Here is this week's digest of key articles from major journals and news publications on the topic of Nursing. The digest is provided as a free service of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and is edited and compiled by The Advisory Board.

AONE Establishes Nurse Manager Fellowship Program
Anticipating a wave of retirements among nursing executives across the next decade, the American Organization of Nurse Executives (AONE) is launching a Nurse Manager Fellowship program to prepare nurse managers for executive roles, NurseZone reports.

New Jersey Researchers to Study Nurses' Role in Medication Error Prevention
Researchers at Rutgers College of Nursing in New Brunswick, N.J., will launch a study to determine how medication error risk is influenced by nurse staffing, the hospital work environment and safety technology, the Gloucester County Times reports.

San Diego Program Helps Internationally Trained Health Professionals Become R.N.s
The San Diego Welcome Back Center has received a second federal grant totaling $850,000 to support a program that allows internationally trained health workers, including physicians and dentists, to earn R.N. degrees at local colleges, the San Diego Business Journal reports.

North Carolina Consortium Actively Involves Nurses in Health IT Implementation
Recognizing nurses' front-line role in patient care, a North Carolina care quality improvement consortium has announced plans to include nurses in future health information technology (IT) adoption initiatives, Healthcare IT News reports.

Massachusetts Hospital Working to Improve Nurse Safety Following Reports of Patient Violence
A federal workplace safety inspection report found that nurses at Massachusetts-based Brockton Hospital are being physically assaulted by patients. In response, hospital officials are taking steps to improve safety and prevent workplace violence, the Boston Globe reports.

Accelerated Training Programs Aim to Alleviate Nursing Shortage
In an effort to meet staffing needs, Arizona nursing schools and hospitals are forging partnerships to expand or launch fast-track nursing degree programs, the Tucson Citizen reports.

Maryland Hospitals Reinvigorate Nurse Recruiting, Retention Efforts
As Maryland hospitals continue to pursue facility expansions, administrators are stepping up efforts to fill nurse vacancies and retain existing staff, the Annapolis Capital reports.

New Mexico Nursing Program Receives State Grant to Boost Enrollment
Eastern New Mexico University received a $239,000 state grant to expand its nursing program, the Portales News-Tribune reports.

Tennessee Offers Graduate School Loan Forgiveness to Curb Nursing Faculty Shortage
Tennessee officials will award scholarships to 62 R.N.s under a state loan forgiveness program aimed at alleviating the local nurse educator shortage, the Nashville Tennessean reports.

Here is this week's digest of key articles from major journals and news publications on the topic of Public Health. The digest is provided as a free service of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and is edited and compiled by The Advisory Board.

Atlanta EMS Program Improves Pre-Hospital Cardiac Arrest Survival
Officials in Atlanta have improved survival rates for patients who experience out-of-hospital cardiac arrest from less than 3 percent to 15 percent over the past two years, USA Today reports.

Nearly All U.S. Hospitals Revised Disaster Plans After September 11th
A new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) finds that 92 percent of U.S. hospitals have revised their emergency response plans since the terrorist attacks of September 11th. However, only 63 percent have incorporated provisions addressing natural disasters and biological, chemical, radiological and explosive terrorism, AHA News Now Reports.

Online Gaming Patterns Offer Insight into Disease Outbreak Response, Researchers Find
A report published online in the journal Lancet Infectious Diseases details a recent incident in the online virtual gaming world that could help public health experts better prepare for the range of human behaviors that occur during a disease outbreak, Reuters reports.

San Diego Researchers to Evaluate Cell Phones' Potential as Weight-Loss Tool
Researchers at the University of California-San Diego School of Medicine are launching a study to determine whether cell phones can be used to combat obesity, the San Diego Business Journal reports.

HRSA Awards $70.6 Million to Bolster HIV/AIDS Care for Minorities, Women
The federal Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) allocated $70.6 million to the federal Ryan White HIV/AIDS program to research and address disparities in care and outcomes among minorities and women with HIV/AIDS, AHA News Now reports.

North Carolina to Distribute $1.8 Million for College-Based Anti-Tobacco Programs
The North Carolina Health and Wellness Trust Fund will award $1.8 million in grants to support programs aimed at curbing tobacco use among students attending North Carolina colleges, the Asheville Citizen-Times reports.

California Red Cross Chapter Taps Comprehensive Campaign to Boost Residents' Emergency Preparedness
The San Francisco chapter of the American Red Cross has undertaken a new campaign that urges area residents to better prepare for natural disasters, the Oakland Tribune reports.

Florida Receives Federal Grant to Create Disability, Health Office
The University of Florida has received a $1.6 million federal grant to support the creation of an Office on Disability and Health, the Orlando Sun-Sentinel reports.

New Jersey March of Dimes Launches Prenatal Care Program to Close Racial Gaps in Infant Mortality
In an effort to reduce infant mortality and improve birth outcomes, the New Jersey chapter of the March of Dimes has launched a nine-week program designed to help pregnant women prepare for motherhood, the Newark Star-Ledger reports.

