New Jersey State Nurses Association CEO Judith Schmidt says the state has health care deserts with a severe shortage of primary care providers. Advanced practice nurse Meschell Mansor said the state needs to move forward with legislation to eliminate a requirement for collaborative practice agreements between APNs and physicians, a change that nurses see as way of reducing primary care shortages.

A continuing nurse shortage and increased demand for health care services have put registered nurses in a good position to negotiate for better salaries, benefits and work conditions. A Nurse.com survey found 31% of nurses never negotiate salary in a new position, and while negotiating is recommended for experienced nurses, new graduates may find it more difficult to do.

Nurses often have shifts on holidays that take them away from their families, but Northside Hospital Cherokee in Canton, Ga., makes them easier by holding a potluck meal for staff. Chief Nursing Officer Beverly Hunt says self-care year-around can reduce holiday blues, and the hospital has a self-care initiative that includes finding meaning in regular work, creating uplifting connections with patients and adopting healthy lifestyle habits.

The Colorado Center for Nursing Excellence will use a $1.5 million grant to help reduce a shortage of mental health care providers in rural parts of the state. The money will be used to recruit and support 39 rural Advanced Practice Registered Nurse Behavioral Health Fellows, who will participate in a three-year program that leads to a Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner certificate.

Manhattanville College in Purchase, N.Y., is asking the New York State Education Department to approve a nursing school program that would include a four-year bachelor of science degree and a bachelor of science program for second-degree students. Debra Simons, who led the College of New Rochelle's nursing school before the college closed this summer, would be dean of the new School of Nursing and Health Sciences at Manhattanville.

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