American nursing academies are rejecting thousands of qualified applicants despite a major nursing shortage caused by mass retirements and the burgeoning senior population, reports CNN . "There's tremendous demand from hospitals and clinics to hire more nurses," notes Robert Rosseter with the American Association of Colleges of Nursing. "There's tremendous demand from students who want to enter nursing programs, but schools are tapped out." The American Nurses Association estimates that the United States currently has about 3 million nurses, and it will need to produce more than 1 million new registered nurses by 2022 to meet its healthcare needs. The American Association of Colleges of Nursing calculates that nursing schools rejected more than 56,000 qualified applicants from undergraduate programs last year, while in the past decade they have annually turned away about 30,000 qualified applicants. Due to a lack of openings, nursing programs across the entire spectrum are rejecting students en masse. Nursing schools struggle to enlarge class size, partly because hiring more qualified educators is difficult. "The annual national faculty vacancy rate in nursing programs is over 7 percent," Rosseter says. "That's pretty high. It's about two teachers per nursing school or a shortage of 1,565 teachers." Meanwhile, better wages for working nurses are diverting current and potential nurse teachers from education.

A study to be presented at the American Geriatrics Society's annual meeting indicates medical marijuana significantly reduced pain and the need for opioid painkillers among older adults in chronic pain, reports Medical Xpress . The team polled 138 medical marijuana users with a survey focusing on how frequently they used the marijuana, in what form they took it, how much it reduced pain, and whether or not they were able to cut their use of other painkillers. Eighteen percent of marijuana-using respondents said they were able to decrease their painkiller use "moderately," 20 percent "extremely," and 27 percent "completely." Meanwhile, 91 percent said they would recommend medical marijuana to others. These subjects had been living with chronic pain from osteoarthritis, spinal stenosis, hips and knees that could not be replaced, and pain that steroid injection could not ease, according to study co-author Diana Martins-Welch in the Department of Medicine at Northwell Health. "What I'm seeing in my practice, and what I'm hearing from other providers who are participating in medical marijuana programs, is that their recipients are using less opioids," she notes. "I've even gotten some recipients completely off opioids." Martins-Welch thinks medical marijuana should be more widely available and easier to obtain, as the drug is legal in only 30 states. Furthermore, since marijuana is federally outlawed it is expensive and not covered by insurance, making it unattainable for many potential beneficiaries.

A study from the National Council on Aging (NCOA) and the Clear Choices Campaign found Medicare's online Medicare Plan Finder tool "is overwhelming, information is poorly presented, and the user design is potentially misleading — all of which confuses beneficiaries and can contribute to many making poor plan selections," reports Next Avenue . The NCOA also notes among the site's biggest drawbacks are that "out-of-pocket cost information is difficult to understand and provider directories are difficult to navigate." Furthermore, plan comparisons do not allow the inclusion of Medigap policies, while the site's layout and display are confusing. In addition, the language is not accessible, and the site's navigation and usability are complex and inconsistent. The unavailability of human support on the site, confusing information on health plans' quality Star Ratings, informational inaccuracy, and poor customization of plan data also are cited as shortcomings. The study authors stress that although Plan Finder does offer "a wealth of unbiased information on beneficiary costs" in a comprehensible manner, an overhaul of the comparison features and enrollment functions is "essential." Among their suggestions for improvement are the addition of a Web chat feature, prominent and precise display of costs, basing estimated out-of-pocket costs on more detailed personal information, a provider directory, the use of saved information about consumers' drugs, retooling the layout and display to augment usability and intuitive navigation, and the replacement of insurance jargon with graphics, charts, and plain language.

As parents age, it is easy for children to become overly protective and concerned, reports the Wall Street Journal . Doctors say it may be best for children to pick their battles. For example, if an older parent causes a car accident, it may be time to stop them from driving. In contrast, issues like not wearing a hearing aid or walking up steps may not be worth arguing about. William Doherty, family therapist and professor of Family Social Science at the University of Minnesota, says a good rule of thumb is for children to ask if they are interfering with the lives of their parents to alleviate their own concerns. Technological monitoring devices can be helpful in these situations, but they can create more problems for parents and children. Other experts say if a parent has not shown signs of cognitive decline or impairment, their decisions should be respected.