Here is this week's digest of key articles from major journals and news publications on the topic of Quality and Disparities. The digest is provided as a free service of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and is edited and compiled by The Advisory Board.

CMS to Halt Payments for Care Related to Preventable Errors
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has announced that it will no longer reimburse hospitals for the extra care costs associated with certain hospital-acquired ailments and inpatient "never events" that could have reasonably been prevented, the New York Times reports.

Error-Prone Abbreviations Jeopardize Medication Safety, Study Finds
Although providers often use medical abbreviations to increase efficiency, nearly 5 percent of medication errors reported to a national error-disclosure database across two years were attributable to that kind of shorthand, AHA News Now reports.

Study Suggests Commercial Pay-for-Performance Efforts Vary Too Widely to Significantly Improve Care Quality
A study by PricewaterhouseCoopers suggests that the wide variation among commercial pay-for-performance programs hinders their ability to significantly improve care delivery, AHA News Now reports.

Pediatric Hypertension Often Goes Undiagnosed, Study Finds
A study in the Journal of the American Medical Association finds that nearly three-quarters of children and adolescents with hypertension did not have that diagnosis documented in their electronic medical record (EMR), placing them at increased risk for sustained blood pressure abnormalities that could lead to end-organ damage, the Associated Press reports.

New Law Makes Illinois First State to Require MRSA Screenings for Hospitalized Patients
Illinois has become the first state to require hospitals to screen patients for drug-resistant bacteria under legislation signed by Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D), the Chicago Tribune reports.

New Jersey Researchers to Study Nurses' Role in Medication Error Prevention
Researchers at Rutgers College of Nursing in New Brunswick, N.J., will launch a study to determine how medication error risk is influenced by nurse staffing, the hospital work environment and safety technology, the Gloucester County Times reports.

California Initiative Funds HIE Projects to Improve Care for Safety Net Population
Four health care safety net organizations in California are receiving grants to enhance or expand existing health information exchange (HIE) initiatives, Healthcare IT News reports.

Minnesota Lawmakers Enact Policy Changes to Boost Health IT Adoption
In an effort to improve care delivery and efficiency, Minnesota lawmakers have passed a series of laws requiring the adoption of health information technology (IT), Government Health IT reports.

All U.S. States Now Connected Through E-Prescribing Network
Alaska became the 50th and final state to adopt policies and regulations for electronic prescribing, Healthcare IT News reports.

Here is this week's digest of key articles from major journals and news publications on the topic of Childhood Obesity. The digest is provided as a free service of The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and is edited and compiled by The Advisory Board.

Report Asserts that Obesity's Toll on Americans' Health Rivals that of Tobacco
The President's Cancer Panel, a division of the National Cancer Institute, on Thursday issued a report declaring that obesity's impact on America's health rivals that of tobacco use in terms of morbidity and related health risks.

Mississippi Community Foundation Launches Program to Teach Healthy Habits
The Community Foundation of Northwest Mississippi is preparing to launch an educational initiative to promote improved nutrition and fitness habits among parents and their children, the Senatobia Democrat reports.

Washington County to Participate in Federal Healthy Communities Project
To encourage healthier lifestyles and help reduce obesity among its residents, Snohomish County in Washington is joining the national Healthy Communities movement.

Nickelodeon Limits Use of Licensed Characters for Junk Food Advertising
Nickelodeon officials on Wednesday announced that the company will prohibit use of its licensed characters on packaging for unhealthful food products, the New York Times reports.

Here is this week's digest of key articles from major journals and news publications on the topic of Health Insurance Coverage. The digest is provided as a free service of The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Bush Administration Announces New SCHIP Standards
In a letter to state lawmakers, the Bush administration outlined new standards for enrollment in the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) that would make it much more difficult to expand coverage to children in middle-income families, the New York Times reports.

Opinion: Administration Imposes New Requirements at Children's Expense
In separate editorials, the Washington Post and the New York Times criticized the Bush administration's new requirements on the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) that would keep many children from middle-income families from qualifying for public programs.

American Medical Association Pitches Health Care Plan
The American Medical Association (AMA) unveiled a three-year, multimillion dollar advertising campaign promoting its plan to provide health coverage for the estimated 45 million people (Editor's note: recently updated to 47 million)  in the United States without health care coverage, the Los Angeles Times reports.

Romney Unveils National Health Care Plan
Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney released a national health care reform plan that encourages states to seek their own solutions to the problem of the uninsured in America while the federal government would "play a supporting role," the Los Angeles Times reports.

Health Care Proposal in California Could Set Stage for Entire Nation
Smaller states took the first steps in sweeping health care reform, but "the adoption of a comprehensive plan to overhaul health care" in a state such as California would likely spur similar efforts around the country and increase pressure on presidential candidates to address the issue, the Washington Post reports.