Denver’s downtown has a lot to offer both for business and for fun. Between an amazing interactive art museum to numerous diverse coffee shops, there is a lot to experience, but the places discussed in this article are close in distance to each other, if not right next door.

The Denver Art Museum is located on West 14^th Street and consists of two buildings. The museum features very diverse art, such as photography, textiles, modern and contemporary art, and art from different nationalities. It is the perfect place to see and admire art, as well as creating your own. As a visitor, you are able to try out the art you see, and you can make your own fashion designs. The museum welcomes all ages.

The Denver Center for the Performing Arts, located on 13^th Street, is within walking distance from the previously mentioned museum. It is a gorgeous creative center that would be a wonderful place to end the day. You can see the longest running show in Denver here entitled, “I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change,” which is a humorous musical that consists of four characters and a small stage. Be ready for a lot of laughing and excitement throughout the two-hour show! In addition to this show, there are a lot of other popular shows playing there every night of the week.

As for great food and coffee, downtown Denver has a lot to offer, but the following are the top choices all located on 13^th Street:

Oh City, Oh City: This vegan restaurant with free Wi-fi and music is open from 7 a.m. -2 a.m. every day. The atmosphere is energetic and one-of-a-kind. Everyday meals, baked goods, and even a variety of drinks are served here.

Subculture: This is a fantastic sub restaurant that has a wide range of sub sandwiches with a great amount of amazing art work on the walls. The restaurant has both indoor and outdoor dining and is open all day, which makes it perfect for any meal.

The Desk: This is a new coffee shop that has a very unique concept. At The Desk, you can enjoy free Wi-fi and a large coffee selection. You can also take it a step further by paying more and reserving different work spaces. You can choose a small, quiet, isolated room or a large conference room. It is a place to create.

Eating places located off of 13^th Street include the following:

Steuben’s: This is a great place where you can order anything from fried corn on the cob to sweet potato fries. They have won awards over the years due to their great food and service. The restaurant is located on East 17^th Street, while the truck is available for catering for all types of celebrations.

Pinkberry: There are different types of frozen yogurt restaurants, but this place holds its own. Pinkberry has many fruity flavors to choose from, and you can add extra fruit as well as regular candy toppings to your dessert. The difference here is that you are charged based on the size of the container rather than the weight. Pinkberry is located on Glenarm Place 130, right by the 16^th Street Mall.

Overall, downtown Denver includes a great amount of variety and diversity that is reflected throughout. This article covers a lot of territory, yet all places are equally as wonderful and easily accessible.

The article City Spotlight: Downtown Denver, Colorado appeared first on The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!.

After a patient died last year at a Veterans Affairs hospital in Manhattan, federal inspectors discovered nurses in his unit had a startling gap in their skills: They didn’t understand how the monitors tracking vital signs worked.

None of the nurses interviewed could accurately explain what would happen if a patient became disconnected from a cardiac monitor — which allegedly occurred to the patient who died, according to an October 2011 report from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs’ inspector general.

The incident followed two deaths in the cardiac monitoring unit at a VA hospital in Denver that raised similar questions about nurse competency.

Earlier this month, a broader review by the VA inspector general of 29 VA facilities found only half had adequately documented that their nurses had the needed skills. Some nurses “did not demonstrate competency in one or more required skills,” but there was no evidence of retraining, the report said.

An outside nursing expert who reviewed the reports at ProPublica’s request called them “troubling” and said the fact that the lapses weren’t caught and corrected “signified much broader problems.”

The inspector general’s findings reveal “a lack of oversight and adherence to accepted clinical and regulatory standards,” said Jane Hirsch, a clinical professor emeritus at the University of California, San Francisco School of Nursing, who previously oversaw nursing at U.C. San Francisco Medical Center.

The April 20 IG report also noted that previous inspections had found nurse competency issues in “dialysis, mental health, long-term care, spinal cord injury, endoscopy procedure areas, the operating room and the cardiac catheterization laboratory and with reusable medical equipment.”

In a response to the inspector general, the VA pledged to create uniform competency standards for its 152 hospitals and to ensure that evaluations of every nurse’s skills are up-to-date. Nurses will not be able to work in areas in which they have not demonstrated competency.

A VA spokeswoman declined further comment.

Nurse competency has increasingly become an issue in medicine. Hospitals and clinics create their own procedures and tests for assessing the skills of nurses, but their adherence to these policies is spotty.

Outside regulators don’t test individual nurses, but simply check if a sampling of the nurses’ files have the appropriate paperwork certifying competency.

That’s what VA’s inspector general did for the April review. As such, officials acknowledged that they could not verify whether nurses at those hospitals, or others, are providing competent care.

“We did not look at actual care or actual competence,” Julie Watrous, director of the inspector general’s combined assessment program, which inspects each VA hospital every three years, told ProPublica.

