A lack of skilled attendants at birth accounts for two million preventable maternal deaths, stillbirths and newborn deaths each year, according to the newly released Countdown to 2015 Decade Report (2000-2010). The report shows that nearly 50 percent of women in the 68 countries carefully tracked in the Countdown report – most of which are in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia – still give birth without the aid of a trained midwife, nurse, or doctor.

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A common practice of successive 12-hour shifts for U.S. hospital nurses leaves many with serious sleep deprivation, higher risk of health problems, and more odds of making patient errors, according to a University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB) study presented at the 24th annual meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies in San Antonio. The study also found that the average total sleep time between 12-hours shifts was only 5.5 hours.

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The California Department of Public Health, which monitors the quality of care at hospitals, has fined 16 hospitals for not complying with state and federal regulations. Of the 16 hospitals fined, three were in Los Angeles County and three were in Orange County. Four fines against Riverside County’s John F. Kennedy Memorial Hospital total $100,000. The state agency’s director says it focused on lapses in patient care.

Journal of the American Medical Association: Funding of US Biomedical Research, 2003-2008 – After doubling in a decade, the rate of increase in biomedical research in the U.S. has slowed since 2005, and the level of funding from the National Institutes of Health and industry appears to have decreased by 2 percent in 2008, after adjusting for inflation, the authors of this study report.

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American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance and Homewatch CareGivers, teamed up to conduct a study examining trends in long-term health care and the utilization of associated support services. Among the conclusions of the study is the dramatic growth of people receiving support care at home and the significantly greater percentage of those with long-term care insurance who are able to receive home-based care and stay in the their homes longer.

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A new study published in the journal Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology reports a surge in drug-resistant strains of a dangerous type of bacteria in US hospitals: Acinetobacter strikes patients in Intensive Care Units (ICUs) and others and often causes severe pneumonias or bloodstream infection, some of which are now resistant to imipenem, an antibiotic that is reserved for last-line treatment.

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The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) announced that it would continue providing accreditation for nurses offering Long Acting Reversible Contraception (LARC). The announcement follows an internal review which focused on finding a sustainable solution to providing LARC accreditation. LARC covers nurses fitting intrauterine techniques (IUTs) and subdermal contraceptive implants (SDIs). From 1 April 2010 the RCN will provide the accreditation at a cost of £300 for members and £400 for non-members.

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BioRx has been named one of a small number of approved providers of Berinert®. Berinert® is a plasma-derived concentrate of C1 esterase inhibitor (human) indicated for the treatment of acute abdominal or facial attacks of hereditary angioedema (HAE) in adult and adolescent patients. CSL Behring, the manufacturer of Berinert® selected BioRx as part of their distribution network to launch this exciting new product in the United States.

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With a desire to help women in need, Banner Del E. Webb Medical Center’s nurses trekked to Honduras recently to help teach safer birthing practices. With the generosity of BDWMC employees, the PureHeart Christian Fellowship, which sponsored the trip in conjunction with Helping Mothers and Babies, Inc., and donations from Banner Mesa Boswell School of Nursing students and Banner Del E. Webb Medical Center, Emrick collected enough donations to make 300 birthing and midwife kits.

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Medical Acoustics LLC has announced that its FDA-cleared Lung Flute^®, a diagnostic and therapeutic respiratory medical device, was selected by Popular Science magazine for inclusion in the magazine’s prestigious Best of What’s New (BOWN) awards for 2009. The Lung Flute® is the first respiratory medical device that harnesses the non-invasive power of low frequency sound waves to mobilize deep lung secretions.