Healthcare workers disgruntled

One in four healthcare workers is not “feeling so good“ about their job and plans to make an appointment with a new position in 2006, according to a recent survey by CareerBuilder.com.

Increased workload and the desire for better compensation and career advancement opportunities were cited as the leading factors motivating job changes in healthcare in the New Year. The survey, “Job Forecast 2006-Healthcare,“ was conducted from Nov. 15 to Dec. 6, 2005.

According to the survey, 68% of healthcare workers say their workloads have increased over the last six months, two-thirds say their workloads have become too heavy, causing increased stress at work and home, and 36% report difficulty balancing professional and personal commitments.

Public affairs healthcare firm formed

A team of public and government relations professionals reported the creation of Jarrard Phillips Cate & Hancock (Nashville, Tennessee), a healthcare public affairs firm with clients across the U.S.

Jarrard said it opened with 25 clients, including private hospital systems across the U.S., along with Nashville-based hospital and healthcare companies. The firm is currently managing healthcare campaigns in nine states.

“We are engaged by hospitals or healthcare companies in moments of significant opportunity or dramatic challenge,“ said David Jarrard, a former journalist who has spent more than 15 years in the healthcare consulting industry and who leads the new firm.

“The stakes have rarely been higher in an industry that is in endless transition,“ he said. “In these moments, our clients are looking for experienced specialists who know the business, know their pressure points, and know how to win. That's what we do.“

Hospital enrolling for Optimizer trial

St. Francis Hospital (Roslyn, New York) said it is enrolling patients in a clinical study to investigate the safety and effectiveness of a new implantable pulse generator called the Optimizer.

The Optimizer System is designed to deliver electrical impulses to the heart for treatment of moderate to severe heart failure. This study of the Optimizer System is sponsored by Impulse Dynamics (USA) (New York), a specialty medical device company and a wholly owned subsidiary of Impulse Dynamics NV.