As frequenters of the blog may remember, our company decided to adopt a local orphanage for the 2009 holiday season. 

We opened up the donations to our entire office complex being that the orphanage is called "home" to 46 teenagers.

Packing & Preparation

The weather truly put us in the holiday spirit as we headed out for delivery!

With coffee in hand and jackets closed tight, a few of us ladies headed out in the treacherous weather.

And for those of you from up north – yes – a bit of sleet is considered "treacherous weather" here in the piedmont of NC!

Unpacking & Delivering

The drive which was only supposed to take 25 minutes ended up closer to 45 when we took the slippery roads into consideration.

From board games to computer monitors and body lotions to bedroom set, we had a great turn out of goodies to help make each child’s holiday brighter.

Looking forward to continuing a charge towards bettering our neighborhood non-profits in 2010!

Amistaff’s Chief Nursing Officer, James Ostmann, Sr. RN, MBA, assisted in rescuing an 81-year-old woman on his flight back from the American Society Healthcare Human Resources Association conference in Chicago. Fox News 8 picked up the story which aired last evening during the 6 o’clock news!

This is a true incident that occurred on an airplane in which Amistaff’s Chief Nursing Officer was a passenger. Praise to the airline and crew for their poise and composure during the crisis.

HIGH POINT: US Air Flight 1723 from Chicago to Charlotte made an emergency descend landing on Tuesday, November 3, 2009.  The cabin transformed into an emergency room before passengers’ eyes as Amistaff’s Chief Nursing Officer, James Ostmann, Sr. RN, MBA, rescued a diaphoretic woman suffering a potential heart attack and stroke.

While in route, the 81-year-old, French-speaking woman grabbed her chest and motioned pressure. With neurological deficits on the left-side of her body and color draining her face, Ostmann knew the patient’s condition was rapidly deteriorating.  Pilots phoned MedLink for medical consultation and received authorization for Ostmann to open the medical resuscitation kit.

Alongside a French-speaking, Medical-Surgical nurse from a Florida hospital, Ostmann reported the patient’s conditions to officials on the ground.  With an IV bag hung from the carry-on compartment and oxygen tank resting in a seat, Ostmann and the flight crew created a mobile ER. Ostmann initiated the IV and eased the woman’s chest pain with Nitroglycerin, keeping her vitals stabilized through landing.

Of the experience Ostmann commented:

“The crew handled the medical emergency with such composure. From 35,000 feet, US Air was able to ground our plane within 20 minutes. When dealing with stroke victims, time is of utmost importance with the tissue plasminogen activator’s limited 3-hour window. The fully equipped medical cart was color coded expediting treatment for the passenger. I hope to receive authorization to follow up with the attending hospital to check on her condition.”

The chilling truth is that Ostmann made a last minute change in his itinerary to board US Air Flight 1723. Coming from the American Society Healthcare Human Resources Association conference in Chicago, Ostmann decided to take the 2:00pm flight in lieu of the 12:00pm flight allowing extra time for travel. Had Ostmann not been a passenger on the same flight, this emergency descend could have had a much different landing.
 

Sit back and relax.  It’s story time!

Once upon a time, a long, long time ago, in the land of SIN (Staffing Incompetent Nurses), there were two guys, Ron and Jason, who joined forces to create something powerful.  Sacrificing nights and weekends, the two dreamed and developed an answer for the land of SIN.  Out of their tireless work and commitment to bettering the healthcare industry, NurseTesting was born.

After two and half years of budding success, Ron and Jason parted as owners.  Jason moved on to pursue homemade salsa and BLS – a logical match – while Ron concentrated on growing NurseTesting. Since that time, NurseTesting has continued to evolve to meet the needs of SIN while keeping its core components the same.

Well, today the two have joined forces once again to continue changing the land of SIN to land of SAINTS (Skilled and Incredible Nurse Tested Staff ).

Jason Hall has officially returned to the NurseTesting team as Chief Technology Officer.  He will be responsible for all items related to development, systems, 3rd party integrations etc…

We are all excited to have Jason on our team – feels like he never left!  Looking forward to a bright future!

Amistaff sends warm wishes to all the bosses in the healthcare industry.

Thank you for continuing to persevere through challenging times with the patient’s needs in mind.

Whether your leadership stems from staffing firms or facilities , your hard work touches the hearts of patients and their families
each and every day.

The Ami-staffer’s send a special thanks to Ron and Eric today! We appreciate working for such phenomenal gentlemen!  Enjoy the cookie cake and evening out with your families –
you all deserve it!

It seems that our Ami-staffers have moved on from the Jets and Buccaneers!  We have a bit of a rivalry this week between the Bears and the Steelers.

