The USA is considered by many to be the greatest country in the world. Because of that label, it is baffling to many how there are hundreds of thousands of people that are not insured or without access to health care because they simply cannot afford it. If you cannot afford group care insurance or if you do not have a job, becoming ill or sick can have a devastating effect on your life. Simple tests and procedures can rack up bills into the tens of thousands of dollars, and if you need surgery? You may just end up with a lifetime of debt for one week in the hospital. Countries such as Canada have nation-wide mandatory health care, and if President Obama has his way, so will the USA.

Healthcare reform is a hot topic right now, and it is a central issue that President Obama is focusing on. Change is needed, as private health insurance is expensive, and people are turned away due to lack of funds. Many young people don't believe in the need for health care, so they don't sign up for private options when presented to them. Obama proposed a public option that would ensure that every American has access to health care. As with any great change, the proposal has been met with great resistance.

Universal health care means that everyone will have to pay his or her fair share. Government subsidies will exist for those who are low income, but middle-income earners will make too much money to take advantage, and could see a significant chunk taken out of their pocket book to cover health care. Older citizens are concerned that it will interfere with their Medicare, as with each new system change, obvious changes need to be made to the way things are currently running. Yet another objection is that some people really like their private health care options, and don't want to lose it to public options that may not meet their needs. As well, many, many Americans distrust the Government, as the track record has shown past issues with Medicare and the US Postal Service.

This issue really comes down to money. Businesses, both big and small, will have to find a plan that fits within their budget. Doctors and nurses are weighing in that they are not interested in the new plan and up to 45% say they may take early retirement if the new system comes into place. A doctor shortage would greatly influence the current nursing shortage, as nurses need to step in already when there is a shortage of physicians. With so many people against global health care, can the system as Obama proposed really work?

Despite objections, the USA may be in for the biggest health care overhaul in 4 decades. The Health Care Reform Bill was passed by the House of Representatives, and is currently going to the Senate for another vote. Although some say that it will never see the light of day after the Senate, the passing through the House of Representatives at a margin of 220 to 215 indicates that the naysayers may have to eat their words.

Change is a scary thing, especially when it pertains to our health. Unfortunately, without change we continue to be stuck with the same issues that we've dealt with year after year. Time can only tell what scope the new Health Care Reform Bill will have on the USA.

Labels: Government, Health Insurance, Healthcare, Medicare, Obama, Public Option, Stimulus, Universal Healthcare

The Great 100 Nurses of Northeast Florida is a non-profit organization devoted to the recognition of excellent nursing in the area. The group achieves this goal through the organization of scholarships, the honoring of local nurses, and the recruitment and support of Floridian nurses.

The Great 100 Nurses of Northeast Florida got its start in 2000 due to actions by a coalition of nursing organizations led by District 2 of the Florida Nurses Association. They created the first gala event, raising more than $30,000 with the help of community sponsors.

Since 2000, the Great 100 Nurses of Northeast Florida have put on 5 gala events in celebration of fabulous nurses. Nominations are taken from professional health care workers, patients and their families and community members in order to decide who exceeds expectations through their dedication to excellence at work and desire for further knowledge outside of work via online nursing programs or traditional college. These winners are selected by a panel of nursing peers. The gala events, which are sponsored by businesses and private donors from the community, reward these nurses for their honorable service with good food, awesome entertainment and lots of fun.

In response to the growing health care debt, the Great 100 Nurses of Northeast Florida uses these gala events to additionally find support from the community for a number of nursing scholarships. A 501(c)(3) organization, the Great 100 Nurses of Northeast Florida awards scholarships and grants to health care research projects.

The Great 100 Nurses of Northeast Florida is an awesome resource for health care professionals in the Northeastern Floridian area because they keep a Speakers Bureau of Registered Nurses, Nurse Practitioners and Nurse Administrators on hand, available to speak to groups in the area.

The concept of Northeast Florida's Great 100 Nurses is nothing new. In 1998, a registered nurse in North Carolina named Heather Thorne began devising plans for a group that would recognize nursing excellence while bringing more nurses into the fold through scholarships. Since the North Carolinian chapter was founded the group has raised over $140,000 in scholarships.

The Louisiana Great 100 Nurses is also one of the older Great 100 programs. Currently celebrating their twentieth anniversary, health care professionals, patients, families and community members make their nominations with essays applauding the nurses' accomplishments. Similar to the other Great 100 programs, the money from this incredible anniversary celebration will go towards promoting nursing and increasing the amount of money awarded to scholarship recipients.

Iowa's program is among the newer of the Great 100 programs. Founded in 2005 by the Iowa Nurses Foundation, all 99 Iowa counties participate in nominating and awarding nurses with this honor. The 100 Great Iowa Nurses and Iowa Nurses Foundation also support nurses by awarding scholarships that range between $500 and $1500. This is paying off in the University of Iowa Hospitals, as those awarded this honor represented 18 University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics at the five year anniversary of the program, that was held in Des Moines in May.

