MNA Blog (Page 97)

Recent news and updates from the Minnesota Nurses Association.

HEALTH CARE

Twin Cities Ranks #1 in Fitness   High rates of physical activity helped to propel Minneapolis-St. Paul to the top of the list of the American College of Sports Medicine’s 2012 American Fitness Index (AFI) for the second year in a row, while raised obesity levels and smoking pushed Oklahoma City to the bottom.

Change is Coming to Rural Health Care, Whatever the Supreme Court Decides  Even if the Supreme Court rules some part of the law unconstitutional, he said, “I don’t think it will derail the move forward toward change. It’s not prudent for health organizations to sit back and wait.
… Read more about: MNA Daily NewsScan, June 26, 2012: Twin Cities #1 in fitness; rural health care changing  »

NURSING

Nursing the Wounded   There’s a new effort being made to train more of the nation’s nurses to help care for this growing population of veterans.  First Lady Michelle Obama and Second Lady Jill Biden recently launched an initiative to create specialized training in veterans health care so nurses nationwide can better care for this coming wave of new vets.

HEALTH CARE

Health Care to Create 5.6 Million New Jobs by 2020   The healthcare industry will spawn 5.6 million new jobs by 2020 – most of them high-paying – but most unemployed Americans won’t have the expensive schooling necessary to land them.
… Read more about: MNA Daily NewsScan, June 25, 2012 – Nursing the wounded; HC to add 5.6M new jobs by 2020  »

Editor’s Note:  Our thoughts are with colleagues and community in Duluth and elsewhere in the state, in the aftermath of flood devastation.

HEALTH CARE

26,000 Uninsured Die Each Year   The study, released on Wednesday by the consumer advocacy group Families USA, estimates that a record high of 26,100 people aged 25 to 64 died for lack of health coverage in 2010, up from 20,350 in 2005 and 18,000 in 2000.  That makes for a rate of about 72 deaths per day, or three per hour.

$129 Marked for Community Health Centers    The 2010 federal healthcare overhaul established the Community Health Center  Fund to provide $11 billion over five years to fund health center operations,  expansions and construction.
… Read more about: MNA Daily NewsScan, June 21, 2012: 26k uninsured die each year; hospitals lag in workforce diversity  »

Stories we’re scanning:

NOTES ON NURSING

Nurses’ Rx for Healing – A Robin Hood Tax   Nurses are on the streets throughout the world today to demand a small Robin Hood tax on Wall Street transactions.  In Guatamala, Manhattan, El Paso, Minneapolis and numerous sites around the globe, thousands of nurses who see too much suffering as Wall Street bankers get paid six-figure bonuses are calling for a new public health measure – economic justice.  Read why nurses are at the forefront of this movement. 

California Court Says Unsupervised Nurses Can Administer Anesthesia   The order will have its greatest impact in rural areas, where nurses commonly  administer anesthesia in hospitals, under a doctor’s orders but without  in-person supervision.
… Read more about: MNA Daily NewsScan, June 19, 2012: Robin Hood Tax Day; underemployed & underpaid  »