Health
To combat nursing shortage, universities create accelerated 12-month training programs: 'A win-win'
PORTLAND, Maine – America needs nurses — and some schools are implementing accelerated programs to train them.
To shorten the process, these programs cut training time from up to four years down to one.
“I really do think this is a win-win for students and local hospitals and facilities,” said Elizabeth Mann, assistant clinical professor at the University of New England, in an interview with Fox News. She’s based in Maine.
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Prospective students must have a previous bachelor’s degree and need to complete eight prerequisite courses.
This is dramatically shorter than the typical two- to four-year nursing program.
A student participates in training to become a nurse at the University of New England. (Kailey Schuyler)
“I think the ability to get a second degree in something like a bachelor’s in nursing is very appealing to many people,” UNE Nursing School’s interim director Donna Hyde told Fox News.
“They don’t have to have a health care background. We will get them there.”
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The new fast-track nursing program at the University of New England is slated to begin in May.
The goal is to help students get into the workforce sooner, but they’ll have to put in some serious training as well, experts say.
The states most in need of nurses are Washington, Oregon, California, Michigan and Georgia, according to the National Center of Health Workforce Analysis. (Kailey Schuyler)
“There’s nothing cut back. They do the same amount of clinical hours, so we allow time for that,” said Hyde.
“Their schedule may have to be a little more flexible to include consideration of weekends.”
There’s a projected shortage of over 78,000 registered nurses next year, according to the National Center of Health Workforce Analysis.
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The states most in need of nurses are Washington, Oregon, California, Michigan and Georgia.
“As different states are looking at their own options to increase their nursing workforce, this is one of those options,” Jennifer Mensik Kennedy, the Oregon-based president of the American Nurses Association, told Fox News.
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The shortened 12-month program not only appeals to students, but will also benefit local health care facilities, Mann said.
Hyde noted that she speaks to many of the nurse administrators at local health care partners, and “they obviously see the need for more nurses sooner rather than later.”
Nursing students train in a simulation lab to prepare for the workforce. The shortened 12-month program appeals to students and also benefits local health care facilities, experts say. (Kailey Schuyler)
Some have expressed doubt that students can be ready in just a year, Mann pointed out.
”They may interpret it as [offering] a lesser quality [of training] or that we are pushing students through, and I do want to emphasize that is truly not the case,” she said.
Up to 40 students are expected to start the program in May at the University of New England.
To combat the nursing shortage, some schools are implementing accelerated programs to train new nurses. (iStock)
Once students complete the program, they will have to pass a national exam — just like a traditional four-year student — to officially become a nurse.
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A new report by the American Heart Association (AHA) included some troubling predictions for the future of women’s health.
The forecast, published in the journal Circulation on Wednesday, projected increases in various comorbidities in American females by 2050.
More than 59% of women were predicted to have high blood pressure, up from less than 49% currently.
The review also projected that more than 25% of women will have diabetes, compared to about 15% today, and more than 61% will have obesity, compared to 44% currently.
As a result of these risk factors, the prevalence of cardiovascular disease and stroke is expected to rise to 14.4% from 10.7%.
The prevalence of cardiovascular disease and stroke in women is expected to rise to 14.4% from 10.7% by 2050. (iStock)
Not all trends were negative, as unhealthy cholesterol prevalence is expected to drop to about 22% from more than 42% today, the report stated.
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Dr. Elizabeth Klodas, a cardiologist and founder of Step One Foods in Minnesota, commented on these “jarring findings.”
“The fact that on our current trajectory, cardiometabolic disease is projected to explode in women within one generation should be a huge wake-up call,” she told Fox News Digital.
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“Hypertension, diabetes, obesity — these are all major risk factors for heart disease, and we are already seeing what those risks are driving. Heart disease is the No. 1 killer of women, eclipsing all other causes of death, including breast cancer.”
Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death for women in the U.S. and around the world. (iStock)
Klodas warned that heart disease starts early, progresses “stealthily,” and can present “out of the blue in devastating ways.”
The AHA published another study on Thursday revealing one million hospitalizations, showing that heart attack deaths are climbing among adults below the age of 55.
The more alarming finding, according to Klodas, is that young women were found more likely to die after their first heart attack than men of the same age.
