I can Pill it, baby!

There’s a new kid trying to make its presence felt on the Diabetic block with a promise that it is free from heart- related side effects (e.g. GlaxoSmithkline’s Avandia) often seen in other treatments.

Onglyza (generic name- Saxagliptin) is Bristol Myers’ answer to Merck’s Januvia, the leading drug in the market and the company is asking the FDA to approve the pill for patients with Type 2 Diabetes.

Let’s hope that Onglyza fulfill its promise and not turn into another bitter pill to swallow in the lucrative Diabetes market, that way we can really proclaim that Life is indeed Sweet!

Please pass the pill, Sugar…

PICC Line, Anyone?

So, you passed the NCLEX without a sweat and you're good at IV insertions and what have you. Easy huh?

Well, sorry to burst your bubble but think again unless you know how to do this very common bedside procedure--

PICC Line Insertion!






Having cold fingers er feet now?

Well, you need not worry my friend. You will not do this procedure unless you're a certified PICC Line Nurse. Ha-ha. This is just FYI, since you will encounter this procedure a lot nowadays especially if you work on the Med-Surg Floor. :)


Here's more about Central Venous Line

Nursing Shortage in the US

"An estimated 116,000 registered nurse positions are unfilled at U.S. hospitals and nearly 100,000 jobs go vacant in nursing homes, experts said."


The excerpt above was taken from a "new" article from Yahoo!News. But the topic is certainly old news and conservative at the very least. Nursing shortage in the US is a harsh reality that the Obama administration should address the soonest possible time.

The truth is, the nurse-to-patient ratio is just horrible especially in the Nursing Homes where in most night shift cases, the ratio is up to 1 nurse for every 30 patients or more. The hospitals are not doing good either with a 1:12 nurse-to-patient ratio.

The Day shift ratio in most hospitals is a bit better at 8:1/ 7:1 but not the ideal numbers either. This is not only dangerous to the health and well-being of the patients but also to the health practitioners as well.

Since the US cannot provide the necessary manpower to address the said issue at the moment, the government should continue to look for measures that will help ease the burden on the overworked and heavily burdened US Nurses in order for them to continue to provide optimal health care to their patients.

One of the measures that they should do is to remove the quota for competent nurses coming to the United States especially from English-speaking countries (e.g. Philippines) wherein the nursing curriculum is very akin to that of the US system. This is necessary to answer the shortage for the time being.

And it has been proven time and again that Filipino nurses are not only competent and at par with their American counterparts with regards to their knowledge and skills but compassionate towards their patients as well. They treat every patient with dignity and respect.

Also these nurses are Bachelor's Degree holders and therefore are better equipped with the proper knowledge and expertise to handle the cases that they will encounter in the field.



Here's the article from Yahoo!News---

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. healthcare system is pinched by a persistent nursing shortage that threatens the quality of patient care even as tens of thousands of people are turned away from nursing schools, according to experts.

The shortage has drawn the attention of President Barack Obama. During a White House meeting on Thursday to promote his promised healthcare system overhaul, Obama expressed alarm over the notion that the United States might have to import trained foreign nurses because so many U.S. nursing jobs are unfilled.

Democratic U.S. Representative Lois Capps, a former school nurse, said meaningful healthcare overhaul cannot occur without fixing the nursing shortage. "Nurses deliver healthcare," Capps said in a telephone interview.

An estimated 116,000 registered nurse positions are unfilled at U.S. hospitals and nearly 100,000 jobs go vacant in nursing homes, experts said.

The shortage is expected to worsen in coming years as the 78 million people in the post-World War Two baby boom generation begin to hit retirement age. An aging population requires more care for chronic illnesses and at nursing homes.

"The nursing shortage is not driven by a lack of interest in nursing careers. The bottleneck is at the schools of nursing because there's not a large enough pool of faculty," Robert Rosseter of the American Association of Colleges of Nursing said in a telephone interview.

Nursing colleges have been unable to expand enrollment levels to meet the rising demand, and some U.S. lawmakers blame years of weak federal financial help for the schools.

Almost 50,000 qualified applicants to professional nursing programs were turned away in 2008, including nearly 6,000 people seeking to earn master's and doctoral degrees, the American Association of Colleges of Nursing said.

PAY DIFFERENCES

One reason for the faculty squeeze is that a nurse with a graduate degree needed to teach can earn more as a practicing nurse, about $82,000, than teaching, about $68,000.

Obama called nurses "the front lines of the healthcare system," adding: "They don't get paid very well. Their working conditions aren't as good as they should be."

The economic stimulus bill Obama signed last month included $500 million to address shortages of health workers. About $100 million of this could go to tackling the nursing shortage. There are about 2.5 million working U.S. registered nurses.

Separately, Senator Dick Durbin and Representative Nita Lowey, both Democrats, have introduced a measure to increase federal grants to help nursing colleges.

Peter Buerhaus, a nursing work force expert at Vanderbilt University in Tennessee, said the nursing shortage is a "quality and safety" issue. Hospital staffs may be stretched thin due to unfilled nursing jobs, raising the risk of medical errors, safety lapses and delays in care, he said.

