BUSINESS

NURSE PRACTITIONERS WANT TO WORK WITHOUT DOCTOR SUPERVISION

Nurse practitioners in five states are fighting for the right to treat patients without oversight from doctors. Proposed legislation is pending to give NPs full practice authority in California, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Massachusetts, while a bill in New Jersey would give them autonomy after two years of collaboration with a physician.

Nonphysician health care professionals want NPs to expand their roles citing a shortage of doctors and the millions of new newly insured patients that will come under the Affordable Health Care Act. NPs say they are positioned to fill such gaps.

Unlike physician assistants, who practice under a doctor's supervision, NPs have more training and education than physician's assistants or nurses. They are trained to examine, diagnose and treat patients, manage acute and chronic illnesses and can prescribe medications, including controlled substances, in all 50 states.

BIG DATA GIVES BIG EMPLOYERS A PEEK INTO THE FUTURE OF EMPLOYEES

If you've ever had a key employee suddenly announce he has found a new job you already know the value of retaining employees and being able to predict if and when they'll leave. For big employers, huge stores of data are being compiled into 'predictive analytics,' a fancy phrase for the new Human Resources' crystal ball.

Big employers are looking at patterns of behavior that might tell them who will stay with the company, whether that person is promotable, and when the person is likely to quit.

One example from NBC news: A manager has a key employee who is pregnant with her second child. The manager begins to worry that the key employee will have to be
replaced. How valid is that concern? Predictive analytics would analyze data from many sources and could come up with an answer for the manager: More than one factor goes into an employee leaving.

At ConAgra, predictive analytics found that high performing managers who were born between the late 60s and early 80s (Generation X) are least likely to leave the firm. On the other hand, Generation Y employees (born after the 1980s) are more likely to leave.

ConAgra also used data to see if it was true that the younger the worker, the more able to adapt to changing work conditions. They found age was not a factor and the ability to learn can be present at any age.

Pay was not among the top 10 reasons people leave. Their relationships with their supervisors and whether they are recognized for their work were two of the stronger factors. Understanding those factors in a present employee can help companies make changes and retain people.

THE NEW WORLD OF PERSON TO PERSON PAYMENTS

The guys are out to dinner and they want to split the check. One says he'll pay by credit card, but no one else has cash. What's the solution?

Simple: Send cash through your smart phone. With a quick email or a few taps on your cell phone you can transfer the money, and your recipient will get it in a day or two.

The Federal Reserve says about one in four smart phone owners made a mobile payment in the last 12 months.

There are two good ways to make payment to another person:

• You can send cash through your bank. Most will let you transfer money using an in house system, or
  
  
• you can use a service partner such as Dwolla, Google Wallet, or PayPal. You have to sign up if you don't have an account and so does your recipient.
  

To pay through your bank, sign up for the money transfer option online or via its mobile app. Then you can key in your recipient's cell number or email address and the amount to be sent. It will be debited from your bank account or credit card. He or she receives an email alert then signs up to receive payments basically providing a bank account where the funds can be wired often within minutes if you're customer is at the same bank, or within a couple of days if not.

LOOKING FOR POTENTIAL PILOTS

Airline industry officials predict a coming shortage of pilots because of retirement, more training requirements and longer rest periods between shifts.

• American Airlines, which is merging with US Airways, will be the world's largest airline. It plans to hire 1,500 pilots in the next five years.

• United Airlines is recalling hundreds of pilots from furloughs since 2008.

Regional airlines worry that the cost and difficulty of obtaining training could discourage people from becoming pilots.

New pilots build their experience in the military and at regional airlines which are key because they feed the larger hubs. First officers at the regionals earn $18,000 to $20,000 a year. The average pay for a captain at a major airline is about $100,000.

Flight school loans can add up to about $100,000.

RELIGIOUS DISCRIMINATION CLAIMS ARE ON THE RISE

Claims that workers file with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission are rising. One recent EEOC lawsuit was based on a worker claim involving a trucking company with Muslim drivers. They objected to delivering alcohol because of their Islamic faith.

