In an effort to ensure that Americans have access to high-quality, patient-focused healthcare, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) has issued nursing education grants to nine states. California, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Montana, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Texas, and Washington will each receive two-year, $300,000 state grants through a new program called the Academic Progression in Nursing (APIN). The program is run by the American Organization of Nurse Executives (AONE) under the authority of the Tri-Council for Nursing. Each state will consult with local academic institutions and health care providers to assist nurses in attaining higher education levels targeted towards high-quality patient care. Debbie Bacurin RN, Clinical Account Manager at American Traveler, a leading nursing and allied health staffing firm, is a big proponent of increased nursing education particularly in the area of customer service and patient care. Bacurin states, "When I managed a level II ED/Trauma center, customer service was becoming more and more important with all of the other facilities competing for our patients. Hospitals have long been doing customer service surveys and trying to change their unit or system to meet what the customer is looking for." "At American Traveler," she continued, "we counsel our travel nurses and have them [+]

The HCAHPS* survey is valuable to healthcare employers and nurse staff alike in that survey results allow hospitals to compare patient experiences geographically with a hospital’s own data and to engage improvement in eight key performance areas: Communication with doctors Communication with nurse staff Responsiveness of hospital staff Pain management Communication about medicines Discharge information Cleanliness of hospital Quietness of hospital environment Patients ranked communication with nurse staff highest in hospitals in Louisiana, South Dakota, North Carolina, Vermont and Mississippi and lowest in hospitals in California, Nevada, Washington D.C. and Hawaii, based on the HCAHPS survey national average. The complete results of the 2009 HCAHPS patient satisfaction survey can be found online at the official HCAHPS website. While communication with nurses and doctors - along with responsiveness of hospital staff and hospital cleanliness - fared well overall in the patient satisfaction survey, patient opinions were markedly lower in areas of communications about medicines, discharge and hospital quietness. The HCAHPS survey, formally endorsed by the National Quality Forum in 2005, embraces three main objectives. First, to identify what consumers feel is most important or lacking in the patient care experience; second, to inspire healthcare employers and nurse staff to continually improve quality of care and [+]