For older adults, the idea of moving to a retirement community can be a decision fraught with fears and many questions, reports the New York Times . Often, there is a reluctance to leave home, the fear of losing independence, and concern about overall costs. However, experts say patience is important for families encouraging such a move for a loved one. Tom Neubauer, executive vice president at Erickson Living, which operates 19 retirement communities, says, "Inherently there's a sense of denial, particularly as it relates to aging, and you're trying to defeat that." He compared the decision to that of a high school student choosing a college. Neubauer had challenges convincing his mother to join a retirement community. He was successful by pointing out the benefits that could come from making the move. Others say the conversation should be frank and open about quality of life and goals in later years of life.

Employment costs rose more than anticipated in the first quarter as worker pay and benefits accelerated, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. The employment cost index advanced 0.8 percent quarter-to-quarter, up from a 0.6 percent increase, reports Bloomberg . Wages and salaries rose 0.9 percent quarter-to-quarter, and benefits costs increased 0.7 percent. Total compensation rose 2.7 percent over the past 12 months, the strongest showing since the third quarter of 2008, following a 2.6 percent increase. Private-sector wages and salaries increased 2.9 percent year-to-year, also the strongest showing since the third quarter of 2008, following a 2.8 percent gain.

According to a study in Health Psychology by researchers from the University of British Columbia, seniors are more likely to stick to workout routines when they exercise with people their own age, reports ScienceDaily . The study involved 627 adults with an average age of 72. These adults participated in exercise classes for 12 weeks, and had the option to extend their participation for another 12 weeks after the study. The participants were divided into three groups: a group with consistent age and gender, a group with consistent age and varied gender, and a third group that exercised in typical classes. The researchers found that participants who exercised with people their own age attended more classes than participants from the mixed age group. Researchers say this knowledge could help retirement communities, gyms, and community centers optimize their workout programs for older adults.

The Journal of Prevention of Alzheimer's Disease has published a study that says music stimulates parts of the brain unaffected by Alzheimer's Disease, reports Business Standard . Researchers conducted the study to explore music-based treatments to alleviate anxiety for people with dementia. The researchers helped participants select songs that were placed on a portable music player. The results of the study revealed that music activates the brain and causes whole regions of the brain to communicate. Researchers said music caused activity to increase in the visual network, the salience network, the executive network, and the cerebellar and corticocerebellar network pairs. Researchers do not know if this increased activity is a long-term or short-term result.

Fifty-three percent of workers ages 60 and older say they are postponing retirement, with 57 percent of men putting retirement on hold compared to 48 percent of women, according to a CareerBuilder survey. Four in 10 workers do not think they will be able to retire until age 70 or older, reports Plan Sponsor . About a quarter of respondents did not know how much they will need to save for retirement. Women are much more likely to be unsure of how much to save than men — 31 percent compared to 17 percent, respectively. When asked if they are currently contributing to retirement accounts, 23 percent said they do not participate in a retirement plan.

The U.S Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is fulfilling its pledge to release Medicare Advantage (MA) data to researchers to help identify care trends for older adults, reports Modern Healthcare . CMS Administrator Seema Verma said on April 26 that this is the first time the agency has released the data to researchers. The agency has released preliminary Medicare Advantage (MA) encounter data from 2015, and more data is expected to come in from insurers through August; final data reports will follow that. CMS will release data on MA enrollees annually going forward, according to Verma. She added that next year, CMS also expects to make Medicaid and Children's Health Insurance Program data available, providing researchers with access to data on another 70 million patients. MA enrollment increased from 13 percent of the Medicare population, or 5.3 million individuals, in 2004 to almost 33 percent, or 19 million individuals, in 2017.