Health, HealthCetera, Media Engagement, Policy

Healthstyles, July 16: Ethics in Nursing and Health Care

Photo Flickr Creative Commons Dan Mason.

Nurses are confronted every day with ethical dilemmas when they bear witness to health care practices that endanger the lives of people. They often have to choose between being silent and experiencing the moral distress of knowing you’re not living up to your professional responsibilities or being an outspoken advocate for ethical practice and risking losing your job or being undermined at work.

Today, Healthstyles focuses on ethics in nursing and health care. Producer Diana Mason interviews Marcia Bosek, DNSc, RN, Associate Professor of Nursing at the University of Vermont, about the code of ethics that the nursing profession has adopted as a contract with the public to protect and preserve their wellbeing and ethical practice.

The code has been revised by the American Nurses Association and can be a tool for nurses and patients to hold people accountable for ethical practice. You can listen to the interview here:

But first, she talks with Nicki Gjere, MS, RN, a nurse who decided that she had to speak up about what appears to be repeated violation of ethical standards in health care research at the University of Minnesota Medical Center. A patient with a mental disorder was recruited into a clinical trial for an experimental drug and later killed himself. His mother and others argued that the researchers coerced the patient into the study and didn’t heed signs that he was deteriorating. When the researchers, University and medical center denied wrongdoing, Gjere spoke out. You can listen to the interview here:

So tune in at 1:00 on Thursday, July 16, 2015, to Healthstyles on WBAI, 99.5 FM in NYC or streaming at www.wbai.org. Healthstyles is sponsored by the Center for Health, Media & Policy at Hunter College, City University of New York.

Diana is a founder of the Center for Health, Media & Policy, and HealthCetera Radio. She is the President of the American Academy of Nursing, the Rudin Professor of Nursing at Hunter-Bellevue School of Nursing, and a health policy expert and leader. Diana tweets @djmasonrn.

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July 15, 2015

author: Diana J. Mason

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[caption id="attachment_9145" align="aligncenter" width="580"] Photo Flickr Creative

Health, HealthCetera, Media Engagement, Policy

Media Fellowship on Healthcare Workforce – Call for Applicants!

DEADLINE EXTENDED !

APPLICATIONS ACCEPTED THROUGH AUGUST 28!

~~Deadline: August 14, 2015, 5pm ET~~

download guidelines here

The Center for Health, Media & Policy at Hunter College, City University of New York, has launched a new Healthcare Workforce Media Fellowship to train a recent graduate or early-career journalist on key aspects of reporting on healthcare and nursing workforce issues. The Fellowship is supported by a grant from Johnson & Johnson.

As the nation focuses on improving people’s experiences with care, improving health, and reducing health care costs, this fellowship will enable journalists to better understand issues and policy challenges surrounding our healthcare workforce. The goal is to improve coverage of this topic, with particular attention to the factors that affect existing and new roles of nurses and other health care providers..

The Fellow will investigate and report on a relevant topic of his or her choice for eight months, including cross-platform reporting.

The Fellow will be selected from a pool of post-graduate and early career health journalist applicants in August and will begin work with CHMP on September 16, 2015.

The Fellow will receive a stipend and support to attend a major healthcare or health journalism conference to foster networking and conversations with other journalists about nursing and workforce issues. The fellow will also have opportunities for one-on-one learning, training, and networking with experts in nursing, policy and journalism from CHMP’s national advisory council.

Who Can Apply?

Interested applicants should:

Be a recent graduate (<2 years) of a recognized graduate journalism school and/or
have worked as a journalist for no longer than five (5) years.
Have strong interest in and commitment to health journalism, multimedia reporting and health care workforce issues
Be available to meet in person with the program director and National Advisory Council members in NYC monthly as well as regular telephone or Skype conference calls. When possible, NAC, expert and program meetings will take place on the same day, to minimize travel and maximize use of Fellow’s time..
Commit to publishing, at minimum one multimedia report, one print article or series, and two republications on a healthcare workforce issue that includes a nursing dimension; and demonstrate use of nurses as sources on health and health care.

Requirements

Articles must be published, broadcast, or posted through distributed or circulated news media entities rather than personal blogs, and must credit writing/production in conjunction with the fellowship (Sample texts will be provided that can be adapted for different media).The stories must reach an audience within the U.S.

Short-term story: The Fellow will produce a short story of approximately 1000 words (or comparable broadcast length) on any aspect of healthcare workforce issues. While not required, it may include information or interviews stemming from meetings with members of the National Advisory Council or other CHMP expert.

The piece must be completed no later than December 24, 2015, and scheduled to be disseminated no later than January 15, 2016. Examples of short-term stories include a news report, feature, or commentary about a meeting, or expanding upon a relevant study or discussion of health workforce issues.

