Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center among the first-ever awardees in the National Awards Program to Recognize Progress in Eliminating Healthcare-Associated Infections CDC: Hospitals continue progress in preventing infections American Heart Association: Improvements in Door-to-Balloon Time in the US - 2005 to 2010 Thomson Reuters Top 10 Health Systems of 2011 UMass Memorial Diabetes Scorecard Cooley Dickinson Hospital: Better-than-National Infection Rate Drops Further Following UV Room Disinfection Mercy Medical Center, Implements a Program to Decrease Pressure Ulcers Lawrence General Hospital: Runner Up: Med/surg unit boosts safety and satisfaction with initiative care MetroWest Medical Center Demystifies Outpatient Satisfaction Partners Study on Falls Featured in JAMA Winchester Hospital: A Focus on Outcomes Southcoast Health System: Reducing the Use of Safety Sitters Partners: Coordinating Care for High-Risk Patients New Bedford Rehab's use of volumetric capnography Winchester Hospital -- Reducing IV-associated bloodstream infection Newton-Wellesley Hospital: eMAP Rx for Medication Errors? Reducing Surgical Site Infections at New England Baptist Hospital Milton Hospital Reduces Catheter-Associated Urinary Tract Infections Cooley Dickinson Hospital's Positive Culture Led to Pressure Ulcer Improvements Beverly Hospital Implements Nurse-Led Program to Reduce Patient Falls Boston Medical Center Nurses Teach Pressure Ulcer Prevention Two Hospitals are Co-Winners of Betsy Lehman Patient Safety Award Making Strides at Jordan Hospital to Reduce Falls Telling Your Hospital's Story Public Reporting of Serious Reportable Events Winchester Hospital's Hand-Hygiene Competency

Page header will display here

The Health Resources and Services Administration's (HRSA) Nursing Scholarship Program (NSP) application cycle is now open. 

 

We hope that you will help us spread the word about the program and the exciting opportunities available for registered nursing (RN) students you interact with.
 
- What is the NSP?  The NSP awards scholarships to students enrolled or accepted for enrollment in accredited RN training programs.  Scholarship recipients receive tuition, fees, other educational costs and a living stipend in exchange for at least 2 years of post graduation service at a health care facility with a critical shortage of nurses.
- Who is Eligible to Apply? U.S. citizens (born or naturalized), nationals or lawful permanent residents enrolled or accepted for enrollment in a professional RN program (baccalaureate, graduate, associate degree, or diploma) at an accredited school of nursing located in a U.S. state or territory may apply.
- How Does Someone Apply?  Visit www.hrsa.gov/loanscholarships/scholarships/Nursing to learn more about the program and begin the application process.  Applications are due by 5:00 p.m. EDT June 1, 2011.
- Nursing Scholarship Program Guidance & Application Webcast:  Make plans to participate in the upcoming webcast, May 4, 2011.  A Save-The-Date is forthcoming and will contain additional details regarding the webcast.
 
Please forward this announcement or direct prospective scholars to www.hrsa.gov/loanscholarships/scholarships/Nursing for more information or to begin the application process. We appreciate your dedication and support.


 

HHS Announces New Faculty Loan Repayment Program

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) announced this week the establishment of the new Faculty Loan Repayment Program (FLRP). The program provides nurses interested in teaching with loan repayments to serve as a faculty member in an accredited and eligible health professions school. FLRP participants contribute to the HRSA's Bureau of Clinician Recruitment and Service's goal of increasing the recruitment and retention of health professions faculty. Eligible participants can receive as much as $40,000 towards repayment of their student loans in exchange for participating in future educational programming.    

 

Massachusetts Organization of Nurse Executives (MONE) Announces
the Sharon A. Smith Scholarship Application

The Massachusetts Organization of Nurse Executives supports and promotes the profession of nursing through on-going development of nurse leaders in the state of Massachusetts.  The scholarship program benefits members of the Massachusetts Organization of Nurse Executives and their family members by providing an award to be used toward pursuit of a degree in nursing.

Eligibility Requirements:

  1. Current member of the Massachusetts Organization of Nurse Executives (MONE) or an immediate family member of a current MONE member.  Immediate family members are spouse, children, siblings, nieces, and nephews.
  2. Enrolled in an accredited Nursing Program (BSN, MSN or advanced practice.)

Applications are due by May 2, 2011

View Application

 

LAST ROUND OF 2010 SCHOLARSHIPS AWARDED TO NURSES FOR COMMITMENT TO TEACH IN MASSACHUSETTS
Nursing Initiative Improves Faculty Shortage

The Massachusetts Hospital Research and Education Association (MHREA) in conjunction with the Massachusetts Department of Higher Education (MDHE) today announced the recipients of the Tufts Health Plan Foundation Nurse Scholarships for the last round of scholarships awarded in 2010.

