Relative value units in health care: Friend, foe, or necessary evil?

The purpose of this article is to describe this use of relative value units (RVUs) among nurse practitioners (NP), including the challenges NPs may experience. Relative value units were developed as a means to determine reimbursement for health care based on time spent with the patient and skills required to complete the interaction, while addressing any disparities of reimbursement based on geography or insurance. Increasingly, providers such as NPs are being evaluated based in large part on how many RVUs they generate, which seems to prioritize productivity and may overlook many nonbillable aspects of the NP role such as emotional support or patient education.

Assessing Compassion Fatigue Risk Among Nurses in a Large Urban Trauma Center.

Objective: This study evaluated the prevalence and severity of compassion fatigue (CF) risk among nurses employed in a large southwestern hospital system.

Background: Compassion fatigue is defined as multifaceted exhaustion stemming from untreated distress that leads to physical and emotional problems. Low morale, increased medication errors, and higher turnover can result.

Compassion Fatigue: Exploring Early-Career Oncology Nurses' Experiences .

Background: Oncology nurses have a higher risk and rate of compassion fatigue (CF) compared to professionals in other specialties. CF exhibits tangible negative outcomes, affecting nurses' health and professional practice.
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Ethnic Differences in Withdrawal of Life Support After Intracerebral Hemorrhage.

Minorities are less likely to decide on withdrawal of life support (WOLS) after acute severe illness. However, the decision-making process for WOLS after intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) among Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders (NHOPI) has not been described. To address this gap in the literature, a retrospective study was conducted on consecutive spontaneous ICH patients admitted to a tertiary center in Honolulu between 2006 and 2010.

Transitions of care for stroke and TIA.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify elements of a stroke population that may affect transitions of care (TOC).

Data Sources: A retrospective analysis of the demographic characteristics of patients from an urban primary stroke center with an admitting diagnosis of transient ischemic attack, acute ischemic stroke, subarachnoid hemorrhage, or intracerebral hemorrhage was performed over an 8-month period (N = 276). A subset of this patient sample participated in a telephone survey 1 month after discharge.