A study by Buerhaus showed that 6,700 patient deaths and 4 million days of hospital care could be averted annually by increasing the number of nurses. "Nurses are the glue holding the system together," Buerhaus said.

Addressing the nursing shortage is important in the context of healthcare reform, Buerhaus added. Future shortages could drive up nurse wages, adding costs to the system, he said.

And if the health changes championed by Obama raise the number of Americans with access to medical care, more nurses will be needed to help accommodate them, Buerhaus said.

(Editing by Maggie Fox and Mohammad Zargham)

39,455 pass nursing board exam

MANILA, Philippines - Some 39,455 nursing examinees passed the November 2008 Nursing Board Exam in 2008, with a nursing hopeful from Baguio City topping the highly anticipated list.

A radio report quoted the Professional Regulatory Commission (PRC) as saying the latest results showed that the passing rate was 44.51 percent of the 88,649 examinees.

The PRC said the exam’s topnotcher is Jovie Ann Alawas Decoyna of the Baguio Central University (BCU), who got a score of 89 percent.
She is joined by 72 other passers – most with tied scores – who were able to squeeze in to the Top 10.

While BCU produced this year’s topnotcher, Saint Paul University in Iloilo, the University of Saint Louis in Tuguegarao, Cagayan and the Foundation University were No. 1 in the passing rate, with all of their examinees passing.

Xavier University in Cagayan de Oro came next with a passing rate of 99 percent, with 336 of 341 students hurdling the test.

The November 29-30, 2008 examination was administered in 12 areas nationwide, including Manila, Baguio, Cagayan de Oro, Cebu City, Davao City, Iloilo City, Legazpi, Lucena, Tacloban, Tuguegarao, Sulu, and Zamboanga City.

The Board of Nursing is composed of its chairman Carmencita Abaquin, and members Leonila Faire, Betty Merritt, Perla Po, Marco Antonio Sto.Tomas, Yolanda Arugay, and Amelia B. Rosales.


Requirements

Board passers are required to bring the following: duly accomplished Oath Form, a cedula, two (2) pieces passport size picture, one (1) piece 1"x1" picture, two sets of metered documentary stamps, and one short brown envelope with name and profession.

Passers also need to pay a P600 initial registration fee and a P450 annual registration fee. They are also required to personally register and sign in the Roster of Registered Professionals.

Oath-taking ceremonies for Manila examinees and those who have not previously taken their oaths will be held at the SMX Convention Center in SM Mall of Asia in Pasay City on April 6 and 7 (Monday and Tuesday).

Passers must come in their proper oath-taking attire.

Oath-taking tickets for Metro Manila and neighboring provinces will be available at the Philippine Nurses Association office along 1663 F. T. Benitez Street in Manila’s Malate district, starting March 2.

Meanwhile, the schedule for oath-taking on other regions will be posted on the Board of Nursing website (www.bonphilippines.org).


Looking Back

In June 2008's nursing exam, 27,765 out of 64,459 passed, or 43.1 percent of the more than who took the test.

At that time, a University of Santo Tomas graduate topped the list of passers with an 86-percent score.

The Nursing Licensure Exam, like a few other licensure exams in the country, has had its own share of controversies, the most-talked about being the one conducted in 2006.

The alleged leakage incident that year prompted the PRC to form an independent fact-finding committee that recommended a retake of the exam.

Although Friday's results has just elevated almost 40,000 students into being a registered nurse, the government is still concerned they would be an addition to the current pool of nurses that might find difficulty securing jobs abroad.

The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) last Wednesday urged nursing schools to device ways on how to produce an even more competent set of graduates.

The POEA said that more stringent screening and an intensified training could help Filipino nurses hurdle the now stricter standards being observed by nurse-importing countries like New Zealand. - GMANews.TV



Here's the link to the complete list of successful examinees.

PRC: 1,087 pass physician licensure examination

The Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) announced Wednesday that 1,087 out of 1,685 passed the Physician (Complete, Prelims and Finals with Prelims) Licensure Examination given by the Board of Medicine in the cities of Manila and Cebu this February 2009.

The result of the examination with respect to one examinee was withheld pending final determination of his liabilities under the rules and regulations governing licensure examinations.

PRC said the results were released in two (2) working days from the last day of examinations.

Registration for the issuance of Professional Identification Card (ID) and Certificate of Registration will start on Monday, February 23, 2009 but not later than Friday, February 27, 2009.

Those who will register are required to bring the following:

Duly accomplished Oath Form or Panunumpa ng Propesyonal
Current Community Tax Certificate (cedula)
Two pieces passport size picture (colored with white background and complete name tag)
One piece 1” x 1” picture (colored with white background and complete name tag)
Two sets of metered documentary stamps, and
One short brown envelope with name and profession.

Those who will register will also have to pay the Initial Registration Fee of P600 and Annual Registration Fee of P450 for 2009-2012.

PRC said successful examinees should personally register and sign in the Roster of Registered Professionals.

