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NEWS:
Survey: 87% of COVID Tests for Nursing Home Residents & Staff Taking Multiple Days or More to Process
The American Health Care Association and National Center for Assisted Living (NCAL) conducted a survey of 1,385 members from June 25-29, 2020 on COVID-19 testing of staff at long term care facilities.
56% of nursing homes and assisted living communities having issues with lab processing of tests.
Nearly half of nursing homes and assisted living communities say the time labs are taking to process COVID-19 tests of residents and staff has become a major barrier and many are still having problems with finding labs to process test results.
More than one third said the cost of testing staff is still a major barrier and one-out-of-five said lack of state and government support is a key issue.
87% said getting test results back from the lab companies is taking two days or longer.
For regular testing of nursing home and assisted living residents and staff to help stop the spread of COVID-19
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New 'Pulse On The Nation’s Nurses' Survey Series: Half Of Frontline Nurses Emotionally Overwhelmed By Covid-19
As the U.S. experiences surges in the number of COVID-19 cases across the country, half of nurses on the frontlines providing patient care and responding to the pandemic feel emotionally overwhelmed. That is just one finding from a mental health and wellness survey of nearly 10,000 U.S. nurses conducted by the American Nurses Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the American Nurses Association, in the new Pulse on the Nation’s Nurses Survey Series.
According to findings from the mental health and wellness survey, half of nurses say they continue to feel overwhelmed, and nearly 30% say they are experiencing feelings of depression. Three of four (72.8%) nurses who responded say they are suffering from challenges with sleep (either excessive sleep or sleeplessness).
“These findings indicate a tremendous need to put in place now and make widely available authentic support systems and tools
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Health Care Organizations Issue Joint Framework to Increase Utilization of Diabetes Self-Management Education and Support
Seven leading diabetes organizations issued a consensus report today highlighting the value of diabetes self-management education and support (DSMES) services as part of comprehensive diabetes medical care. The report provides compelling evidence for the need for increased utilization of DSMES, four key times that DSMES is most beneficial, and specific recommendations for both clinicians and health systems to increase access to and participation in DSMES services.
“Evidence shows that DSMES can improve outcomes for people with diabetes, reduce costs to the health care system and slow an epidemic that continues to impact nearly one-third of Americans. We must make this service available to every single person with diabetes through a collaborative approach with payers, health systems, providers and the diabetes care team,” said Kellie Antinori-Lent, MSN, RN, ACNS-BC, BC-ADM, CDCES, presi
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The Future of Colorectal Cancer Care is Precision Medicine
Doctors and researchers are abuzz about the field of precision medicine as it alters the landscape of cancer care. Precision medicine—and knowledge about tumor changes known as biomarkers—is already having life-saving impacts. In response, the Colorectal Cancer Alliance (Alliance) launched its Personalized Biomarker Patient Education Campaign to empower patients and caregivers with information about how precision treatment planning in colorectal cancer through biomarker testing can help improve survival.
Biomarker testing analyzes the genetic makeup of a patient’s tumor. Test results provide patients and their medical teams with important information about what kind of treatment could work best for the patient—hence the term “precision medicine.”
“Until recently, the standard of care for colorectal cancer was essentially a one-size-fits-all approach, with surgery followed by chemothera