Chris (left) sporting her Chicago jersey – the Bears match up with the Lions Sunday afternoon.

Kisha (right) and Melissa (far right) show their game stance for the Pittsburgh Steelers – Steelers vs. Chargers late night on Sunday!

Everyone enjoy your weekend and let us know when our 
Ami-staffers represent your favorite team as we continue the ‘09-’10 season!

Our team of Ami-staffers who attended the Staffing Summit in Washington, D.C. thoroughly enjoyed meeting so many of our wonderful clients!  Since we spend so much time speaking via phone and email it is extremely rewarding to be able to match faces with names! 

As the photos of our fellow Ami-staffers started coming in, I began questioning whether the fun they were having outweighed the work.  Take a gander at these photos and let me know what you think!

Chris Redhage from BlueSky Synergy and Ron Gonzalez, CEO of Amistaff, assembling the putting green. That’s right, the green could be reshaped each day to keep the putting fresh and new.

Chris Carrington, President of NurseTesting Creative Solutions (left) and Melissa Spangler, Amistaff’s Senior Director of Sales & Marketing,(right) taking time for a picture opp at the Monster booth.

Chris (left) and Ron (right) discussing the agenda for the show.

Melissa after completing the set-up phase on the booth…ready to show off the products!

Ron and Jim Ostmann, Chief Nursing Officer, getting pumped up to talk about Validation and
show a sneak peak of NurseTesting 2.0!

Chris (left) and Leslie Jeffries, Clinical Consultant for NTCS, (middle) discussing the
benefits of NurseTesting Creative Solutions in front of their booth.

Melissa (left) and Chris (right) showing off the trilogy of products – NurseTesting, BlueSky, and eSigTek.

So there you have it folks!  Time for your vote.  Were the Ami-staffers really working, or were all of our clients making this show too much fun for the group?!

And a friendly reminder for those who attended the Staffing Summit - don’t forget to take advantage of your money maximizing opportunity!  For all new NurseTesting contracts signed before October 16, 2009 receive double the first month exam points on us!

Today marks the beginning of Amistaff’s SportsCentered Fridays.

Eric(left) and Mark(right) kicked of this fall’s football season sporting the Jets and the Buccaneers.

More pics to come as the season wears on and our co-workers shine a little light into their teams of choice!

As the CEO of a testing and assessment company specific to the healthcare industry, I have insight into data, metrics and analytics not available to everyone. The data we collect is a direct correlation to the state of the economy as it relates to the the healthcare staffing industry. We have direct visibility to over 550 healthcare staffing companies’ hiring trends based on applicant exam completions.

It’s actually quite simple: The more exam completions we experience, the more candidates are being screened for placements on assignments. The noticeable downtrend was in January-March of 2009. These months were always a cyclical uptrend in the past 5 years of our business, as healthcare professionals were coming out of the “holiday/vacation” mode, and going back to work.

What we did see was interesting: as Hospitals usage of NurseTesting.com was traditionally down during he same period 5 years ago, these number came up significantly. This was probably a direct correlation of agency per-diem and travel nurses transitioning into permanent employment at hospitals.

The Good News: Exam Completions seem to have leveled off or reached bottom in May 2009, and we have since seen a steady uptrend in exam completions month over month.

What’s exciting about this data, is that it will all be available to clients in our updated NurseTesting 2.0 Software, where they will have insight into their own business analytics. This will include total number of exam completions, by specialty, by region, by pass/fail score. Healthcare Staffing Firms will also have the ability to compare their employees exam results to national averages and trends, as NurseTesting 2.0 will be utilized by nearly 1900 Hospitals nationwide in the near future.

In Summary, exam completions up, equals things are improving.

Ron Gonzalez
CEO
NurseTesting.com, A Division of Amistaff Healthcare Technology

July 25, 2009 marks the 9th annual National, World, and Global Patient Safety Day.

Join the Amistaff employees in remembering patients and families who have lost their life (or quality of life) due to medical errors and harm – and in tribute to those who work to improve the safety and quality of healthcare for future patients.

“Together, lighting the path to safe healthcare – today and everyday:
safe, high quality healthcare is neither accidental nor static.”

Moments of silence designated for Noon and 6:00pm for each respective timezone.

Patients are encouraged to particiapte in their healthcare in an effort to increase their own safety.

The Universal Patient Compact, created by the National Patient Safety Foundation, highlights the principles for partnership between healthcare providers and patients. Consumers of healthcare should become more involved by asking questions, staying informed, and advocating for themselves and loved ones.

To learn more about this year’s 2009 Inaugural Florence Nightingale and Dr. E. Codeman Patient Safety Day Award Recipient, Dr. Lucian Leape, view the press release dated July 16, 2009.