Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to S McDermott.
Ready or not, the role of the medical group manager is rapidly expanding and only those who are well prepared and in control will survive. The views of a medical management consultant are presented in this entertaining article on a critical subject, along with guidelines for developing formal organizational goals.
The career paths of geriatric nurse practitioners (GNPs) trained with support from the W. K. Kellogg Foundation through the Mountain States Health Corporation (MSHC) were studied. Under this program, GNPs were recruited from sponsoring nursing homes and returned to GNP positions in the sponsoring facilities following training. Training was carried out under a continuing education model offered through six university-based schools of nursing. Questionnaires were sent to the 111 GNPs trained. Of the 102 respondents, 97 provided complete information about past and present education, work experience, and job functions. The GNPs were women with a median age of 45 years, and they were employed in rural settings in the western United States. More than 45 percent of the nurses had at least a baccalaureate degree at the time of GNP training. The GNPs remained employed in long-term care positions that implemented the practitioner role. The median length of GNP employment in their first jobs after training was more than 4.5 years. The resignation rate from this first position was 1.66 resignations for each 10 years of GNP employment. Job changes were likely to be attributed to organizational changes with subsequent positions shifting toward a diversification of the GNP role. The study demonstrates the success of the MSHC program in introducing and retaining GNPs in nursing homes.
Studies to date on the costs to family caregivers of children with chronic diseases and disabilities were surveyed. The survey was conducted in the context of an economic framework, which set cost categories and definitions as well as causal factors influencing costs. Emphasis was placed on variations in costs, and in particular on identifying those categories of families whose cost burdens are high. The analysis indicated a high cost burden for families in all disease categories studied, although a lack of uniformity in data presentation and in the variables studied prevented specific generalizations to be made about the numbers or characteristics of families with high costs. Suggestions are made for increasing the uniformity of data in future studies.