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“This is all especially tragic since heart disease is almost entirely preventable,” she said. “The earlier you start, the better.”
Children can show early evidence of plaque deposition in their arteries, which can be reversed through lifestyle changes if “undertaken early enough and aggressively enough,” according to the expert.
Moving more is one part of protecting a healthy heart, according to experts. (iStock)
Klodas suggested that rising heart conditions are associated with traditional risk factors, like smoking, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, obesity and a sedentary lifestyle.
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Doctors are also seeing higher rates of preeclampsia, or high blood pressure during pregnancy, as well as gestational diabetes. Klodas noted that these are sex-specific risk factors that don’t typically contribute to complications until after menopause.
The best way to protect a healthy heart is to “do the basics,” Klodas recommended, including the following lifestyle habits.
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Klodas especially emphasized making improvements to diet, as the food people eat affects “every single risk factor that the AHA’s report highlights.”
“High blood pressure, high blood sugar, high cholesterol, excess weight – these are all conditions that are driven in part or in whole by food,” she said. “We eat multiple times every single day, which means what we eat has profound cumulative effects over time.”
“Even a small improvement in dietary intake, when maintained, can have a massive positive impact on health,” a doctor said. (iStock)
“Even a small improvement in dietary intake, when maintained, can have a massive positive impact on health.”
The doctor also recommends changing out a few snacks per day for healthier choices, which has been proven to “yield medication-level cholesterol reductions” in a month.
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“Keep up that small change and, over the course of a year, you could also lose 20 pounds and reduce your sodium intake enough to avoid blood pressure-lowering medications,” Klodas added.
“Women should not view the AHA report as inevitable. We have power over our health destinies. We just need to use it.”
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Nearsightedness (myopia) is skyrocketing globally, with nearly half of the world’s population expected to be myopic by 2050, according to the World Health Organization.
Heavy use of smartphones and other devices is associated with an 80% higher risk of myopia when combined with excessive computer use, but a new study suggests that dim indoor lighting could also be a factor.
For years, scientists have been puzzled by the different ways myopia is triggered. In lab settings, it can be induced by blurring vision or using different lenses. Conversely, it can be slowed by something as simple as spending time outdoors, research suggests.
Nearsightedness occurs when the eyeball grows too long from front to back, according to the American Optometric Association (AOA). This physical elongation causes light to focus in front of the retina rather than directly on it, making distant objects appear blurry.
The study suggests that myopia isn’t caused by the digital devices themselves, but by the low-light environments where they are typically used. (iStock)
Researchers at the State University of New York (SUNY) College of Optometry identified a potential specific trigger for this growth. When someone looks at a phone or a book up close, the pupil naturally constricts.
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“In bright outdoor light, the pupil constricts to protect the eye while still allowing ample light to reach the retina,” Urusha Maharjan, a SUNY Optometry doctoral student who conducted the study, said in a press release.
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“When people focus on close objects indoors, such as phones, tablets or books, the pupil can also constrict — not because of brightness, but to sharpen the image,” she went on. “In dim lighting, this combination may significantly reduce retinal illumination.”
High-intensity natural light prevents myopia because it provides enough retinal stimulation to override the “stop growing” signal, even when pupils are constricted. (iStock)
The hypothesis suggests that when the retina is deprived of light during extended close-up work, it sends a signal for the eye to grow.
In a dim environment, the narrowed pupil allows so little light through that the retinal activity isn’t strong enough to signal the eye to stop growing, the researchers found.
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In contrast, being outdoors provides light levels much brighter than indoors. This ensures that even when the pupil narrows to focus on a nearby object, the retina still receives a strong signal, maintaining healthy eye development.
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The team noted some limitations of the study, including the small subject group and the inability to directly measure internal lens changes, as the bright backgrounds used to mimic the outdoors made pupils too small for standard equipment.
Researchers believe that increasing indoor brightness during close-up work could be a simple, testable way to slow the global nearsightedness epidemic. (iStock)
“This is not a final answer,” Jose-Manuel Alonso, MD, PhD, SUNY distinguished professor and senior author of the study, said in the release.
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“But the study offers a testable hypothesis that reframes how visual habits, lighting and eye focusing interact.”
The study was published in the journal Cell Reports.
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