settle down and meet the people around us. You would never meet the number and diversity of people that we've met while living in a small town in New Hampshire. We live in a place long enough to get a flavor of it, and we're invested in the area. It's nice because when you feel homesick, you go visit your kids.

My travel company, Medical Express, provides the housing, rents the furniture, pays the electric bills, and I have retirement benefits and health insurance. My husband is retired and travels with me. I call him my "kept husband," and I'm his "sugar mama." He loves it. I like that I am not involved in the workplace politics. My theory is when I know enough to have an opinion, it is time to move on. Travel has enabled me to stay with dialysis but to have varied jobs. Typically, most travelers might do one assignment, or sporadically. Few people will actually go from one job to another, but it works for us, and I want to do this for another 10 years.

Q: What kind of situation would you not consider?

A: I would not consider a workplace which is unsafe, such as if the patient-to-nurse ratio is high, or if I have little to no resources.
I showed up at one clinic, and they pointed me to the supplies and said "good-bye." There was no orientation, but I learned quickly, and I made it. There are other places like Stanford where the orientation is long and involved. Through experience I have found it important to ask key questions on the first phone interview of the facility. If I'm having trouble, who can I call? I've learned what to ask in an interview

Source:
http://www.redwoodcitydailynews.com/article/2008-7-23-anderson

Nursing home investigations go back to 2001

By Beth Musgrave

bmusgrave@herald-leader.com

State investigators started investigating the relationship between a recently fired state employee and a nursing home operator as early as 2001.

A 46-page report released Tuesday by the Cabinet for Health and Family Serv­ices shows that the cabinet had investigated possible ethical problems between state employees and Garrard Convalescent Home owner Ralph Stacey Jr. at least three times over the past eight years.

In one of the investigations, there was an allegation that Stacey was being tipped off before inspectors visited the Covington area nursing home.

Sharon Harris, a nurse administrator with the Department of Public Health, and Moses Young, an assistant director with the Office of Inspector General, were fired by the cabinet in May after Inspector General Sadiqa Reynolds got a tip in March that the two were living in Lexington homes owned by Stacey.

Young and Harris did not provide the cabinet with documents showing they paid rent to Stacey. Cabinet officials allege the two had lived in the Griffin Gate area homes since 2005.

In the investigative report released Tuesday, investigators say Harris has been secretly taped saying that she had never paid rent to Stacey. On the tape, Harris said she thinks that Stacey might be the one giving information to state investigators.

”She believes he wants her out of her home because she ended her relationship with him. She states he has offered to move her to Florida and give her a job at one of his facilities there,“ the report said of the secret recording.

Harris and Young also have a relationship that goes back several years. Cabinet investigators note that Harris lists Young as his beneficiary on his life insurance form. Young has also said that he and Harris were roommates for several years.

Harris and Young have appealed their firings to the state Personnel Board. They allege that they have been singled out by the Inspector General and that the cabinet failed to follow policy by not allowing them to have attorneys present when questioned about their living arrangements.

Neither Young nor Harris could be located for comment. Paul Fauri, an attorney who represents Young and Harris, did not return calls asking for comment. Stacey has not returned phone messages left at his business in Covington.

Harris, according to personnel records, was fired in 2002 over questions about whether she was working for Stacey while she was a nurse in the Medicaid division. The state Personnel Board eventually overturned the firing by a 6-0 vote, and Harris was reinstated with back pay.

But according to new information released by the cabinet Tuesday, there were at least two other Office of Inspector General investigations involving Garrard Convalescent Center.

In October 2001, the office of Inspector General conducted an investigation that involved Harris, Young and Stacey. At the time, Harris was working for the Office of Inspector General.

During an interview at the end of an inspection at Garrard Convalescent Center, Harris said she would talk to Young about Stacey's concerns regarding two problems found during the inspection. The comment disturbed other investigators present because Young was not Harris' immediate supervisor.

When a tape of the conversation was requested, Harris refused to turn it over for more than a week, the documents said. When the tape was turned over, it was blank in the area where Harris allegedly made the comments, according to a synopsis of the 2001 inspector general investigation.

No action was taken as a result of the investigation, the report states. The allegation was part of a larger investigation into whether state investigators were falsifying travel reports.

Harris later left the Office of Inspector General and moved to the state Medicaid office as a nurse administrator. While in that job, state investigators raised concerns that she was at the Garrard facility in 2002 during an inspection.

Harris was fired for allegedly working for Stacey without permission. But the state Personnel Board voted unanimously to reinstate her after a hearing.

Harris was eventually moved to the Department for Public Health as a nurse administrator. The Office of Inspector General, Medicaid and Department for Public Health are all under the auspices of the Cabinet for Health and Family Services.

In a separate Office of Inspector General investigation in 2006, there were allegations that Stacey was getting prior notice of surprise inspections. That allegation was ultimately unsubstantiated, documents show.

But interviews conducted during the 2008 investigation of Young's living arrangements show that at least one employee of Stacey felt that their employer knew when state inspectors were coming. One nurse said that Stacey had pulled charts, and even brought up an activity director from a Florida nursing home he owned, before an inspection at Garrard.

There was no allegation that Harris or Young had tipped Stacey off in 2006. However, the investigative report includes charts of phone calls between Stacey and Young around the time annual inspections and surprise inspections occurred.

Vikki Franklin, a spokeswoman for the Cabinet for Health and Family Services, said there is no way for the cabinet to go back and reinvestigate past complaints against the facility.

”It's not possible for us to revisit the allegations,“ Franklin said. ”But what we are able to do is to make sure that we are protecting the health, safety and welfare of the residents there now and in every other nursing facility in the state.“

The attorney general and other regulatory agencies are also investigating allegations of misconduct by Young and Harris.

Source:

http://www.kentucky.com/210/story/468769.html