- California: The Sacramento City Council last week unanimously approved a plan to boost the training provided to all city police officers to improve their response to people with mental health issues. Under the plan, officers will receive 40 hours of crisis intervention training, which will teach responders how to recognize and de-escalate situations with non-compliant or difficult individuals. Currently, all officers with the Sacramento Police Department (SPD) undergo an eight-hour "awareness" version of the training, according to SPD spokesperson Sgt. Bryce Heinlein. SPD aims to train all 750 officers over two years (Chabria, Sacramento Bee, 1/19).
- Maine: The Harold Alfond Foundation is awarding Saint Joseph's College a $1.5 million grant to help build an academic center aimed at addressing a nursing shortage in the state. According to the foundation, nearly 75 percent of nurses in the state are close to retirement age—at a time when demand for home health care, nursing home, and hospital workers is expected to increase. Specifically, the Maine Department of Labor projects that an additional 3,700 ambulatory health care workers, 2,300 hospital workers, and 1,900 workers in nursing and residential care facilities will be needed by 2024. The college will use the foundation's grant for nursing simulation labs, as well as to help raise an additional $3.5 million to fully fund the project (AP/Sacramento Bee, 1/22).
- New Jersey: RWJBarnabas Health and Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) on Thursday signed a letter of intent to affiliate to collaborate on pediatric care. A formal partnership agreement, under which no funds or ownership will be exchanged, is expected in the near future, according to RWJBarnabas and CHOP officials. CHOP CEO Madeline Bell said that under the agreement, CHOP will share physicians and best practices and will help assess the region's pediatric needs. Leaders say they expect the deal to improve access, delivery, quality, and efficiency, as well as create the most comprehensive pediatric health network in the area (Rubenfire, Modern Healthcare, 1/19).
Get the national prescription for nurse engagement
It's more important than ever for frontline nurses to be engaged in their work, committed to their organization's mission, and capable of delivering high-quality care in a complex and constantly changing environment.
This report identifies the unique challenges of engaging nurses and equips nurse leaders with five strategies for building a highly engaged workforce.