Applicants do not need to propose a topic for the short-term story ahead of time, nor do they have to obtain advance approval from an editor/producer that the piece will be considered as an editorial assignment for publication or broadcast. The subject matter does not have to relate to the longer-term project and can be published through a different media organization if desired. However, it is the Fellow’s responsibility to ensure pieces are published according to stated deadlines.

Therefore, applicants should indicate where they expect to pitch the short-term story if it will appear in a different news outlet than the long-term project.

Long-term project: Each applicant should submit a proposal of up to one page, outlining a major story or series that she or he intends to research and write. The story or series should be of the Fellow’s own design, focusing on a a pressing healthcare workforce issue. While not required, strong consideration will be given to ideas that pay particular attention to the factors that affect existing and new roles of nurses and other health care providers. The Fellow is welcome to interview any NAC member or conference expert(s) as part of the piece.

The project deadline is Friday, March 18, 2016, and it must be scheduled to be disseminated no later than Saturday, April 30, 2016.

Along with the application, candidates should include an agreement from his or her editor/producer to accept the long-term project proposal as an editorial assignment for publication or broadcast.

Although the primary editor/producer for stories will be at each reporter’s news outlet, fellows will be encouraged to consult with program director Liz Seegert or CHMP co-directors Diana Mason and Barbara Glickstein for help with sources and background.

Dissemination

The stories resulting from this fellowship will first be published by the journalist’s media organization. HealthCetera, the blog of CHMP, HealthStyles Radio, and New America Media then have the option to cross-post the stories — with full credit and links back to the primary publisher — and make them available to member Pacifica stations or, in the case of NAM, its network of ethnic media outlets. Stories or broadcast reports must include appropriate supporting text (to be supplied) to the Fellowship, CHMP, and the Johnson & Johnson Foundation.

If necessary, CHMP and NAM editors may adapt reports to their specific format(s). The Fellow will have the right of final approval on any editing prior to publication or air.

Stipend and Travel

The fellow will receive a stipend of $1,500, with half to be paid on start of the fellowship and the remainder upon completion of the long-term project. CHMP will reimburse the Fellow up to $1,000 for travel, meals and expenses to attend one national journalism or healthcare conference or two regional conferences.

Selection Process and Eligibility

The fellowship selection panel will include journalism, nursing, and policy experts from the Center for Health, Media & Policy. Since this is the inaugural year of the Media Fellowship, the application process is open to any post-graduate or early-career journalist (<5 years’ experience).

Additional Information

For further details about fellowship requirements and potential stories, contact Liz Seegert, Program Director, Center for Health, Media & Policy at liz@healthmediapolicy.com. Be sure to put “Media Fellow” in the subject line.

Application Process

Applications must be submitted in a single Microsoft Word or Adobe PDF file consisting of the following components:

A cover letter containing:

Applicant name
Mailing address
Office phone
Mobile phone
E-mail
Employer (Freelancers please specify the length of affiliation with the outlet that will publish or broadcast the story.)
Employer address
Employer phone
Employer’s circulation and audience demographic (Please indicate whether this media outlet serves a general audience or a specific community.)

A resume.
A proposal (up to one page) or outline describing an idea for long-term project topic, , its relevance to the audience, and why you chose to cover the issue.
A letter from an editor/producer agreeing to accept the long-term project proposal as an editorial assignment for publication or broadcast.
No more than three samples of published or broadcast journalistic work. For applicants submitting print samples, the full story text should be included in the application document. For applicants submitting broadcast samples, please include hyperlinks to these stories — either on a news organization’s website or a file sharing site such as filesanywhere.com — in the application document.

Applications that are not submitted in a single Microsoft Word or Adobe PDF file will not be reviewed. Please submit the file (using a file name format of “LastnameFirstname.doc” or “LastnameFirstname.pdf”) using the following link: http://bit.ly/1h0FhIO

Deadline: August 28, 2015; 5pm ET

Applicants will be notified on or before September 4, and selected candidate should be available for an introductory meeting on Wednesday, September 16, in New York City.

About CHMP

The Center for Health, Media and Policy (CHMP) is an interdisciplinary initiative for advancing the health of the public and healthy public policies. CHMP is a catalyst for shaping crucial conversations about health and health care through media, research, education, and public forums. This media fellowship is an extension of the Center’s mission, designed to increase awareness and encourage debate of critical health and policy issues. The Center was co-founded and is co-directed by Barbara Glickstein, MS, MPH, RN, and Diana Mason, PhD, RN, FAAN, producers of the radio program, Healthstyles, for 30 years.

July 14, 2015

author: Editorial Staff

1 Comment

DEADLINE EXTENDED ! APPLICATIONS ACCEPTED THROUGH AUGUST 28! Deadline:

Health

NYCNECT Conference: How CUNY Nurses Transform Health Care

What happens when nurses, armed with simulation technology and innovative learning pedagogies, get together to share how they’ve transformed nursing education at their schools?

