Becker's Hospital Review

90 CMO / CARE DELIVERY Why U.S. nurses are suffering 'work hangovers' By Alyssa Rege W hile prominent industry players have attributed widespread understaffing issues to a nursing shortage, some re- search and industry experts claim such a shortage does not exist, e Guardian reported. Healthcare industry experts have for decades dis- cussed the severity of the nursing shortage affect- ing hospitals and health systems in the U.S., the report stated. However, research and projections conducted by the HHS' Health Resources and Ser- vices Administration indicate most states are not suffering from a nursing shortage, and that a sur- plus will likely grow during the next decade. Instead, nurses unions like National Nurses Unit- ed claim the proposed shortage represents a reluc- tance on the part of hospitals and health systems to cut profit margins and hire additional staff. "It's a convenient argument for the industry to validate their under-resourcing of registered nurses on the floor, simply saying there's a nurs- ing shortage, but there isn't," a National Nurses United member told e Guardian. "It's a market decision that benefits the employer." e individual said understaffing in the short- term leads to what's referred to as "the nurse hangover," or fatigue and malaise comparable to a hangover from alcohol. e condition also leads to long-term effects such as burnout, high staff turnover and patient safety errors. Two nurses with St. Paul, Minn.-based United Hospital told e Guardian they see significant issues when it comes to nurses not taking breaks because they do not want to potentially jeopar- dize their patients' care. "Nurses aren't getting their breaks because they don't want to compromise the safety of their patients and they don't want to put undue work on their coworkers in order to take care of pa- tients when there is a better solution," one nurse told the publication. A spokesperson for United Hospital's parent com- pany, Minneapolis-based Allina Health, told e Guardian in an emailed statement: "It appears based on our reports, what you are being told by the two nurses is inaccurate. We work hard to en- sure a safe and supportive work environment for all our caregivers. Our staffing ratios are consistent with the level of care required in each unit." n Physician tells jury 'beautiful sales reps' influenced his unnecessary prescribing of opioids By Mackenzie Bean M ichigan-based pain management physician Gavin Awerbuch, MD, testified Jan. 30 that Insys Therapeutics' "beautiful" sales repre- sentatives and financial gifts persuaded him to write unnecessary prescriptions for the company's highly addictive opioid painkiller Subsys, reported Bloomberg. "They had beautiful sales reps, and I liked the attention I was getting," Dr. Awerbuch told a Boston jury. "I felt like I was becoming friends with these Insys employees." Dr. Awerbuch's testimony was part of a racketeering case against Insys founder John Kapoor and other executives who allegedly bribed physi- cians to write Subsys prescriptions by giving them fake speaker's fees. Dr. Awerbuch said he made more than $130,000 in 18 months by attending sham educational sessions. "It was just easy money for me. I got paid $1,600 to show up, have a nice meal and go home," he testified. Dr. Awerbuch also said he doled out inappropri- ate Subsys prescriptions to ensure he could keep collecting speaker fees. In February 2018, Dr. Awerbuch was sentenced to two years in prison for illegally distributing Subsys. Prosecutors postponed the start of his prison term until March of this year so he could testify at the hearing. n New York hospital mishandled complaints about physician, CMS finds By Megan Knowles A n August 2018 CMS inspection found Auburn (N.Y.) Communi- ty Hospital did not take appropriate action regarding a physician accused of engaging in inappropriate and dangerous behavior, according to Auburnpub.com. Conducted by the state's health department on behalf of CMS, the inspec- tion found several deficiencies in how the hospital handled 33 incident re- ports about the unnamed physician. A federal statement of deficiencies and plan of correction, first reported by Syracuse.com, described incidents in which hospital staff said a phy- sician violated care guidelines during emergencies, improperly managed patients on ventilators and refused to follow protocol. The incident reports were filed between October 2017 and July 2018. The deficiencies have since been corrected, as required by CMS, according to the inspection report and a statement from the hospital. A hospital spokesperson did not tell Auburnpub.com whether the physi- cian was still employed at the hospital. "Auburn Community Hospital leadership takes these matters very serious- ly and responded to the state concerns in a comprehensive and expedi- tious fashion. Further questions regarding personnel matters will not be discussed publicly," a news release from the hospital stated. n

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