Labels: Nursing Career, Nursing Scholarships, Nursing School, Online Nursing Degree, Recruit Nurses, Stimulus

One of the biggest problems facing healthcare today is the nursing shortage. There are at least 100,000 nursing vacancies across the country, but 500,000 registered nurses aren't working in their field due to dissatisfaction and a number of other causes. Combined with aging baby boomers who will need assistance in the coming years, America simply doesn't have the healthcare infrastructure to support the demand.

The Jonas Center for Nursing Excellence is doing their part to help right the shortage. The primary goal of the Jonas Center is to increase nursing recruitment and retention in New York City hospitals, but they hope to expand the limits of their philanthropy. The Center is funded in part by the Barbara and Donald Jonas Family Fund.

The Jonas Center aspires to reward and promote effective nursing programs and leadership. By signing grants to and acknowledging hospitals that meet and exceed the expectations of the center, the group hopes to decrease nursing vacancies and improve the diversity among nurses. Though the Jonas Center focuses on New York City, they recognize hospitals elsewhere as well.

One of the most important aspects of the Jonas Center for Nursing Excellence's nursing recruitment and retention programs is their intermediary function. Representatives of the Jonas Center help to facilitate discussion between nurses, healthcare workers, lobbyists and business owners. These discussions can greatly improve nursing conditions by raising awareness of problems in the workplace and drawing attention to funding concerns. Furthermore, by involving lobbyists and policy makers, the Jonas Center helps to bring small scale changes to the national level.

Another impact of the Jonas Center is their work with grant-makers. Many fully-deserving hospitals and nursing programs miss out on excellent opportunities for funding because of simple ignorance. The Jonas Center fosters relationships between hospitals and the academic world, which helps to bring changes where they need to be brought. This connects the hospital directly with grant benefactors, greatly increasing their chances of getting the funds they need.

Furthermore, the Jonas Center brings even more grants to the market by encouraging donors to create grants for hospitals. By interacting with numerous philanthropic groups and donors, the Jonas Center is making it easier than ever for hospitals to find the funding they've lacked over the years.

The Jonas Center works personally with nursing leaders to improve conditions both in the workplace and in the entire hospital as well. The Center supports and provides leadership that works toward the betterment of everyone involved in New York City healthcare. By presenting the findings from these changes to medical journals and practices, the Jonas Center is creating a working healthcare model, an example to hospitals across the country.

This year, the Jonas Center for Nursing Excellence gave four grants to institutions that met the standards for their Jonas Nursing Scholars program. The entire program is awarding $2.5 million to deserving nursing schools. The Columbia University School of Nursing was one of the beneficiaries.

Labels: Healthcare, Nursing Career, Nursing Shortage, Stimulus

As the health care industry grows, due to the aging of the baby boomers, funding has been proposed in order to decrease the effect of healthcare worker and nursing shortages. The United States Labor Secretary, Hilda Stolis, has declared the government's plans to release 220 million dollars of federal stimulus funds to training programs for workers in the medical industry.

The Labor Secretary revealed plans to stimulate the economy with the bill's funds while touring the University of Kansas Medical Center in Kansas City, Kansas and the Shawnee County Community Health Care Clinic in Topeka. These medical centers represent one of the areas hardest hit by the nursing and healthcare worker shortage, as rural areas have difficulty recruiting and retaining workers.

Economists often consider the medical industry recession-proof. There will always be a need for nurses, doctors and other healthcare workers; healthcare is not a luxury that can be put aside in hard times. With baby boomers aging and needing further medical care, the need for these workers will only increase and even with the increased acceptance of online nursing degree programs, the industry still needs help. The Labor Department aims to take advantage of this medical necessity by providing unlucky workers with a chance to start over in a field that is both lucrative and necessary.

While viewing the Kansas medical centers that will be among those improved by the funds from the healthcare training stimulus bill, Labor Secretary Hilda Solis routinely referred to President Barack Obama's planned healthcare reform bill, that he hopes to make through Congress this summer. This healthcare training fund is a forerunner to those that will follow the President's bill.

Healthcare reforms bills are particularly important in these difficult to staff rural areas. Training healthcare workers provides an ample job market for the unemployed, and will also help areas like Detroit that have been hard hit due to the changes in the auto industry. More than ten percent of the funds have been earmarked for areas suffering from unemployment as a consequence of auto industry restructuring.

The remainder of the money will to go fund groups that train nurses, workers in medical informatics, allied health careers and hospice care, in both the public and private sectors. More than half of the bill will be used for healthcare projects, with the remainder put towards medical technology and other miscellaneous items. The Labor Department hopes that private donors and foundations will attempt to meet and exceed the funds provided by the stimulus bill, bringing even more money towards health care training programs.

The Labor Department hopes to begin dispersing funds to worthy applicants in the next couple months, with further grants passed out by the end of 2009. Hospitals and departments with training programs already in effect can apply for funds from this stimulus bill through the Labor Department. There is an emphasis on currently effective training programs, so groups that are active now stand a better chance of being selected for stimulus funds than those started after the stimulus was put into effect.

Labels: Funding, Government, Healthcare, Obama, Stimulus