While the health care debate continues in the United States, there’s one voice you haven’t heard much from: nurses. “While a number of our professional organizations have spoken up and even testified on Capitol Hill about proposed health care reform efforts, nurses have not been asked to the table as equal contributors and participants in the national health care debate,” said T. Heather Herdman, PhD, RN, Executive Director of NANDA International (NANDA-I).

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger cleaned house yesterday, firing most of the members of California's State Board of Registered Nursing for what he is citing as the unacceptable length of time it takes to discipline nurses accused of gross misconduct.

With search engine companies establishing online personal health records for their users and surgeons on the brink of making robotic surgery routine, it makes sense to have a remote medical care system that can support nursing staff, care managers and other healthcare workers. Writing in the International Journal of Web and Grid Services from Inderscience Publishers, a Japanese team describes a proposal for such a system.

One in three elderly hospital patients suffer from malnutrition, but go largely unnoticed by hospital staff, Australian research has revealed.

Researchers say that the work force in today's health care system is too small and not prepared to handle the necessary care that the baby boomers will need as they turn 65 in 2030. Experts, knowledgeable about the matter, say higher pay for the health care workers, more training, and changes in patient care delivery are needed to avert the health care crisis for the baby boomers.

The November/December 2007 issue of Geriatric Nursing, a journal published by Elsevier, Inc., features a special supplement on the results of the highly successful Nurse Competence in Aging (NCA) Initiative. The project engaged members of 55 specialty nursing organizations to enhance geriatric-related education that is highly targeted to nurses practicing within each specialty.