MNA Daily NewsScan, July 5, 2012: Patient lifting rules gain traction; $160M settlement to nurses re: gender bias

HEALTH CARE

Hospitals Invest in Moving Patients   Editor’s Note:  Former MNA staffer and worker Health & Safety advocate, Bettye Shogren championed groundbreaking legislation in Minnesota requiring hospitals to provide adequate lifting mechanisms.  Other states like Illinois, as this story demonstrates,  are finding it a great idea as well.

Health Care Reform?  Move On   Fifty-six percent of Americans believe opponents of the law should “stop trying to block its implementation and instead move on to other national problems,” according to the poll by the nonprofit Kaiser Family Foundation.

Debate:  Expand Imperfect Treatments, or Create New Ones   When advocates of attained health survey the landscape, they see an appalling misallocation of resources. They see a lot of money being used — in both research and practice — to produce what are often only slight advances at best in potential health, and they believe that this money and time could be spent much more effectively by improving how Americans access the existing treatments now available.

NOTES ON NURSING

Candian Nurses Receive $160M Settlement for Gender Discrimination Case    The predominantly female nurses, who earn between $50,000 and $60,000, determine the eligibility of applicants for CPP disability benefits. They say they perform essentially the same core functions as a male-dominated group of CPP doctors paid twice as much.

LABOR NEWS

Fewer Americans Than Forecast File for Unemployment Benefits     Applications for jobless benefits decreased by 14,000 in the week ended June 30 to 374,000, the fewest since mid May.