Texas Travel Nursing

Nancy Jo Reedy, CNM, MPH, FACNM, a certified nurse-midwife from Arlington, Texas, is the recipient of the 2007 Hattie Hemschemeyer Award from the American College of Nurse-Midwives (ACNM). The "Hattie" is the College's most prestigious award and was presented to Ms. Reedy on May 26, 2007 at the ACNM 52nd Annual Meeting & Exhibit in Chicago, IL.

A 1973 graduate of the Mississippi Medical Center Nurse-Midwifery Education Program, Reedy has spent over 30 years contributing to midwifery and women's health. Reedy founded four midwifery practices, including the practice at Parkland Memorial Hospital, which is the largest midwifery practice in the United States. Reedy is currently the Director of Nurse-Midwifery Services at Texas Health Care, PLLC in Fort Worth, Texas. Reedy received an MPH from the University of Illinois in 1977 and has exemplified dedication to midwifery, in clinical practice, policy, advocacy, mentorship, education, leadership, and service.

"Over the years this midwife's dedication to midwifery, in all its aspects, including practice, policy, advocacy, mentorship, education, leadership and service, has been outstanding," said Katherine Camacho Carr, CNM, PhD, former ACNM President, during the award presentation. "I would venture to say that she even has celebrity status among us, not only because of her legendary midwifery contributions, but also because of her wit, her sense of humor and her honest, if not opinionated approach to everything."

Reedy has had a long standing commitment to underserved women. She currently has plans to move to a new women's hospital supported in part by an endowment to ensure care for vulnerable populations.

Reedy has played key roles in ACNM. She served on the ACNM Board of Directors as Region V Representative from 1994-1997 and as Region IV Representative from 1980-1984. She served on the ACNM Nominating Committee, the Bylaws Committee, the Political & Economic Affairs Committee, the ACNM Summit on Nurse-Midwifery Education, the ad hoc Committee to Revise the Ethical Code for Midwives, and the National Commission on Nurse-Midwifery Education, in addition to playing many roles in her local chapters. Currently, Reedy serves as an ACNM Division of Accreditation site visitor.

Reedy supported the development of the service Directors Network, and the A.C.N.M. Foundation. Her wisdom and guidance as the President of the A.C.N.M. Foundation turned the Foundation into a dynamic, fiscally sound, and successful fund-raising endeavor. She has tirelessly worked for sister organizations, including the March of Dimes, the National Certification Corporation for Obstetric, Gynecologic and Neonatal Nursing Specialties and the Association of Women's Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses (formerly NAACOG).

The Hattie Hemschemeyer Award, named in honor of ACNM's first president and a pioneer of the profession, is given annually to an ACNM member who has been certified for at least ten years, has not previously been selected for the award, and has fulfilled one of the following categories: continuous outstanding contributions or distinguished service to midwifery and/or maternal child health; or, has made contributions of historical significance to the development and advancement of midwifery, ACNM, or maternal-child health.

In 2004, The American Medical Association reported more than 2.9 million registered nurses (RNs) in the United States alone. The number of nurses outweigh physicians a staggering 4 to 1. RNs within the United States have tremendous power in the healthcare industry providing unrivaled services directly affecting a patient's outcome and prognosis.

Houston nurses are among the most innovative and respected nurses in the healthcare industry. The combination of superior living conditions and pioneering nursing positions available promote the benefits of choosing Houston, Texas as a career stop for healthcare professionals demanding more from their career.

Living in other parts of the country - or even other parts of the world - has not been a deterrent for healthcare professionals. Being within the rank of Houston nurses is a goal. Nothing comes in the way of determined and professional healthcare providers.

One forward thinking company reveals the secret to connecting healthcare professionals with prospective employers.

HoustonMedpros.com provides a much needed service assisting healthcare professionals from around the world in becoming a Houston nurse. Students as well as registered healthcare professionals are invited to participate and investigate Houston Medpros for valuable and reliable services and educational materials.

Houston Medpros tackles this delicate issue from the ground level lifting would-be Houston nurses to higher levels of completion and professionalism. Local job fairs, salary surveys, and the latest news in the medical industry set Houston Medpro services apart from the rest.