Scholarships were awarded to the following seven nurses, who each committed to teaching nursing in Massachusetts upon graduation. The awardees, their hometowns, and the degree track and school of nursing in which they are currently enrolled are:

  • Djwan Scott, Lowell, MA, MSN, Gerontology, UMASS Lowell
  • Jennifer Alam, North Attleboro, MA, MSN, Family Practice, Simmons College
  • Laura Hitchmoth, Methuen, MA, PhD, Nursing Practice, UMASS Lowell
  • Elizabeth Chin, Mattapoisett, MA, PhD,  Nursing Education,  UMASS Worcester
  • Kathryn Ann Pescatello, Jamaica Plain, MA, MSN, Family Practice, Simmons College
  • Kerri Ellis, Grafton, MA, PhD, Nursing Practice,  UMASS Worcester
  • Angela MacDonald, Quincy, MA, DNP, Public Health, UMASS Amherst

To meet the urgent need for nurse educators, Tufts Health Plan Foundation developed the Nurse Scholars Program in collaboration with MDHE and MHREA, a subsidiary of the Massachusetts Hospital Association. Two-hundred and fifty thousand dollars ($250,000) was granted to MHREA to administer scholarships of up to $10,000 each to clinical nurses in master's and doctoral nursing programs in Massachusetts to address the nursing shortage by ensuring the ability to educate new nurses.

The combination of an aging workforce, a generation of nursing faculty approaching retirement, and the increasing healthcare demands of baby boomers is expected to soon place burdens on the healthcare delivery system that far exceed the supply of available nurses. According to an MDHE survey, the most effective strategy for addressing the nursing shortage is to expand the number of nursing faculty available to teach.

The Massachusetts Hospital Association's Senior Vice President of Clinical Affairs, Karen Nelson, R.N., and Anne Marie Boursiquot King, director of grants of the Tufts Health Plan Foundation co-chaired the award selection committee of five nursing workforce leaders.

Maureen Sroczynski,  Chief Nursing Consultant to the MDHE, said, "The workforce pipeline is jammed at the education level with nursing schools flooded by applications, but not enough nursing faculty to meet the demand."

"This program will help put both nursing educators and students into classrooms, increase the workforce, and ensure enough nurses are at the bedside when we need them," Nelson added.

David Abelman, executive director of the Tufts Health Plan Foundation, believes that investing in nursing education is one way that the Foundation demonstrates its commitment to promote quality healthcare. "It is well-documented that the shortage of qualified nurses has been an issue in recent years. All of us are patients at one time or another and will be affected by this problem, so Tufts Health Plan Foundation is glad to partner with like-minded organizations that are seeking solutions. We believe that providing scholarships to nurse educators is one solution, and we are pleased to congratulate the scholarship awardees," he said.

Since the Nursing Initiative began in 2008, the Tufts Health Plan Foundation Nurse Scholarships distributed aid to a total 36 future nurse educators. The Foundation's $250,000 served as a catalyst to obtain a matching grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) Partners Investing in Nursing's Future (PIN). The PIN grant provided 10 additional scholarship opportunities to nurses and advances the current collaborative efforts of the Nursing Initiative to Rhode Island and New Hampshire through 2011.

 

Enroll Now in Free Program for Electronic Health Records

If you have healthcare experience or computer experience, you could qualify for free, online training to prepare for a fertile career in electronic health records at Bristol Community College.
Yes, that means completely free and online. And yes, it offers access to one of the guaranteed job fields - the effort to turn paper into electronic healthcare records - required by Federal law.
Bristol Community College is one of 23 community colleges that will participate in a $16-million Federal grant over two years to educate up to 7,500 healthcare information workers in 12 states. Bristol is the only community college that won the grant and will provide services in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and New Hampshire through the grant.
By 2015, all Massachusetts medical records must be electronic, but there are not enough trained professionals to make the transition. In the Commonwealth alone, a projected 5,000 to 10,000 skilled workers are needed in the next four years to fulfill the mandate for electronic records. Bristol joins the consortium with its Healthcare Information degree program to address the critical need to provide skilled professionals who can modernize and manage electronic health records.
"The field offers great opportunity," said Joy Rose, program director and faculty member in the healthcare information program at Bristol. "This program is designed to meet the critical need for skilled workers who can convert, implement, and manage electronic records would become available in all healthcare scenarios and patients would be treated with the immediacy of electronic records." The Bristol program is particularly convenient, she added, as it is entirely online and students will not have to travel. Plus, it is totally free to qualified applicants.
The grant from the The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.
Bristol Community College will offer programs in two roles: Practice Workflow and Information Management Redesign Specialist and Clinician/Practitioner Consultant. Qualified applicants for this program are either experienced healthcare workers who need computer training, or an information technology professional without a health background. The online courses allow students to take courses on their own schedules. After six months of courses, students will be eligible to sit for a competency exam and could convert competencies into credit toward the associate in science in healthcare information.
The first cohort is enrolling now. To learn more, contact Joy Rose, Program Director, at 508-678-2811, ext. 2142