Health Care Reform (Page 6)

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In: Activism, Health Care Reform, Healthcare, Hospitals, Labor Unions, National Nurses United, Nurses, Nursing, Politics

NOTES ON NURSING

New Model IDs Patients At Risk for Serious Safety Events  “A reliable system to identify, mitigate, and escalate risk can be implemented in a children’s hospital and is associated with a reduction in safety events in a context where these events were already uncommon.”

Perspective:  “Get Over a Death in 2 Months.  They Can’t Be Serious”  I just finished reading the American Psychiatric Association’s new recommendations regarding the wrenching universal experience called grief.  I’m pretty sure they have a misprint.  Two months? They meant two years, right?

HEALTH CARE

Mayo Puts Brakes on MegaMall Project    Mayo Clinic said Wednesday it will not be part of the Mall of America’s expansion scheduled to open next fall.
… Read more about: MNA Daily NewsScan, December 13, 2012: Hold the Mayo at Megamall; ID’ing patients at risk  »

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In: Activism, Health Care Reform, Healthcare, Labor Unions, Nurses, Politics, Right to Work

LABOR UPDATES

Wages in Minnesota Rise for the Richest, Fall for the Poor    It’s being called a “lost decade” for low- and middle-income Minnesotans.

NOTES ON NURSING

Study:  Rural RNs More Likely to Commute for Better Salaries  These  findings suggest that policies supporting more competitive rural RN salaries  could encourage more rural-residing RNs to work in the rural communities in  which they live.

RNs, Labor Allies to Picket Las Vegas Venetian Hotel Today  The enterprise is the business center for multi billionaire Stuart Adelman who funds radical  corporate interest political agenda.
… Read more about: MNA Daily NewsScan, December 12, 2012: Rural RNs more likely to commute for better salaries  »

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In: Activism, Health Care Reform, Healthcare, Hospitals, Labor Unions, Nurses, Nursing, Organizing, Politics, Right to Work

LABOR UPDATES

Right To Work Passes Michigan House    The Michigan House approved the first of two right-to-work bills Tuesday that would weaken union power in the historical labor stronghold as hundreds of protesters rallied at the Capitol.

Take Action!  Call
Michiganders right now to spread the word and tell them to contact Gov. Snyder
to let him this legislation is wrong for Michigan.

HEALTH CARE

How Much Compensation is Too Much Compensation?  For while a sprawling health care system with nearly $1 billion in annual  revenues may be an extraordinarily complex operation maneuvering in a rapidly  changing market, ultimately Lancaster General Health and similar systems are  charities.
… Read more about: MNA Daily NewsScan, December 11, 2012: RTW passes MI House; U.S. lives longer, sicker  »

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In: Health Care Reform, Healthcare, Hospitals, Labor Unions, Nurses, Nursing, Politics

NOTES ON NURSING

Nurses Top Gallup Ethics and Honesty Poll for 12th Time in 13 Years.     Nurses’ high rating this year is not unexpected; they have scored at the top of all professions every year since they were first included in the list in 1999 — apart from 2001, when Gallup asked about “firefighters” on a one-time basis after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

Moms, Nurses Plead to Keep Birthing Center    “Ironically, we were so busy with three births so far today, many of the nurses from the birthing center who were going to speak here today are unable to make it,” Sussman said as he stood in his scrubs, ready to return to the hospital.
… Read more about: MNA Daily NewsScan, December 5, 2012: RNs tops in ethics again; MN faces $1.1B deficit  »

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In: Activism, Health Care Reform, Hospitals, Labor Unions, Legislative Policy, National Nurses United, Nurses, Nursing, Organizing, Politics, Unsafe Staffing

NOTES ON NURSING


MNA Legislative Meet & Greet in Alexandria an Eye-Opener for Elected Officials

30 nurses from Bemidji, Alexandria, and Fergus Falls gathered on Nov. 20 for a “Meet and Greet” with local legislators and a continuing education session on nurse advocacy.
MNA Nursing Practice Specialist Carol Deimert and MNA President Linda Hamilton presented on the Main Street Contract and the history of advocacy in nursing, “Nurses have a long history of being leaders in advocating for women’s rights, civil rights, and improvements to our healthcare system,” explained Deimert.
After the presentation, Rep. Paul Anderson (GOP- Starbuck) and Rep.-Elect (Ben Lein DFL-Moorhead) came to meet nurses and discuss some of the nursing issues the legislature may be addressing this session.
… Read more about: MNA Daily NewsScan, November 28, 2012: MNA RNs in west central MN step up push for safe staffing; NY nurses leave ANA  »

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HEALTH CARE

Fix for the Modern Hospital:  A Design for Healing   Rarely is nurse Cindy Steckel possessed by fantasies of unspeakable revenge. Toilet design, however, does provoke her fury.  Whoever is responsible for the slim-doored, cramped configuration of patient bathrooms in most American hospitals draws her scorn. “I don’t know if there wasn’t such a thing as a walker back then,” she says. “But if I could get my hands on the guy who designed these…!”