Only half the 29 facilities included in the new report had complete nurse skill assessment records that met the hospitals’ standards, inspectors found. Of the 349 nurses whose files were examined, paperwork showed that 58 lacked skills in at least one area. And for 24 in that group, there was no evidence that anything was done in response.

In an interview, however, the IG official who coordinated the report said she was generally pleased with the findings. Although both the VA and its hospitals had room to improve, she said, all of the hospitals had policies in place and at least some proof of skills in each nurse’s file.

“We never found one single site or even person that didn’t have at least components of competency assessment and validation,” said Carol Torczon, associate director of the St. Petersburg, Fla., office of the inspector general. “Where we found the holes was in the paper process.”

Torczon said she believed that the problems identified in Denver and New York were not reflective on the care generally provided by VA nurses in cardiac monitoring units.

Inspectors in the New York and Colorado cases said they could not definitely tie the deaths of the patients to their nurses’ care. But they noted that their lack of training put patients at risk.

Registered nurses assigned to telemetry units typically place cardiac leads, set parameters for the monitors tracking each patient, verify heart rhythms and take appropriate actions if there is an irregularity. They also enter progress notes and inform doctors of any changes.

After the patient in New York died, inspectors quizzed nurses and a biomedical engineer about what would happen if a patient got disconnected. “According to some staff, a ‘red alarm’ would be triggered since a disconnected lead was considered critical,” the report said, “whereas other staff told us that a disconnected lead would trigger a yellow alarm or that it would not trigger any alarm at all.”

Inspectors also found no evidence that the nurses’ competence had been checked. Records showed that one of the patient’s nurses had last received training on the monitors 13 years earlier.

Two years earlier at a VA hospital in Denver, inspectors looked into the deaths of two patients on cardiac monitors. After the first death, the hospital gave nurses a basic test of their ability to interpret monitor readings: only one of 28 passed, according to a January 2010 report. The nurse in charge when both patients died had never received specialized training in cardiac monitors.

Even after the second patient died in 2009, inspectors found “it was unclear who was responsible for telemetry training, and staff were not aware that policies had been updated.”

Both facilities vowed extensive reforms in responses that were included in the IG reports.

Experts say up-to-date competency evaluations are important because they ensure that nurses, who provide the bulk of the frontline care in hospitals, have the skills for their position.

“It would appear that the old adage ‘inspect what you expect’ has most certainly not been taken very seriously in these environments,” said Hirsch, who was chief nursing officer at UCSF Medical Center for nine years.

After reading the New York and Denver reports, Hirsch said her concern wasn’t the incidents themselves as much as that the competency of the nurses hadn’t been documented or evaluated in a long time.

Had she been in charge, the findings would have caused her “to be really nervous and want to jump on it immediately,” she said.

by Tracy Weber and Charles Ornstein, ProPublica, April 30, 2012, 1:19 p.m.

The article VA Nurses Scrutinized After Patient Deaths in Two States appeared first on The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!.

In a stunning move the New York Jets have acquired Tim Tebow and a seventh round draft pick from the Denver Broncos for a fourth and sixth round pick. The Jets will also have to pick up half of a $5 million dollar salary advance that was paid to Tebow by Denver at the beginning of last season.

The trade was originally announced yesterday only to hit a snag as the Jets didn’t like some of the language in Tebow’s contract in regards to the salary advance. Jacksonville then tried to throw their hat back into the ring, and Tebow was asked for his opinion on where he wanted to go, thrilled at the chance to play for the Jets.

Tebow joins the team whom he was able to defeat last year on his magical run of 4th quarter victories. His arrival not only brings with it “Tebowmania” and everything associated with it, but may also spark a quarterback controversy with current starter Mark Sanchez. His presence as such a polarizing figure could split a locker room that doesn’t need any more distractions.

Cornerback Antonio Cromartie tweeted on Tuesday night “we don’t need Tebow,” saying he was confident in Sanchez and the guys already on the team. Today he tweeted “Why are we doing this?”

Tebow is also the same player who last season, in the week leading up to the Jets-Broncos game, was criticized by Jets players when it came to his passing abilities. Now teammate cornerback Darrelle Revis said Tebow’s style as an “option” type quarterback wouldn’t be able to sustain itself as a long-term success.

The timing of the trade is also weird as the Jets signed Sanchez to a three-year, $40.5 million contract extension two weeks ago despite a disappointing season. Then, last week they signed Drew Stanton to be their No.2, giving him half a million in signing bonus. They also still have Greg McElroy, the former Alabama standout.

The Jets look at Tebow to fill the vacuum left by Brad Smith who signed with the Buffalo Bills last season in their wildcat situations. Especially since new offensive coordinator Tony Sparano was the coach who introduced the wildcat to the NFL.

