state news

Twenty-one hospitals across six states have come together to focus on improving clinical quality and patient safety by eliminating barriers to nurses spending more time in direct patient care. A VHA survey showed that many nurses spend less than 30 percent of their time in direct contact with patients. Studies indicate that increasing nursing involvement in direct patient care improves the quality and safety of the care that is delivered.

Efforts by California to expand health insurance to all children have 'stalled,' and 'thousands of kids are in danger of losing insurance' as a result of recent changes to state programs, the Los Angeles Times reports. (Source: News-medical News Feed)

The Alabama State Employees' Insurance Board last week approved a plan that will require state employees who are obese or have health problems to make progress to address those issues or pay a monthly charge for health insurance, the AP/Philadelphia Inquirer reports. (Source: News-medical News Feed)

Leading child advocates have called for a new approach to tackling child abuse and neglect amid rising rates of abuse notifications and children being brought into State care. The arguments for a new approach are set out in the latest edition of the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health.