Nurses

According to three recently unsealed indictments returned by a South Florida federal grand jury and two informations filed by federal prosecutors, defendants engaged in a scheme to sell fraudulent nursing degree diplomas and transcripts obtained from accredited Florida-based nursing schools to individuals seeking licenses and jobs as registered nurses (RNs) and licensed practical/vocational nurses (LPN/VNs).

Former Tennessee nurse RaDonda Vaught was found guilty of criminally negligent homicide and abuse of an impaired adult for giving a patient the wrong medication. Vaught now faces a maximum sentence of 12 years in prison, and some nurses believe the case sets a worrisome precedent for the criminalization of medical mistakes.

The Florida Board of Education, next week, will consider taking action against 11 Public School Districts with mask mandates that are out of compliance with state rules and an executive order from Gov. Ron DeSantis.Sarasota School Board members, next week, will vote on whether to repeal the district’s mask policy.A federal COVID-19 vaccination mandate for hospitals is coming in October. Today marks the deadline for NCH employees to be fully vaccinated or risk losing their jobs. Sarasota Memorial Hospital and Lee Health are not imposing a staff vaccine mandate in advance of the federal mandate.Nearly 40% of COVID-19 deaths in Lee Health hospitals have been in the past two months amid the summer pandemic surge driven by the delta variant.A new report projects Florida will have a shortage of 60,000 nurses by 2035.With weekly unemployment claims rolling in at pre-pandemic numbers, state leaders say they remain optimistic about seeing results from a summer push to get people back into the labor force.Republican state lawmakers are sponsoring a bill that would exempt religious institutions from emergency orders.Florida families with children are now set to receive more than $1 billion in federal pandemic relief funds through a program created by Congress last year to assist children who lost access to free and reduced-price school meals when instruction shifted from in-person to virtual.

State health officials reported 2,883 new cases of COVID-19, Wednesday, bringing the statewide total to 741,632 cases. The Florida Department of Health also reported 64 new coronavirus-related deaths, Oct. 14, increasing the statewide death toll to 15,788 fatalities.Of the 5,622,438 COVID-19 tests that have been reported in Florida so far, the overall positivity rate remains at 13.19% and the latest single-day positivity rate increased to 5.39%.

State health officials reported 651 new confirmed cases of COVID-19, Thursday, bringing the statewide total number of cases to 53,285. The Florida Department of Health also reported 45 new coronavirus-related deaths, yesterday, increasing the state's death toll to 2,364 fatalities, including 1,163 deaths in long-term care facilities.Of the 953,321 tests that have been performed in Florida so far, 5.6% have been positive for the virus.

Licensed Florida nurses may soon be eligible to practice in 27 other states without the red tape of getting additional licenses.

More than 1,000 nurses from around the country met this week in Tampa at the American Nurses Association annual conference, and part of it was spend...

Nursing home workers were on strike last Thursday at 19 nursing homes across Florida.

Florida has joined a multi-state nursing compact making it easier for nurses from other states to practice here. And some highly trained nurses and...

Florida’s nursing profession could see some new recruits. A plan to let Florida join a multi-state licensure compact is working its way through the leg...