Wednesday, November 26, 2008

The nation's economic recession appears to have a silver lining for eldercare operators, according to a news report. More nurses are going back to work, taking on extra shifts or delaying retirement, according to The Wall Street Journal. During healthy economic times, the number of full-time nurses grows at an average annual rate of 2.4%, according to the paper. But as the economy has turned sluggish, that annual rate has risen to 3.5%, with 113,000 nurses joining the workforce last year alone. As a result, many operators are able to fill gaps in their nursing needs by simply giving their nurses the extra hours they want.

The Flight Ultralight Wheelchair is now available for purchase. The FDA-approved wheelchair weighs just 18 pounds with wheels and can be folded to a width of 9 1/2 inches, hand rim to hand rim, according to the manufacturer.

The Pilgrim Press recently released The New Century Hymnal: A Pipe-Organ Accompaniment CD Resource for Congregational Worship & Personal Devotion. The four-volume collection features high-quality recordings of pipe-organ accompaniment for all verses of each of the 617 hymns in The New Century Hymnal.

PocketCPR is an FDA-cleared, palm-sized device that helps rescuers deliver cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) chest compressions. The product measures the acceleration and depth of each chest compression and coaches a rescuer to perform continuous compression CPR, according to the manufacturer.

The VeriChip Corporation, manufacturers of radio-frequency identification devices (RFID) for patients, has launched its first direct-to-consumer campaign in South Florida. In conjunction with the campaign, which features print and TV ads, VeriChip renamed its patient identification system Health Link, and launched a new Web site. Health Link was designed to provide vital medical and emergency contact information to doctors and nurses.

Older adults following a medication regimen are less likely to miss doses when reminded by an electronic pillbox that both beeps at the appointed drug-taking time and announces the number of pills to take, as well as how to take them, new research reveals.The study was funded by the National Institute on Aging. Co-authors were Vesta Brue, founder and chairman of Lifetechniques Inc., of San Antonio, and P. Ryder, of the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Health Services Research division. Lifetechniques makes the electronic pillbox that was used in the study.

Microsoft has posted a case study describing Graham-Field's Integrated e-Commerce approach. GF recently moved its catalog online while establishing an e-commerce transaction platform, the study notes.