Around the country, print, broadcast and online media outlets are covering the groundbreaking work of Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) leaders, scholars, fellows and grantees. Some recent examples:

In a piece about the growing need for advanced nursing education, Nurse.com interviewed a group of nurse leaders working to fulfill a recommendation from the Institute of Medicine report, The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health, which calls for doubling the number of doctorate-level nurses by 2020. Among those quoted: Christine Kovner, RN, PhD, FAAN, co-principal of RWJF’s RN Work Project; RWJF Executive Nurse Fellows alumna Jane Kirschling, RN, DNS, FAAN; and Susan Bakewell-Sachs, RN, PhD, PNP-BC, program director for the New Jersey Nursing Initiative, a program of RWJF and the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce Foundation.

Nurse.com and Infection Control Today report on an RWJF-supported study that finds hospitals that have higher percentages of nurses with baccalaureate degrees have lower rates of postsurgical mortality. The study, published in the March issue of Health Affairs, stems from the Future of Nursing: Campaign for Action.  Read more about the study.

“I recently traveled to Singapore, where I met with other doctors and told about being the emergency department (ED) doctor at the University of Colorado Hospital the morning of the Aurora theater shootings on July 20, 2012,” RWJF Clinical Scholars alumna Comilla Sasson, MD, MS, FACEP, writes in an op-ed for the Denver Post. “One thing dawned on me as I spoke: I had seen more gunshot wound victims in that one night than these doctors will see in their entire careers.” Read a post Sasson wrote for the RWJF Human Capital Blog about the Aurora theater shootings, and learn more about her experience talking to the national news media afterward.

Around the country, print, broadcast and online media outlets are covering the groundbreaking work of Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) leaders, scholars, fellows and grantees. Some recent examples:

As part of its 25th anniversary celebration, Nurse.com recognized RWJF Senior Adviser for Nursing Susan B. Hassmiller, RN, PhD, FAAN, as a “pillar” of the New York/New Jersey nursing community. Hassmiller serves as director of the Future of Nursing: Campaign for Action. Nurse.com also honored Beverly L. Malone, RN, PhD, FAAN, a member of the RWJF Nurse Faculty Scholars National Advisory Committee and CEO of the National League for Nursing––one of the organizations leading RWJF’s Academic Progression in Nursing (APIN) program.

The New York Times reports on a new analysis by the RAND Corporation, co-authored by Arthur Kellermann, MD, MPH, FACEP, an alumnus of the RWJF Clinical Scholars program and the RWJF Health Policy Fellows program. The analysis finds that “the conversion to electronic health records has failed so far to produce the hoped-for savings in health care costs and has had mixed results, at best, in improving efficiency and patient care.” The article also quotes RWJF Investigator Award in Health Policy Research recipient David Blumenthal, MD, MPP. Read a post Kellermann wrote for the RWJF Human Capital Blog about health care spending.

Investigator Award recipient and RWJF Generalist Physician Faculty Scholar program alumnus Peter Ubel, MD, wrote an article for Forbes about a study he co-authored with RWJF Scholars in Health Policy Research alumnus Brendan Nyhan, PhD, and Jason Reifler, PhD, that finds the “death panel” myth––that the government would decide who was “worthy of health care” under the Affordable Care Act––has persisted, and may even grow with time. The Washington Post Wonk Blog also reported on the study. Read a post Ubel wrote for the RWJF Human Capital Blog.

Around the country, print, broadcast and online media outlets are covering the groundbreaking work of Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) leaders, scholars, fellows and grantees. Some recent examples:

Arthur Kellermann, MD, MPH, FACEP, was one of several experts taking part in a recent “Intelligence Squared U.S.” debate, grappling with the pros and cons of rationing end-of-life care, NPR reports. Kellermann is both an RWJF Clinical Scholars and RWJF Health Policy Fellows alumnus, and serves on the Clinical Scholars program’s National Advisory Committee.

The Mohawk Valley Business Journal in Central New York state reports on a joint nurse-training program that will allow high school graduates to earn both associate and bachelor’s degrees in nursing in four years, and sit for the National Council of State Boards of Nursing’s National Council Licensure Examination after three years. The program is funded by a grant from RWJF’s Academic Progression in Nursing (APIN) program.

Research co-led by Jennifer Wenzel, PhD, RN, an alumna of the RWJF Nurse Faculty Scholars program, finds that married South Korean women with diabetes say they believe that the stress of caring for their families played a role in contracting the disease, according to a United Press International (UPI) story. The study also found that many of the women "did not make enough time to care for themselves because of their obligations to the family," UPI reports, noting that the women often had difficulty managing their disease because their husbands and children disapproved of diabetes-friendly meals.

Around the country, print, broadcast and online media outlets are covering the groundbreaking work of Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) leaders, scholars, fellows and grantees. Some recent examples:

Forbes named RWJF President and CEO Risa Lavizzo-Mourey, MD, MBA, to its annual list of the “World’s 100 Most Powerful Women.” The list includes political leaders, corporate executives, NGO heads, top government officials and a first lady.

The Academic Progression in Nursing (APIN) program has announced grants to nine states, Nurse.com reports. California, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Montana, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Texas, and Washington state will receive two-year, $300,000 grants to advance state and regional strategies aimed at creating a more highly educated, diverse nursing workforce. Read more about the APIN grants.

City Biz List Baltimore reports on the selection of Jason E. Farley, PhD, MPH, CRNP, to be a 2012 RWJF Nurse Faculty Scholar. He is among the 12 talented junior nurse faculty members chosen for the highly competitive program. Read more about the new cohort of Nurse Faculty Scholars.

