LCAPN Board
- President: Carolyn Newton
- Past President: Susan Garro
- Vice President:
- Treasurer: Paige Hilton
- Secretary: Annemarie Donato
- Special Projects: JoCarol Ayers
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Contact by email
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Lecture
Lowcountry Advanced Practice Nurses Dinner Lecture Series
To be announced.
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Community Service
Update from Lowcountry Orphan Relief
One thousand, thirty-five children were helped in 2007. Volunteers are needed at the Children’s Closet to help organize and sort items coming in and distribute those requested. Please visit www.lowcountryorphanrelief.org for more details.
Volunteers Needed at Free Medical Clinic
ANP’s or FNP’s are needed to volunteer on Tuesday evenings at the First Baptist of
North Charleston Medical Clinic. Open from 6:00 – 9:00PM, the walk-in clinic offers basic primary care in a Christian environment to clients age 12 and older. Provider care includes the treatment of HTN, DM, asthma, minor infections, MSK problems, allergies, etc.; emergency care is not offered. We are also in the process of implementing a nurse-run diabetes clinic on Tuesday afternoons. Those interested are invited to come by to observe clinic activities. Please call Judy Dillow at (843) 200-2055 for more information.
Lowcountry Orphan Relief Children's Fund
This organization provides services and aid to meet the needs of abandoned, abused,
and neglected children in the Charleston area. They intervene where government
aid ends.
Contact Information: PO Box 1074, Charleston, SC 29402
Phone (843) 747-4099
Web site: www.lowcountryorphanrelief.org.
In January 2008, Lowcountry Orphan Relief was asking for volunteers, even for a couple of hours, to help organize supplies. Many children were referred over the holidays, and while the organization is well-supplied, they need help actually filling the orders.
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Jobs
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Dr. Cynthia Blalock of Blalock Family Medicine and Urgent Care,
1405 Ben Sawyer Blvd., Mt. Pleasant is currently seeking a FNP
for her clinic. Some weekends required. Please call 843.884.8121
for more information
- Family Health Centers, Inc. has openings for 2-3 FNPs in Denmark
and Norfield (Neeses), SC. Another possible opening in St. George.
Denmark and Norfield are rural areas near Orangeburg. Monday-Friday
from 8a-5p with 1 hr for lunch. The centers have loan repayment
available for those who qualify. Please contact Mary McAbee,
Director of Human Resources, 803.531.8951. Click here to download a summary for applicants. (PDF)
- FNP needed for practice in New Mexico. 40 hr work week, great
salary and benefits. Please contact Mark Clayton 866.782.9029
ext. 5856 or mark.clayton@comphealth.com You
may also visit the website www.comphealth.com
- Charlestown Pediatrics is looking for a nurse practitioner either
PNP or FNP. Contact Dr. Klauber at 747-4647.
- FNP wanted for full-time position at busy Family Practice office
in Summerville. Excellent benefits package available. Contact: (843)695-2125.
- Heartland Care Partners has an exciting opportunity for a full-time Nurse practitioner.
Come join our team for the grand opening of our newest
Skilled Nursing facility: West Ashley rehab & Nursing Facility, Charleston, SC.
To learn more contact:
Que Cox at 800-375-5495 ext 106
Qcox@hcr-Manorcare.com
Fax: (800) 810-0996
Apply online at www.hcr-manorcare.com
Click here to download a summary for applicants. (PDF)
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Conferences
Political Corner
NHPCO Responds to Medicare’s Proposal that will Cut Hospice Rates
(Alexandria, Va) – The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has released a proposed rule that would significantly impact hospice reimbursement in a devastating way. By phasing out the annual adjustment that is applied to the hospice wage index over the next three fiscal years, CMS will be cutting the reimbursement levels hospices receive for the care they provide to terminally ill patients and their family caregivers.
The National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization strongly opposes this proposed rule.
“Regardless of how the administration chooses to characterize or couch this action in technical terms, it is a rate cut,” said J. Donald Schumacher, NHPCO president and CEO. “Through this proposed rule, the administration is circumventing Congress to save money in a manner that may ultimately jeopardize the services provided by hospices to dying patients and their families.”
Unlike most other healthcare providers, hospices are uniquely strained by the rising costs of gas, supplies and pharmaceuticals because they provide medical equipment, supplies and medications related to the patient’s terminal illness.
“Given that 80 percent of care is delivered in the home, hospice professionals must drive to reach those they serve and are subjected to inflationary pressures with every visit to the gas pump,” remarked Schumacher. “This is but one example of the increased costs that this rule would ignore.”
In recent years, regulators have been looking closely at hospice reimbursement levels and have expressed concern over the growth in hospice expenditures – which are $11 billion per year. This follows two previous CMS administrators who voiced support for increased hospice usage to the broader healthcare community, encouraging more timely referrals and explaining that hospice is a key component of healthcare in this country and a valued benefit offered by Medicare. The growth in hospice spending is directly tied to the growing preference for hospice care by Americans coping with a life-limiting illness.
More than 1.3 million dying Americans received care from the nation’s hospice providers last year. This number has risen and continues to grow as more patients learn of the wide range of beneficial services and the compassionate care that hospice offers.
Considered to be the model for high-quality care at the end of life, hospice involves a team-oriented approach to care that includes expert medical attention, pain-and-symptom management, and emotional and spiritual support. The quality of a person’s life is emphasized, not the duration. Moreover, services and support are provided to family caregivers, in addition to the patient.
The economic value of hospice care has been validated by research. An independent study released late last year by Duke University found that the use of hospice saved Medicare an average of $2,300 per patient who received this care. Additionally, a recent MedPAC report noted profit margins in the hospice community are running under 3.5 percent.
Hospice offers the services and support that Americans want when coping with life-limiting illness. A Gallup Poll commissioned by the National Hospice Organization (now NHPCO) found that nine out of ten Americans, if faced with a terminal illness, would want to remain in their homes and receive the services that hospice provides. In fact, over 80 percent of hospice care in the U.S. is provided in the home.
“Patient satisfaction data collected by NHPCO shows the 98.5 percent of families would recommend hospice to others, reflecting the high level of family satisfaction with care. Coupled with the fact that hospice can be cost effective to Medicare, it seems illogical to put rules in place that would cut down on the care hospice providers could offer,” Schumacher noted.
The result of this proposed rule would potentially mean less care to patients and family caregivers during the end of life.
“NHPCO and its affiliate, The Alliance for Care at the End of Life, recently supported bipartisan, bicameral letters from 87 Members of Congress sent to Secretary Leavitt in opposition to the proposed rule and subsequent rate cuts to hospice care. The rule release merely marks the beginning of an arduous regulatory process—one that we will engage in to the very end to ensure that this valuable benefit to the dying is not sacrificed to short-sighted cost cutting whims,” concluded Schumacher.
The Advanced Practice Nurses Political Action Committee
The Advanced Practice Nurses Political Action Committee meets at 8am on the first Thursday of each month at Panera Bread near the Tanger Outlets (5070 International Blvd., North Charleston). The goal of this group is to improve and strengthen the position of APRNs as members of the current health care system in South Carolina. All APRNs are invited to attend and get involved. Please contact Annemarie Donato at asdonato@aol.com for more information. (Directions)
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Join LCAPN
Membership dies are $35/year for bimonthly dinner and lecture meetings
September through May. Renewals are due September 1. New member dues
are $35 until December and then $10 per meeting thereafter for the current
year. A data sheet should be completed and mailed with a check made out
to LCAPN to Paige Hilton, 1446 Inland Creek Way, Mt. Pleasant, SC 29464.
Thank you, and we look forward to meeting you soon!
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