Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
To Beat Pediatric Nurse Shortage, Nevada Fast-Tracks Temp Licenses
Nevada has fast-tracked its application process for a temporary nursing license in an effort to ease the current shortage of pediatric nurses, officials said this week. The Nevada State Board of Nursing can now issue a temporary Nevada license within a couple hours to a nurse already licensed in another state, executive director Cathy Dinauer said. Normally the process would take several days. (Hynes, 12/7)
In other health news from across the U.S. —
Nurses at Windham Hospital in Connecticut have finally agreed to new contracts with their employer Hartford HealthCare a year after their previous contracts expired. Andrea Riley, a registered nurse and president of the Windham Federation of Professional Nurses, said the road to get to an agreement with their employer has been a long time coming. (Scott-Smith, 12/7)
The true impact of a Missouri patient rights law enacted this past legislative session likely won’t be known until there is another health emergency. Earlier this year, lawmakers passed the No Patient Left Alone Act, which requires health care facilities, like hospitals or long-term care facilities, to allow for in-person visitors. Facilities must also allow patients to designate an essential caregiver for in-person contact during a public state of emergency. (Kellogg, 12/7)
Four students at a Southern California school apparently overdosed Wednesday after eating marijuana-laced products and three of them were taken to the hospital, authorities said. Firefighters were sent to Sunnymead Middle School in Moreno Valley at about noon, Riverside County fire officials said. (12/8)
At least three partially vaccinated children in Central Ohio have contracted measles, marking the first cases in the region's outbreak that have not been among unvaccinated children. Fifty nine cases had been confirmed as of Dec. 7, according to a dashboard run by the health department in Columbus. All but three of those cases were among unvaccinated children. (Carbajal, 12/7)
Parts of the Great Salt Lake hardly resembled a lake at all this fall. Water levels in October fell to the lowest levels on record, exposing much of the lakebed and creating conditions for storms of dust — laden with toxic metals — that now threaten the 2 million people living nearby. (Bush, 12/7)