Hall of Fame Jets QB Joe Namath wasn’t happy with the move.

“I’m just sorry that I can’t agree with this situation. I think it’s just a publicity stunt. I can’t go with it. I think it’s wrong,” Namath told “The Michael Kay Show” on ESPN1050 in New York. “I don’t think they know what they’re doing over there.”

Rex Ryan, who has vowed to return to the power running game, hopes Tebow could bring some assistance, as they only have one established running back in Shonn Greene.

The potential of backlash is especially great for the Jets as Tebow has a monstrous following and his popularity could distract Mark Sanchez. Sanchez, coming off a sub-par season could be facing the rumblings for Tebow if he doesn’t play well.

Tebow must also adjust as he falls back into the backup role after becoming the starter last season in Denver and leading them to the playoffs and a first round victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers. The next week however Denver was crushed by Tom Brady and the Patriots.

When it comes down to it though, Tebow made the playoffs and Sanchez did not. Sanchez struggled mightily down the stretch which got people wondering about his future with the Jets. The team backed him publicly, but vowed to change the quarterback depth chart for 2012.

With the trade for Tim Tebow, we can see that they were serious.

Image Courtesy of   Left Eyed Photography / Shutterstock.com

The article Tim Tebow Traded to the New York Jets appeared first on The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!.

Tim Tebow was the definition of a star athlete during his four years at the University of Florida. He won the Heisman Trophy and three BCS Bowl Games. Two of them were national titles that came in just a three year span.

These are the facts that his supporters point out when they make their case as to why he will be a successful quarterback in the NFL. When labeled by many of his fans, both former and current teammates and coaches, peers, competitors, and even some of his critics as a football player, one simple word often comes to mind – winner.

He won in Gainesville and in 2011 he has won four of his first five starts as the Broncos quarterback. However, it would appear reasonable to note that Tebow’s inability to consistently throw the football at a high level is not enough to lead a championship caliber NFL team, no matter how much of the ‘it factor’ he may have.

So many people want to see him fail for a number of reasons – he is lowering the standards of performance at the position, he wears his religion on his sleeve, and he has this never-ending optimism about his job no matter what the critics say about him. A vast amount of viewers have also lost hope because — this is the NFL.

Not to say that FBS football is a walk in the park, but Tebow’s mechanical flaws at this level don’t display promise for translating into a great degree of success. Several NFL analysts such as former quarterback Trent Dilfer of ESPN agree that his throwing motion is severely prolonged and it’s an advantage to all eleven defenders he’s up against.

Lineman have that extra second or so to get to him, defensive backs have that slight moment to get a jump on the football, and linebackers will have that slim instant to either adjust in coverage or continue their pursuit of him. If that isn’t enough, his accuracy has been atrocious. He has completed only 44.8% of his passes this year, when an NFL quarterback is expected to be at the very least in the fifties, but more preferably the sixties.

He’s missed a number of wide open receivers, he’s constantly overthrowing those who have their man beat downfield, he’s throwing behind them when they create small windows that need to be hit, and for a young man with extremely muscular arms – he tends to underthrow and short-hop his teammates much too often.

‘He wins’ is what his believers always claim. They believe that that’s all that matters. But take a look at who the Broncos have beaten and the fashion in which they did so. The Dolphins couldn’t recover an onside kick late and gave up the game tying touchdown in a prevent defense, Carson Palmer was making his first start for the Raiders, the Chiefs allowed him to complete 2 passes the whole game, and the Jets had to fly cross-country on three days of rest coming off an emotional loss to the Patriots.

The competition will improve. And is it realistic to believe that this option-style offense will continue to win games?  The NFL has tended towarda a predominantly passing league over the last few years, and not only are defenses expected to catch up as they always do, but being a runner will also put Tebow in more situations where he is likely to get injured. Just look at Michael Vick and the numerous injuries he’s suffered throughout his career.

Even Tebow’s own bosses don’t show confidence in him. John Elway, former Super Bowl winning quarterback for the Broncos and current Executive Vice President of football operations for the team continuously denies that Tebow is the future of the organization when asked after every game. Head coach John Fox also admitted that the quarterback would be “screwed” if he had to run a traditional offense.

With all that being said, it doesn’t appear that Tebow will have long-term success in this league unless he finds a way to become a truly efficient pocket passer. People had the same doubts about Panthers rookie quarterback Cam Newton before this year’s draft, and now he is completing exactly 60% of his passes. The transformation is possible, but is all dependent on Tebow’s physical ability and mental commitment.

However, unless that happens, the future doesn’t seem too bright in Denver.

Image Courtesy of   https://www.facebook.com/DenverBroncos

The article Return to Reality, Tebow Faithful appeared first on The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!.