Study:  Medicaid Expansion Would Extend Coverage to 21M Americans at Modest Cost to States    Since the federal government will pick up most of the tab for the Medicaid expansion, the states that choose to participate will be able to extend insurance to millions of poor and vulnerable Americans without using much of their own funds.
… Read more about: MNA Daily NewsScan, November 27, 2012: A pension deficit disorder; Design for healing  »

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In: Activism, Bargaining, Health Care Reform, Hospitals, Labor Unions, National Nurses United, Nurses, Nurses Strike, Nursing, Politics

NOTES ON NURSING


Natick (MA) Nurses Want More Staff   Mancuso, a Milford resident, said nurses have to pick up some duties of  personal care assistants, and also handle post-operative care that may pull them  away from their regular rounds.”Overall we’re taking on more hats and not getting any help,” she said.

Strike is On at 10 Northern California Hospitals   This is the latest protest over demands by Sutter corporate officials for sweeping reductions in patient care protections and nurses’ contract standards – despite Sutter being one of the wealthiest hospital chains in the U.S.

LABOR UPDATES

Be Wary of the “Fix the Debt” Coalition    Fix the Debt, the unserious coalition of CEOs and corporations who are lobbying to cut Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid while increasing tax breaks for their companies to send jobs overseas, have spent nearly $1 billion in lobbying and campaign contributions during the past four years, according to a new Public Campaign study.
… Read more about: MNA Daily NewsScan, November 20, 2012: Sutter profits-patients suffer; Vets unaware of benefits due them  »

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LABOR UPDATES

Dayton Urges Union Members to Fight for Better Pay   DFL Gov. Mark Dayton told several hundred janitors, security officers, airport service workers and retail cleaners on Saturday that they won’t get the wages they deserve unless they negotiate for it.

HEALTH CARE

Why Health Care Costs Trillions Less in Canada    Between 1980 and 2009, Medicare  spending per beneficiary in the U.S. rose from $1,215 to $9,446, which was a  198% increase after adjusting for inflation. But in Canada, comparable spending  rose from $2,141 to $9,292, or an inflation-adjusted rate of 73%. Think of it  this way: for every $10 spent on services in the U.S., Canada spent $3.36.
… Read more about: MNA Daily NewsScan, November 19, 2012: Hospital racket slows recovery; O! Canada for economical, great health care  »

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In: Activism, Health Care Reform, Healthcare, Hospitals, Nurses, Nursing, Politics

NOTES ON NURSING


“The American Nurse” is a love story for the profession.“I thought I was making a book that would celebrate nurses. I ended up gaining a better understanding of the country through the lens of the American nurse. I have altered my thinking about religion; I have completely changed my feelings about end-of-life.”

LABOR UPDATES

The ethics gap keeps widening for big money – BP Fined a Record $4B; Displayed “Profit Over Prudence”   Federal officials blamed BP’s culture of profit for the spill. “The explosion of the rig was a disaster that resulted from BP’s culture of privileging profit over prudence,” said Assistant Atty.
… Read more about: MNA NewsScan, November 16, 2012: New book is love story to nursing profession  »

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In: Activism, Health Care Reform, Healthcare, Hospitals, Labor Unions, Nurses, Nurses Strike, Nursing, Politics

HEALTH CARE

In the continuing meningitis outbreak scandal, today’s NY Times has an expose on how high-powered corporate influence helped drug compounders avoid tighter rules.

Cost of Providing Health Benefits Rises at Lowest Level in 15 Years   …. the rest of the story is that the low rate is directly due to employers forcing high-deductible plans on workers.

NOTES ON NURSING

Sutter, HCA Nurses to Strike November 20   At the Sutter hospitals, the walkout is in response to demands by Sutter corporate officials for sweeping reductions in patient care protections and nurses’ contract standards at these hospitals.
… Read more about: MNA Daily NewsScan, November 15, 2012: 49.7M in poverty; More workers face high-deductible health plans  »