The oathtaking ceremony of the successful examinees in the said examination as well as the previous ones who have not taken their Oath of Professional will be held before the Board on Tuesday, March 10, 2009 at 1:30 p.m. in the afternoon at the Tent City of the Manila Hotel, One Rizal Park, Manila.

Registration for membership with the Philippine Medical Association (PMA) will start on Monday, February 23, 2009.

The successful Physician examinees who garnered the ten highest places are the following:
RANK NAME SCHOOL RATING (%)

1 Marky Jod Abay Pandes - University of the East Ramon Magsaysay Mem. Medical Ctr. 87.25

2 Judy Emil Dela Cruz Dela Cruz - Far Eastern University-Nicanor Reyes Medical Foundation 86.83

3 Kenneth Karl Liu Dy - University of Santo Tomas 86.58

4 Julie Rae Evangelista Lacson - Our Lady of Fatima University-Valenzuela 86.33

5 Don Leo Sullano Pepito - University of the East Ramon Magsaysay Mem. Medical Ctr. 86.25

6 Victor Denoga Estacio - University of the Philippines-Manila 86.17

7 Aillen Eleizer Ng Mangulabnan - Our Lady of Fatima University-Valenzuela 86.08

8 Charlie Ercilla Labarda - Our Lady of Fatima University-Valenzuela 86.00

9 Clarito Diaz Demaala III - University of Santo Tomas 85.92

10 Jessica Alcala Amarante - Our Lady of Fatima University-Valenzuela 85.58


Click here for the complete result.

Pinoy nurses may apply for nursing jobs in Japan online - POEA

The Philippine Star
January 18, 2009 12:00 AM

Filipino nurses and caregivers aspiring to work in Japan may now register online.

The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration said Friday “applicants need not go to the POEA office because they can already register at the POEA Website

POEA chief Jennifer Manalili said applicants should wait for POEA e-mail for further instructions and only those who meet the minimum qualification shall receive the notification through e-mail.

Those who qualify, Manalili said, will have to submit the POEA e-mail notification and other necessary documents at the POEA main office in Mandaluyong or its nearest office in their respective regions.

Applicants for nursing positions must prepare their resumé, valid passport, college diploma, transcript of records, employment certificate indicating at least three years’ hospital experience, board certificate, and Professional Regulation Commission identification card.

Manalili said Japanese employers would shoulder the placement fee and language training for those who qualify.

Earlier, the POEA announced that Japan is hiring at least 1,000 Filipino nurses and caregivers in the next two years. Deployment will start by the end of April or early May.

Manalili said those who qualify for the jobs would undergo six months of language and culture training in Japan during which they will receive an allowance of $400 or more than P21,000.

After the training, Filipino nurses and caregivers are allowed to stay in Japan for three years to work in hospitals and other medical facilities.

During the three-year period, Filipino nurses can take the Japanese licensure examination.

Filipino caregivers will receive a monthly salary of $1,600, while nurses will get higher pay.

Saudi needs 60,000 staff, nurses for its hospitals

Although this piece is good news, I say if given a choice, Filipino health workers should try their luck first in countries like the US, UK and Ireland were their welfare as foreign health workers are properly addressed and insured.

This is not to say that going to the Middle East is bad but culturally and historically when a foreign worker found himself/herself in a difficult situation in a particular Arab country were trial is involved; their rights as well as receiving a fair one is often neglected and overlooked by both the host country and the Philippine government representatives alike.

But wherever one decides to go in pursuit of his/ her dreams, just bear in mind this old adage, "Do your best and God will take care of the rest."


A TOP Saudi Arabian hospital is interviewing Filipino nurses here to fill 60,000 hospital positions in the Kingdom in the next six months, an executive said yesterday.

“Even with the economic crisis, the demand for nurses and other medical staff in the Middle East is very high and very urgent,” said Lito Soriano, a senior officer of LBS E-Recruitment Solution.

“Unlike in the United States, the projected need for nurses in the Middle East is immediate.”

Soriano said the King Fahd Medical Center was only one of many Saudi hospitals looking for Filipino nurses, and that its officials were here to interview candidates.

He said King Fahd had only recently hired two Philippine recruitment agencies to fill up its vacancies.

“The top priorities in Saudi are security and health,” Soriano said.

“Its ministries of defense, aviation and health, which operate government hospitals, are doing the hiring not just for nurses but for technical medical workers like x-ray technicians, respiratory technicians and the like.”

Soriano said Saudi Arabia was paying $600 to $1,000 a month in basic salaries “on top of free housing, free transportation and yearly vacation.”

The Kingdom had only recently increased its inflation allowance to 10 percent from 5 to preserve its workers’ purchasing power, he said.

Soriano, also executive director of the Federated Association of Manpower Exporters, said his group was urging President Arroyo to grant indefinite visas to foreign principals employing Filipino workers.

Mrs. Arroyo recently signed Executive Order 758, which grants indefinite visas to foreign businessmen who hire 10 or more Filipinos for their businesses here.

Soriano said his group hoped the President would extend the same privilege to foreigners recruiting for their respective countries. Michael Caber with Arlie Calalo