The free services allow employers or recruiters to hire staff members appropriate for specific positions. Explore resumes and contact individuals of interest. Getting the ball rolling in your favor starts with finding certified and competent individuals wanting to work in the Houston area. Choosing from the selection of available employees is beneficial, fast, and best of all, it is completely free.

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Professional resources include Texas Board of Nursing information, Houston area hospitals and facilities, specialty certifications, appropriate professional videos, interview tips, an online pharmaceutical guide, and much more. Houston nurses get the free resources necessary for getting the most out of their career. Job seekers and job posters will find numerous listings for RNs, LVNs, alternative medicine professionals, nurse aides or nursing assistant, administrative jobs, Allied health jobs, physician's positions, and even other supportive personnel careers.

Receiving the information, resources, and assistance necessary for becoming one of the proud Houston nurses deep in the heart of Texas has never been easier thanks to the versatile professionalism of Houston Medpros. Once again, Texas proves to be the promoter of good, old-fashioned courtesy and customer service the world has come to respect and cherish.

Central Texas Nurse Network, Inc announces a new nurses aid program, designed to help those intending to enter the health care industry, those who are changing their profession and those intending to improve their lives and the life of others.

Austin, TX (PRWEB) March 18, 2008 -- Central Texas Nurse Network, Inc announces a new nurses aid program, designed to help those intending to enter the health care industry, those who are changing their profession and those intending to improve their lives and the life of others.

Becoming a nurse assistant can lead to a path of a success career in health care. As the shortage Nurses deepens the need and the role of nurse assistant become very indispensable. Where there is a need of a nurse, there is a need of a nurse assistant therefore a nurse assistant can work in a hospital, nursing home, assisted living, home care, clinics, school setting, doctors office. Every area of nursing could benefit from a well trained certified nurse assistant: pediatric, medical surgical, labor and delivery, post partum, artipedic, nursing home, intensive care, emergency care,preventive care and etc.

This program is open to anyone age 16 and up, offers an opportunity for high-school students inclined to join the health care profession. Also it's a great opportunity to earn money while going to school, the average wage being $10 or higher.

"For 4 years, we've trained more than 1,600 students," notes the program director. "Many of those students have moved upward into the industry. As the director of the program we continue to strive to reach those interested in this noble profession. We want to expand the influence of Nursing to the world; Central Texas Nurse Network allows us to accomplish this goal."

Confused about what career to pursue? Why not take up nursing as a profession? Nursing can be a far more satisfying occupation than it is usually given credit for. Yes folks, contrary to what people might be telling you, nursing does allow you serious amount of monetary rewards and more.

Ask any healthcare professional and he will tell you that we have less number of registered nurses than our country actually needs. Given the large number of vacancies for nurses, the salaries offered are quite high and extremely competitive. Every hospital tries to provide high salaries to their nurses in order to ensure that the recruited RN's stay on and do not shift to some other lucrative job. Given the current trends in the healthcare industry, most specialists are of the opinion that this demand for nurses is unlikely to die down any time soon.

In the following section we look at some of the very many profitable possibilities open to all those who are looking to make a career in nursing.

A forensic nurse works closely with victims of various criminal cases. Be it sexual assault, murder or abuse, a forensic nurse will analyze body evidences and help investigators in uncovering the truth. If you are a tele-soap buff you have probably seen a number of such nurses running around in investigative serials such as CSI. Forensic nursing is meant specifically for those who are looking for an offbeat and interesting occupation and is definitely not cut out for those who want a stable nurse job.

Yet another new area that is just beginning to gain popularity is a field called legal nurse consulting. Nurses from this field (also called legal nurse consultants or LNCs) work alongside attorneys handling medical cases. The LNCs guide lawyers regarding medical procedures, according to what exactly goes on in hospitals. This is therefore where a practicing nurses on-the-job knowledge helps him/her. RNs working at hospitals know how things at hospitals work. When they work with attorneys, they share this privileged information with them and help them out. Besides attorneys, a number of insurance companies also employ LNCs. And get this, an experienced LNC can demand anything over and around $150/hr!!! And it isn't just the money that is great, LNCs are also granted as much freedom as any other freelancer.