A mannequin at a simulation technology vendor booth. These high-fidelity simulators have pulses and injection sites, some can perspire and convulse.

You get a modern, savvy and “culturally competent” workforce that tackles the city’s biggest healthcare problems, like health disparities in underserved populations. That’s the goal of the New York City Nursing Education Consortium in Technology (NYCNECT, pronounced, “N-Y-Connect”), a CUNY-wide network of nurse educators.

This consortium, a five-year, grant-funded project by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, trains nurse educators hailing from every nursing school in the City University of New York system on how to incorporate simulation technology into their nursing programs. Hunter College School of Nursing has been the flagship institution for this grant-funded project aimed at helping faculty nurse educators integrate technology into nursing education and practice. This year marked five years, and this June’s meeting was their last. Luckily, I had the opportunity to attend.

Now I say “luckily” for a reason. I used to work in cardiovascular research lab at a heart and lung research institute. I attended over a dozen conferences: covering heart and lung research, medical research, and innovations in research tools.

Knowing the education basics. Keynote speaker Tim Clapper, PhD, an renowned education and simulation consultant, talks about education philosophy and how to keep their technology practical and not distracting, especially for adult learners. “People want learning to be authentic. They want their learning environment to look like what their work environment looks like, “Clapper said.

Even after leaving science for journalism, I roamed my fair share of science, health education, writing and research meetings and forums, mostly for story research. I have learned that these gatherings, more often than not, look the same and are structured similarly. They all have their buzzy room full of posters, attendees chatting in pairs or trios, vendors scanning the room from their booths armed and ready for promotion, and refreshments sitting temptingly in the far corner of the room.

Focusing on the big picture from the very beginning: NYCNECT Project Manager Shawn McGinniss, kicks off the conference with a message about the importance of teaching nurses well. McGinniss, whose background is in instructional design for health profession training, said that the impact he sees since starting with the project over five years ago, “is inspiring because it doesn’t stop with our students. This work—everything we work very hard for—ends up benefitting our student’s patients and their families.” And seeing as CUNY graduates over half of New York City’s working RNs, this impact stands to transform healthcare in the city.

Nurses in NYCNECT are always learning. In a room of over 40 nurses, no one seemed dependent on coffee. They’re not just getting introduced, but they’re actively taking lessons throughout the year to become masterful at these methods of instruction.

For the first time, the keynote speaker isn’t a nurse. Many conferences feature a person from their field. In past years, NYCNECT had done the same, recruiting influential voices in nursing and nursing education, people like Mary Anne Rizzolo, to speak. This year, it was a simulation consultant, Tim Clapper, who gave an engaging talk about teaching methods in health education and how to use technology to advance and not distract learners. His status as a simulation consultant and not a nurse turned out to not be a distraction, either. “Dr. Clapper’s presentation was engaging, interesting and intuitive, I believe every educator would find something to learn and something to apply to their classroom from this speaker,” said nurse Jennifer Louis, an Assistant Professor of Nursing at LaGuardia Community College.

Nurses are a tight community. In a room full of what organizers call “nurse-transformers,” from over a dozen CUNY institutions with first-time attendees and perennial returners, I walked by two nurses making introductions. “I’ve known you by name for a long time!” said one. It made me realize how much a role NYCNECT plays in peer-to-peer networking.

Nurses from York College talk about their collaboration with Shadow Health, a simulation program used to teach their nursing students how to interact with their patients

Nurses learn more than tech. The conference is about equipping teaching nurses with more than how-to’s with medical technology tools, McGinniss explains. Tools, he said, do not work without good instruction. “It’s not just teaching with simulation, but to really understand the learning theory and practices behind it that make it useful. Not just tech for the sake of tech. You’re always going to have options for new tools, so if you maintain a solid understanding of pedagogy at play then the tools are just that, tools.”

The program prides itself on providing CUNY faculty with hands-on instruction in innovative pedagogy and how to integrate healthcare simulation, informatics, and telehealth. But it does more than that. At the end of the day, one nurse got up and thanked the organizers for introducing her to the iPad. Another nurse credited the consortium for influencing her to get “smart” and use a smartphone.

They want to continue learning and sharing. I expected some cynicism or dismay over lack of funding for future collaboration, but these nurses were intent on keeping the momentum going. A panel of nurses opened up this discussion and most agreed that an annual conference is a must. “We’re talking about a way to form a core group of representatives that would represent all the schools and campuses and identify ongoing needs,” McGinniss said. “It’s all very exploratory.”

This consortium was funded by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) for the Faculty Development: Integrated Technology into Nursing Education and Practice Initiative (Faculty Development: ITNEP).

Helina Selemon is a student at the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism in New York City. She is interning this summer with the Center for Health, Media & Policy.

July 11, 2015