MNA Daily NewsScan, May 3, 2012 – Who Administers Anesthesia; U.S. HC Spending “Dwarfs” Others

What is this? The MNA Daily NewsScan is a round up the day’s biggest nursing, health care and organized labor stories.  As news unfolds in real-time, we update the NewsScan with new links and info, so check back often!

Stories we’re scanning:

Health Care

U.S. Health Care Spending “Dwarfs” That of Other Countries   The U.S. spent nearly $8,000 per person for health care services in 2009, the  study found, confirming that “health care spending in the U.S. dwarfs that found  in any other industrialized country.”

Notes on Nursing

Debate on Who Administers Anesthesia Moves to Courts   The debate pits nurse anesthetists, who specialize in administering anesthesia and maintain that they are well equipped to treat patients on their own, against anesthesiologists, who are physicians and say nurses lack the necessary training.

Labor Updates

40 Years of Workers Left Behind    Particularly striking is the fact that for years leading up to the 1970s, productivity gains were broadly shared, as theory predicts. Then the linkage abruptly broke. What explains the shift?