Perhaps nursing experts and talking heads are awaiting the Second Coming to solve the nursing shortage. Or maybe intervention from Virgin Mary, or another favored saint. Perhaps the savior will come in the form of a revised law which will allow any number of nurses to enter the US from abroad.

At any rate, the news keeps churning out these silly stories, padded with quotes from those who think that they have the nursing shortage pegged. Enter the University of Southern Mississippi, whose nursing school is launching an online program to help nurses with associate’s degrees to earn their bachelor’s degrees without having to quit work.

I had saved this article a few weeks ago, but neglected to make a copy of the link. So I will summarize the idiocy in its full glory. It quotes from a nursing professor named Bonita Reinert who says that this program will help ease the shortage of nurses and nursing faculty. How it will do that is another one of those exercises in brain power, being that we are speaking about people who are already nurses. And most nurses do not drop out of the work force to continue their education. They attend classes on days that they are off from work, and take courses that can be done remotely. Even before the Internet, remote classes were an option, by way of the TV set. It is nothing new.

“I see nurses that might have dropped out of nursing to go back to school being able to stay in practice with this program,” Reinert said.

I wonder where she has seen this? You would either have to have a spouse or parent support you, live on welfare, or have won the lottery in order to have the luxury of going back to school full time and not working.

How many nurses has she seen drop out of nursing to go to school full time for a BSN? One? two? three? Am I getting close?

And moving some of the 26,000 registered nurses in Mississippi who hold associate’s degrees up to the bachelor’s degree level could encourage some to earn advanced degrees, thereby widening the field of potential nursing faculty, she added.

Same old story, same old nonsense. Prof Reinert, nurses are not becoming teachers because they don’t get paid enough. It’s not worth the money that they put into getting an advanced degree. Why do you think that encouraging more nurses to get their BSN is going to magically create more teachers? If anything, it will speed up the number of nurses leaving the profession or at least, bedside nursing.

Getting a BSN is the fastest and easiest way for a nurse to get an undergrad degree. From there, she can go on to grad school in any number of areas. She’s not limited to nursing. The BSN opens the door to law school, medical school, pharmacy school, or degrees in the sciences, psychology, an MBA…. And even getting an undergrad degree makes her more eligible for non-hospital type jobs, like case management, or a pharm rep, etc.

So once again, we have another pathetic news story about solving the great nursing shortage. Are we still awake?

This is a press release from a professional medical association, applauding the move by the CDC to “normalize” HIV and make testing routine. In theory, it is a good idea. Keeping HIV apart from other ailments, including other STDs, continues to stimatize it and place it in a special category.

On the other hand, some providers may take this as an opportunity to pressure some patients to get tested, such as a pregnant woman. And if she refuses, then what? If HIV testing is made like any other test, then a clinician can run any test that he pleases. He can test a pregnant woman for HIV, just like he can test her blood for iron levels, glucose, or anything else. And if she’s positive, we will open up a whole other can of worms–can treatment be forced upon a pregnant woman? And should it?

Will HIV testing be done for employee hirings, routinely? And why not, if a consent is no longer needed. And then can employment suddenly be revoked (sorry, we have a hiring freeze) if the test is positive? Afterall, who wants to hire someone who may end up with very expensive healthcare bills.

These are hypothetical situations, but removing the need to sign a consent can potentially open the door to abuse. HIV still carries a heavy stigma, and while trying to make testing be like any other disease (ie, trying to remove the stigma), it may merely replace one set of problems for another.

HIV Experts Applaud CDC Move to Make HIV Testing Routine

Alexandria, Va.–The HIV Medicine Association applauds new federal guidelines that will make HIV testing a routine part of medical care—an important step to controlling the growing HIV epidemic in the United States. Despite prevention efforts, 40,000 more people are infected with HIV every year.

In guidelines to be released Thursday, Sept. 22, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends testing patients in all health-care settings for HIV—from primary care doctors’ offices to public health clinics to prison hospitals. Patients should be informed of the test, and can opt out.

“We’re very happy that CDC is taking this important step,” said HIVMA Chair Daniel R. Kuritzkes, MD. “We see far too many patients who were never tested for HIV before they became sick with AIDS. Routine testing will help identify more of the 25 percent of people with HIV who don’t know they are infected.”

“Patients who get treatment while they’re still healthy live longer than those who get it when they’re already sick,” notes HIVMA Board member Michael S. Saag, MD. “The costs for providing their care is more than two times lower when treatment is started earlier as well.”

The new CDC guidelines are the first step to removing barriers to testing. Until now, testing for HIV has been treated differently than for any other disease, requiring a separate written consent form and extensive counseling on the test, its implications, and HIV risk behavior. The new guidelines suggest that these steps no longer be required in clinical settings.

“Patients go to their doctors expecting to be screened for heart disease, cancer, sexually transmitted diseases, or other conditions,” Dr. Saag said. “But no one signs a form to get a prostate exam. We need to make sure that patients are informed about the HIV test, but we should not put obstacles in the way of testing.”

But testing is just the beginning of a patient’s battle with HIV. The next hurdle is access to treatment and expert medical care. Many of those identified are likely to be uninsured or underinsured. “The programs they rely on to provide them with care are already bursting at the seams,” Dr. Saag said. “Providers are overworked and burning out. Funding is too short to hire more staff, even as the caseload keeps increasing all the time. We’re on the brink of a crisis in HIV care in this country.”

“Routine HIV testing can save lives. It is the right thing to do,” Dr. Kuritzkes added. “But Congress absolutely must back up increased testing with funding to match. Now is the time for overburdened HIV care providers to speak up. Tell Congress to reauthorize and adequately fund the Ryan White CARE Act and expand access to Medicaid to ensure that those who are newly identified with HIV receive the care and services they need.”