Nurse practitioners aim to fill care gap

This repost from Georgia Health News was written by Alyssa Sellers a graduate student at the University of Georgia. She is currently pursuing a master’s degree in journalism and mass communication with a concentration in telecommunications in the Health and Medical Journalism Program at the University of Georgia.

Ms. Sellers interviewed co-director Barbara Glickstein for this article. CHMP co-directors and senior fellows are  available as expert sources for the media. Health reporters can look to CHMP as a resource for leads to experts in health care and health policy for their reporting needs.

More and more Americans, especially in rural areas, say they have no primary care doctor. And the situation may get worse before it gets better. As millions of people become newly insured in 2014 and the population grows, many are worried that those with new coverage will overwhelm the nation’s already short supply of primary care physicians.

“Fifty years ago, half of the doctors in America practiced primary care, but today fewer than one in three do,” the Senate Primary Health and Aging subcommittee reported in January. And of the 17,000 new doctors graduating from medical school each year, only 7 percent choose a primary care career.

So who will fill this growing primary care gap, especially in rural America? In many cases, the answer is nurse practitioners (NPs) – advanced practice registered nurses who have earned a postgraduate nursing degree that prepares them to practice at a more advanced level than a regular RN.    Continue reading here 

This repost from Georgia Health News was

Re-engineering packaging to prevent suicide

Barbara Glickstein is co-director of the Center for Health, Media & Policy.

photo credit: Richard Malley www.richmalley.com

In today’s New York Times Opinionator blog,  Ezekiel J. Emanuel’s A Simple Way to Reduce Suicides argues for changing the packaging of Tylenol from 50-100 pills in a bottle to blister packs as a measure to decrease suicides.  He suggests that blister packs, being more labor-intensive and time-consuming to get the right dosage for toxicity, add a time-delay that potentially could stop the suicide from happening. This impact could contribute to the saving of thousands of lives each year.

A mental health professional posted a comment online comparing it to a speed bump in the road slowing down the suicide attempt.  This pause in the action may create the emotional mind-space for them to reconsider their actions. Maybe even get some help.

The comments section mainly includes outcries by environmentalists because blister packaging increases waste and arthritis sufferers dependent on Tylenol for symptom management who struggle with this type of packaging due to their restricted mobility and aching joints. Then there are those who cry out stop the nanny state. They just want to be left alone.

Barbara Glickstein is co-director of the Center for Health, Media & Policy.

photo credit: Richard Malley www.richmalley.com

In today’s New York Times Opinionator blog,  Ezekiel J. Emanuel’s A Simple Way to Reduce Suicides argues for changing the packaging of Tylenol from 50-100 pills in a bottle to blister packs as a measure to decrease suicides.  He suggests that blister packs, being more labor-intensive and time-consuming to get the right dosage for toxicity, add a time-delay that potentially could stop the suicide from happening. This impact could contribute to the saving of thousands of lives each year.

A mental health professional posted a comment online comparing it to a speed bump in the road slowing down the suicide attempt.  This pause in the action may create the emotional mind-space for them to reconsider their actions. Maybe even get some help.

The comments section mainly includes outcries by environmentalists because blister packaging increases waste and arthritis sufferers dependent on Tylenol for symptom management who struggle with this type of packaging due to their restricted mobility and aching joints. Then there are those who cry out stop the nanny state. They just want to be left alone.