Another type of lawsuit involves hijab, religious clothing, and retail clothing stores. In one case, a retail clerk wore religious garb that was very much unlike clothing sold by an Ivy League and Outdoors outfitter. She was fired for not adhering to the appearance policy. Another lawsuit was by a woman who also wore hijab who sued because she was not hired by the same Ivy League clothing store. An appeals court rejected her suit on two technicalities.

Experts on religion and the law attribute the rising conflict to immigration, the lack of more open discussion of religion, and workers' growing assertiveness. Diversity makes people more willing to raise an issue they feel is in conflict with their beliefs.

BITCOIN: DIGITAL CASH GETS NEW BELIEVERS

When an Indiana insurance agency started accepting Bitcoins a few months ago they had a big increase in business. Customers were eager to pay insurance premiums with their stash of digital currency.

The currency is gaining mainstream acceptance among merchants and consumers in spite of lingering concerns about its security and volatility. At the insurance agency they say it's not a problem because if the currency doesn't work out people will owe their premiums anyway.

Bitcoins were launched in 2010. They are accepted by just a few hundred merchants, but that number is growing, especially among online merchants. The blogging platform WordPress has launched a plug-in that enables its users to make and receive Bitcoin payments.

Unlike traditional currencies, the Indianapolis Star reports that Bitcoin has no central authority. It relies on an open source software platform that runs on a peer-to-peer network of computers worldwide. The software slowly releases new Bitcoins.

The value of a Bitcoin varies. Recently it soared to about $750.

OLDER WORKERS OFTEN HAVE STRENGTHS THAT MAKE THEM VALUABLE IN THE OFFICE

Workers who suddenly find themselves unemployed and over 50 are in a difficult position for finding work equal to their experience.

In a 2009 report from the Sloan Center for Aging and Work, employers stereotyped older workers as being more likely to be burned out, resistant to new technologies, often absent due to illness and poor at working with younger supervisors. Many older unemployed workers haven't kept their computer skills up to do date.

Still, older workers are now finding a home in business. The same employers who scored older worker badly also pointed out they are loyal, organized, problem solving leaders, says a study by North Carolina State University.

Their greatest assets may be their experience and their work place wisdom. They have learned how to get along with people, how to solve problems without drama and call for help when necessary. And they don't multitask. Neuroscientist Adam Gazzaley of the University of California, San Francisco, says multitasking is a misnomer. The brain
can't do two things at once. It switches from one task to the other and with every switch there's a delay.

While cognitive decline begins in the 20s, exercise can help or even halt the decline. Given the wide variations in people, Dr. Gazzaley says a smart, active 75 year-old could score higher on cognitive tests than a 40 year-old "slouch on the couch."

Another advantage: Older workers are more able to unplug to avoid distractions. Younger workers tend to be always on with email and texting.

GAMBLING: WHAT ARE THE ODDS THAT YOU'LL WIN?

Most Americans enjoy going to a casino. Maybe you do, too. Their second best choice is gambling from home over the Internet. What are the chances they'll win? Thanks to public data detailing Internet gambling, a Wall Street Journal study provides some answers.

The chances of being a winner on any day aren't bad. Occasional gamblers won money on 30 percent of the days they wagered.

Continuing to gamble significantly lowers those odds. Just 11 percent of frequent players ended in the black over the two year period. Most put less than $150 in their pockets.

Big losers of more than $5,000 outnumber big winners of the same amount 128 to 1. About 95 percent of heavy gamblers were big losers. They made the largest number of wagers over the two years and 95 percent lost money.

Of the 4,222 customers analyzed in anonymous records just 119 big losers provided half of the online casino's take and 10.8 percent provided 80 percent.

To check the results, The Journal asked the University of Michigan and the University of Connecticut to analyze a private gambling database to which they have access. They checked 18,000 holders of loyalty cards at a Native American casino. The findings were very similar.

© 2014 TLC Magazine Online, Inc.