Nurses who are unwilling to stay pinned at a single location can also make good money by becoming what is called a 'travel nurse'. No matter where you are, be it Texas or San Francisco if you want to travel, a nurse's job can help you visit or live in places you have only heard of before. The nurse staffing companies hire RNs for almost every part of the country. So if you are looking to relocate just let them know and they'll take care of all the rest. Travel nurses not only get to choose the exact location where they would like to live, they also get to choose lucrative jobs which pay more than others. Travel nurses thus have the best of both the worlds!

Nurses can also work as dental, surgical or pediatric nurses or as a family nurse practitioner, in which case you will have to be dealing with one specific patient and only look after his/her wants. If you are looking to pursue a career in nursing, you will have to take at least a preliminary degree, which will grant you a Licensed Practitioner Nurse. To avail greater lucrative offers however get a Bachelors of Science degree in Nursing.

Almost 40 percent of young children in Houston lack immunizations that help prevent deadly childhood illnesses like measles, mumps, pneumococcal disease and whooping cough. Today, the Houston Department of Health and Human Services (HHDHS), the Harris County Public Health and Environmental Services (HCPHES), the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS), Texas Children's Hospital, the Rotary Club of Houston, and the national organization Every Child By Two (ECBT) announced a new partnership and campaign, "Immunize On Time, Every Time" to increase vaccination rates among Houston's infants and toddlers.

"Houston's childhood immunization rates are below average for both Texas and the country, leaving our children -- and our wider community -- vulnerable to potentially life-threatening illnesses," said Risha Jones, RN, Chief, Immunization Bureau, Houston Department of Health and Human Services. "Our new partnership unites existing efforts to promote timely vaccinations for every child in Houston and encourage healthcare professionals to use an immunization registry to track a child's vaccination history."

Even though U.S. immunization rates have climbed in recent years, many children are not up-to-date with their immunizations. According to a recent U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report, only 76 percent of children younger than 3 years in the U.S. are immunized for the combined recommended series of vaccines, whereas in Houston this figure is 62 percent.

The new partnership will work closely with health care professionals to assist them in avoiding missed opportunities for recommended immunizations by using immunization registries. These registries are confidential, computerized information systems that contain children's immunization histories and make them available to authorized providers.

"Immunization registries are a great tool for helping parents and doctors ensure that children are immunized on time, every time," said Amy Pisani, ECBT's executive director. "Every Child By Two is very excited to be working with these organizations in Houston and Harris County as part of our 'Immunize On Time, Every Time' health disparities project this year."

Other cities participating in ECBT's effort are Newark, Las Vegas and Cleveland.

One reason for low immunization rates are missed opportunities at the doctor's office to check a child's immunization status and then provide the needed vaccines. The partnership has two strategies to try to change this: empowering parents to ask at every health care provider visit if their children are up-to-date with their immunizations; and encouraging Houston health care providers to use the registry so that children can stay up-to-date with immunizations.

During the coming months the alliance will work to link pediatricians and family practitioners in Houston with the registry so that doctors can access that child's immunization records with the click of a button and send reminders to parents when their children are due for shots. Now families can feel secure knowing that their children's immunization histories can travel with them if they switch health care providers or move within Texas, Jones explained.

Houston Initiative Begins at Immunization Night at Children's Museum of Houston

On Thursday, August 10, the Children's Museum of Houston will host a free immunization night focusing on infants and toddlers from 5-7 p.m. Parents can check their children's immunization status and enroll their children in the confidential immunization registry. Children who qualify may also receive free vaccines that bring them up-to-date with the recommended immunization schedule. No reservations are necessary.

"Nurses from the Harris County Public Health and Environmental Services will be on hand to provide immunizations and we strongly encourage all parents and guardians to bring their children's immunization records to this event," said Lois Austin, MSN, MPH, RN, Immunization Program Manager at the Harris County Public Health and Environmental Services. Harris County Public Health and Environmental Services will be providing immunizations on August 10. Children whose immunization information is available and whose parents enroll them in the registry at the event can receive a free gift. Other information regarding children's nutrition, health and safety, such as lead poisoning prevention and Medicaid registration, will be available along with free entertainment for children.

