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PA's piece of the RN pie

The Pennsylvania Department of Health recently released the results of a statewide survey administered to more than 83,000 RNs who renewed their licenses in April and October of 2002. According to the state health secretary, the survey aimed to provide legislators, policy makers, educators, employers, and health care researchers with an accurate picture of the challenges facing health care workers.

 

Fast stats

The report's findings include:

 

[white diamond suit] Most nurses employed in the health care sector in the state worked in hospitals (58.3%); 9.7% worked in nursing homes.

 

[white diamond suit] Of the RNs surveyed, 6.7% worked in physician and other primary care offices; 6.3% worked in home-health agencies.

 

[white diamond suit] The workforce is aging: The average age of the state's working RNs was 44.8 years; only 17.2% of respondents were between the ages of 20 and 34.

 

[white diamond suit] Overtime is prevalent but not mandated: 12.8% of nurses reported working mandatory overtime in the 2 weeks prior to the survey; 87.2% indicated that they didn't work mandatory overtime.

 

[white diamond suit] The state's RNs seem pleased with their careers, with 84.2% rating themselves as "very satisfied" or "somewhat satisfied." On the other hand, 45.6% of respondents indicated that they plan to leave nursing within the next decade. This percentage includes 29.2% of nurses in the 20 to 34 age-group.

 

 

Source: Special Report on the Characteristics of the Registered Nurse Population in Pennsylvania. Available online: http://www.dsf.health.state.pa.us/health/lib/health/RNDATABOOK_1002.pdf.

 

Ones to watch

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services selected Anne L. Felteau, RN, PhD, MBA, CNAA, FACHE, director of Patient Care Business Affairs, Grady Health System, Atlanta, Ga., to participate in its Health Policy Scholars Program.

 

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Susan Kralick-Goldberg, RN, MSN, vice-president of Cardiovascular Services at Hoag Heart and Vascular Institute, Newport Beach, Calif., received the State Award for Nurse Practitioner Advocate from the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners.

 

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Linda C. Pugh, RN,C, PhD, and Phyllis Sharps, RN, PhD, faculty members at Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing, Baltimore, Md., were elected Fellows of the American Academy of Nursing.

 

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Twenty nurse leaders became Robert Wood Johnson Executive Nurse Fellows in 2003:Cynthia Barginere, RN, MSN, University of Alabama Hospital, Birmingham, Ala., Derryl Block, RN, PhD, University of Wisconsin at Green Bay, Green Bay, Wis., William Cody, RN, PhD, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Charlotte, N.C., Luvenia Watson Cowart, RN, MSN, EdD, Syracuse University, Syracuse, N.Y., Debra Danforth, RN, BSN, Oneida Tribe of Indians of Wisconsin, Oneida, Wis., Erin Denholm, RN, MSN, Centura Health, Denver, Colo., Karen Drenkard, RN, MSN, CNAA, Inova Health System, Falls Church, Va., Jacqueline Dunbar-Jacob, RN, PhD, University of Pittsburgh School of Nursing, Pittsburgh, Pa.

 

Also, Louise Kahn, RN, MSN, MALAS, CPNP, New Mexico Community Foundation, Santa Fe, N.M., Mary Lou Manning, RN, PhD, CPNP, The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pa., Marie O'Toole, RN, EdD, FAAN, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Newark, N.J., Miriam Perez-Cuevas, RN, MA, BSN, Methodist Healthcare Ministries of South Texas, San Antonio, Texas, Maxine Proskurowski, RN, MS, 4j Health Services, Eugene, Ore., Nancy Ridenour, RN, PhD, CS, FNC, FAAN, Mennonite College of Nursing, Illinois State University, Normal, Ill., Jean Scholz, RN, MS, Ohio Hospital Association, Columbus, Ohio, Nancy Shendell-Falik, RN, MA, Newark Beth Israel Medical Center, Newark, N.J., Dennis Sherrod, RN, MSN, EdD, Forsyth Medical Center, Winston-Salem State University, Winston-Salem, N.C., Karen Stefaniak, RN, PhD, University of Kentucky Hospital, Lexington, Ky., and Donna Thompson, RN, MS, Access Community Health Network, Chicago, Ill., and Mary Louise White, RN, MEd, MS, Dr. Solomon Carter Fuller Mental Health Center, Boston, Mass.

 

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