RWJF Physician Faculty Scholars alumnus Deverick J. Anderson, MD, MPH, spoke to the Associated Press about hospital infection control and “superbugs,” or antibiotic-resistant germs. The story was picked up by USA Today, U.S. News & World Report, and CBS News, among other outlets.

The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) School of Nursing honored the Future of Nursing: Campaign for Action with one of its “Nurse 21 Awards” at its second annual gala, Nurse.com reports.

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Academic Progression in Nursing (APIN) program this week announced that California, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Montana, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Texas and Washington state have been chosen to receive grants to advance state and regional strategies aimed at creating a more highly educated, diverse nursing workforce. Each state will receive a two-year, $300,000 grant. 

The states will now work with academic institutions and employers on implementing sophisticated strategies to help nurses get higher degrees in order to improve patient care and help fill faculty and advanced practice nursing roles.  In particular, the states will encourage strong partnerships between community colleges and universities to make it easier for nurses to transition to higher degrees.

In its groundbreaking report, The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) recommended that 80 percent of the nursing workforce be prepared at the baccalaureate level or higher by the year 2020.  At present, about half of nurses in the United States have baccalaureate or higher degrees.

Have you signed up to receive Sharing Nursing’s Knowledge? The monthly Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) e-newsletter will keep you up to date on the latest nursing news, research and trends. Here are descriptions of some of the stories in the May issue:

Nursing as a 'Second Act'

A growing number of people are re-starting their careers by becoming nurses and, in so doing, helping to curb a looming nursing shortage and making valuable additions to the nursing workforce. Many second career nurses are able to enter the workforce quickly thanks to accelerated nurse education programs, which enable students to earn baccalaureate degrees in 12 to 18 months and master’s degrees in two to three years.

Nurse Leaders Join Together in "Historic" Education Initiative

Pamela Austin Thompson, MS, RN, CENP, FAAN, CEO of the American Organization of Nurse Executives (AONE), is leading a new RWJF-supported initiative called Academic Progression in Nursing (APIN). APIN represents an historic collaboration among four of the nation’s largest nursing groups to lead a nationwide effort to help new nurses earn baccalaureate and higher degrees in nursing and transition into practice.

Around the country, the news media is covering the groundbreaking work of Robert Wood Johnson Foundation scholars, fellows and grantees. Here are some examples.

Nurse.com and Becker’s Hospital Review report on the launch of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF)-supported Academic Progression in Nursing (APIN) initiative. The $4.3 million, Phase 1 two year-initiative will provide funding to nine state Action Coalitions as they work to advance state and regional strategies to create a more highly educated nursing workforce. Learn more about APIN.

A New York Times letter to the editor about the Independent Payment Advisory Board, written by RWJF Scholars in Health Policy Research program director Alan B. Cohen, ScD, was chosen as the paper’s “Sunday Dialogue,” in which readers’ responses to the letter—and Cohen’s rejoinder—were published.

RWJF Nurse Faculty Scholar Shannon Zenk, PhD, MPH, RN, spoke to NPR’s Salt blog about a study that finds improving cost and proximity to fresh produce is not the only incentive needed to convince people to buy fresh fruits and vegetables; consumers also care about selection and quality. Zenk says other factors, such as a lack of safety or cleanliness, and poor customer service, also can deter people from shopping for healthy food.

“New Jersey is making strides in meeting the challenges of a looming nursing shortage by providing incentives that are persuading some in the profession to turn to teaching the next generation of nurses,” NJ Spotlight writes of the New Jersey Nursing Initiative, a program of RWJF and the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce Foundation.

RWJF Clinical Scholars alumnus Ryan Greysen, MD, MA, continues to earn media coverage about his study examining the pervasiveness of physician misconduct online and its repercussions. Becker’s Hospital Review, MD News and Modern Medicine are among the outlets to report on the findings.

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) yesterday announced the launch of the Academic Progression in Nursing (APIN) initiative, to advance state and regional strategies to create a more highly educated nursing workforce. The $4.3 million, Phase 1 two year-initiative will provide funding to state Action Coalitions as they work to advance the recommendation in the Institute of Medicine report, The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health, that 80 percent of the nursing workforce be prepared at the baccalaureate level by 2020.

The nine funded Action Coalitions will each work on at least one strategy related to academic progression and at least one related to employment for baccalaureate or higher-prepared nurses, to ensure demand for their services. Thus, academic-service partnerships are key to the success of this effort.

“Our Action Coalitions around the country have generated extraordinary collaboration between nurses and other leaders, who are working together to build a more highly educated and diverse nursing workforce, promote nurse leadership, support interprofessional collaboration, ensure that nurses practice to the full extent of their education and training, and improve data collection,” Susan B. Hassmiller, RN, PhD, FAAN, RWJF senior adviser for nursing, said in a release. “We are confident that the new models they create will be replicable and help achieve our goal to have 80 percent of the nursing workforce be prepared at the baccalaureate level or higher by 2020. Advancing a more highly educated, diverse workforce is essential to achieving the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s mission to improve health and health care in this country.”

The initiative will be led by the Tri-Council for Nursing, consisting of the American Association of Colleges of Nursing, National League for Nursing, American Nurses Association and the American Organization of Nurse Executives.

Learn more about the Campaign for Action.

Read more about the Action Coalitions.

Watch the Action Coalition video series.