Every Child By Two

Founded in 1991 by former first lady Rosalynn Carter and former first lady of Arkansas, Betty Bumpers, ECBT works to protect all children from vaccine preventable diseases by raising parental awareness of the critical need for timely infant immunizations, fostering the establishment of a systematic method to locate and immunize children, and providing convenient access to immunization services into the future. The "Immunize On Time, Every Time" health disparities project is sponsored by an unrestricted education grant from Wyeth Vaccines.

Houston Department of Health and Human Services

The mission of the Houston Department of Health and Human Services is to provide leadership in the promotion and protection of the health and social well being of the Houston Community through advocacy, education and community- based health services.

Harris County Public Health and Environmental Services

Harris County Public Health and Environmental Services is committed to promoting a healthy and safe community and preventing illness and injury.

Every Child By Two; Houston Department of Health and Human Services;
http://www.houstontx.gov/health/

A team of dermatologists and dermatopathologists at UT Southwestern Medical Center has identified nine North Texas cases of an infectious skin disease common in South America, Mexico and in the Middle East, where it is sometimes referred to as a "Baghdad boil."

Numerous cases of the disease, called leishmaniasis, have been reported in troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. But for the first time, cases of this dangerous infection are appearing in North Texas in patients who have not traveled to endemic areas.

The infection causes nonhealing sores that can be the size of a half-dollar or larger and that look like boils. These sores usually last for 6 to 12 months and because they are often mistaken for a staph infection, patients may have been given multiple courses of standard antibiotics without success.

The disease is caused by a single-celled parasite called Leishmania, and special cultures must be done in order to confirm the diagnosis of leishmaniasis.

The identified cases were from Waxahachie, Hillsboro and Glenn Heights, all areas south of Dallas; Tom Bean, Anna, Savoy and Nevada, all north of Dallas; and North Richland Hills.

North Texas doctors must have a high index of suspicion and understand that this organism must now be considered endemic in this area, said Dr. Kent Aftergut, a clinical instructor of dermatology at UT Southwestern and in private practice at Methodist Charlton Medical Center.

"Luckily, all of the leishmaniasis cases in North Texas that have been cultured have grown Leishmania mexicana, which is less dangerous than other forms of the parasite," he said. "It makes skin sores, but the infection doesn't spread and become a full body disease like some of the others species of Leishmania. Usually, if patients have a normal immune system, the sores will resolve in six to 12 months and won't make the patients ill."

In North Texas, doctors suspect that the process leading to human infection begins when a sand fly bites a rodent called the burrowing wood rat, which carries the parasite. When the sand fly later bites a person, the sores may develop, said Dr. Aftergut, who began tracking cases in North Texas after identifying the ailment in a patient who had been simply working outside in his yard and had no travel history to areas of infection.

"If a patient has been in Iraq or another known endemic area, we are very used to looking for leishmaniasis. But in the past, you just would not have suspected it in a patient living in North Texas with no travel history. This is why I think it's important to get the word out to other health-care professionals," Dr. Aftergut said.

For many years sporadic cases have been seen in South Texas. But no one has ever reported cases this far north, Dr. Aftergut said. He said this may be due to a movement in either the burrowing wood rat or the sand flies that transmit the infection to humans, although the reason for this movement is unclear.

"There are nine cases of leishmaniasis in North Texas residents who had no travel history in the last two years," said Dr. Aftergut. "This is very strong evidence that the areas we need to consider endemic are moving north."

Dr. Aftergut said he believes that rural areas are more at risk due to their proximity to wooded areas, where the burrowing wood rat and sand flies are more likely to be found.

Dr. Aftergut said using insecticides, bug repellant and protective clothing while working in areas where sand flies might be present should help reduce exposure. Once bitten, there are two types of medicines to treat the infection; however, one treatment can be toxic to some patients.

Doctors who identify a possible case of leishmaniasis should contact the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which can assist with the special tests needed to verify it. The federal agency also is tracking cases, Dr. Aftergut said.

UT Southwestern Medical Center
5323 Harry Hines Blvd.
Dallas, TX 75390-9060
United States
http://www8.utsouthwestern.edu