Article: Directions for Disaster Nursing Education in the US

"Because of their diverse education, experience, and practice settings, nurses are uniquely qualified to be first receivers, care givers, and leaders in any large-scale public health emergency. Many nurses, however, continue to feel inadequately prepared to function effectively in these types of situations. Great strides have been made since 2001, but much work remains to be accomplished. This article focuses on newer approaches used to teach nurses the principles of disaster preparedness. It also addresses the need to incorporate mass casualty care and disaster management skills into undergraduate curricula, continuing nurse education, and advanced degree programs for nurses in the United States." excerpt from article abstract

To read the full article:
Littleton-Kearney MT, Slepski LA.(2008). Directions for disaster nursing education in the United States. Crit Care Nurs Clin North Am. 2008 Mar;20(1):103-9.

Health Disparities, Cultural Competency Resource

Processes and outcomes of patient care are well-documented across numerous populations. Therefore, collecting accurate data on patients' race, ethnicity, and primary language is critical to improve quality of care.

The Health Research and Educational Trust Disparities Toolkit team has released an updated web based Toolkit. The Toolkit provides hospitals, health systems, clinics, and health plans information and resources for systematically collecting race, ethnicity, and primary language data from patients.

HRET's Disparities Toolkit, offered for free to registered users, is a useful educational tool about the importance of data collection, how to implement a framework to collect the data, and how to use these data to improve quality of care for all populations.

To read more about the toolkit and to register go to the Health Research and Education Trust website.

Sugar-free gum may cause illness, weight loss

An article in this month's BMJ highlights 2 cases in Germany where patients who chewed an excessive amount of sugar-free gum containing sorbitol—a widely used artificial sweetener with laxative properties—suffered diarrhea, abdominal pain, and weight loss. Both patients underwent many tests before physicians made the connection. After the patients stopped consuming products containing the sweetener symptoms disappeared.

"According to one physician at the hospital’s Department of Gastroenterology, five to 20 grams of sorbitol can cause bloating and cramps, and more than 20 grams can cause diarrhea and rapid weight loss; an average stick of chewing gum has 1.25 grams of sorbitol." Retreived 1/17/08 www. advisory.com

To see the full article:
Bauditz, J., Norman, K., Biering, H., Lochs, H., Pirlich, M. (2008) Severe weight loss caused by chewing gum. BMJ 2008;336:96-97. doi:10.1136/bmj.39280.657350.BE

Nursing Administration Standards - Public Comment Welcome

The draft Nursing Administration: Scope and Standards of Practice document is available for public comment until February 20, 2008. The workgroup is interested in your comments about clarity and completeness of content. What gaps need to be addressed? Any other recommendations for improvement?

To view and comment on this document