Healthcare (Page 11)

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In: Activism, Bargaining, Healthcare, Hospitals, Labor Unions, National Nurses United, Nurses, Organizing, Politics

HEALTH CARE

Is Mayo Gaming the System?       The CEO of St. Peter’s River’s Edge Hospital and two area physicians have asked the Attorney General to investigate Mayo Clinic Health Systems in St. Peter and Mankato, alleging its doctors and staff are misinforming patients in an effort to funnel patients away from smaller community hospitals and toward Mayo-affiliated facilities.

Advocates for Mental Health Have Momentum After Conn. Massacre    Advocates say the most important objective is strengthening community-based mental health services. They are also focused on early diagnosis and treatment of ill children, and efforts to erase the stigma that surrounds mental health problems.
… Read more about: MNA NewsScan, December 20, 2012: Mayo games?; 11K new jobs  »

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In: Bargaining, Healthcare, Hospitals, Labor Unions, Nurses, Nursing, Organizing, Politics, Unsafe Staffing

LABOR UPDATES

More Young Adults Are Homeless   Across the country, tens of thousands of underemployed and jobless young people, many with college credits or work histories, are struggling to house themselves in the wake of the recession, which has left workers between the ages of 18 and 24 with the highest unemployment rate of all adults.

RNs Picket at UMass “12 Days of Grinchmas”   The daily picketing, which began on Dec. 10 and will continue through Dec. 21, is being held for one hour each day. Nurses will hold Grinch-themed signs and candles, and sing some special UMass-oriented Grinchmas carols as part of their protest against deteriorating staffing conditions and management’s lack of concern for its patients and employees.
… Read more about: MNA NewsScan, December 19, 2012: Hospital lays off hundreds and still renovates; For-profit prison operator sued for prisoner death  »

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

NOTES ON NURSING

Nurses Call for Action on Nation’s Ravaged Mental Health Services    “This is a massive tragedy that is being played out on a smaller scale every day in emergency rooms, in mental health facilities, and on the streets across our country, where, with sometimes devastating consequences, mental health is underfunded to a shocking, and sometimes deadly degree,” said Deborah Burger, RN, co-president of National Nurses United, the largest U.S. organization of nurses.

RN Senator Named to MN Senate Leadership Team   On Monday, incoming Senate Majority Leader Tom Bakk, DFL-Cook, completed his leadership team by picking Sen. Chris Eaton, DFL-Brooklyn Park, and Sen.
… Read more about: MNA NewsScan, December 18, 2012: Nurses call for action on nation’s ravaged mental health system  »

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

NOTES ON NURSING

Electronic Health Records May Turn Small Errors into Big Ones    According to a review by the Pennsylvania Patient Safety Authority, mistakes and near misses involving electronic health records were analogous to those made with paper-based records with one caveat: those made with EHRs tend to be amplified and can affect a larger group of people.

LABOR UPDATES

Bay Area Nurses to Strike on Christmas Eve   Union officials say the strike—the eighth by the association since September 2011—was not called over a salary dispute, but comes as the union and the hospitals remain at odds over staffing levels, health benefits and sick days.
… Read more about: MNA Daily NewsScan, December 17, 2012: Do EHRs mean bigger problems?; RNs to strike on Christmas eve  »

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

NOTES ON NURSING

Hospital Alarms Fail to Prevent Injury     “My own 2 cents: If an alarm sounds when someone stirs, is any hospital or nursing home so well-staffed that someone can materialize within seconds? Does a staff become less vigilant when patients have alarms and are presumed – wrongly, it seems – to be safer?”

HEALTH CARE

Health Care Costs Rise Faster than Wages   Health insurance costs for the average family have risen more than five times faster than incomes in the last decade, according to a new study from Commonwealth Fund.

Paying for Prevention Works    That kind of attention has always been good medicine.
… Read more about: MNA Daily NewsScan, December 14, 2012: Alarms don’t prevent falls, nurses do; Big bucks for HC C-Suites  »

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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: Activism, Healthcare, Hospitals, Labor Unions, Nurses, Nursing, Politics, Right to Work

LABOR NEWS

Nurses Join Fight Against Michigan Right To Work Legislation   More than a dozen Michigan nurses stood on the steps of the Michigan Capitol this morning, their mouths covered in red duct tape in protest of right to work legislation.

Dayton:  Minnesota Is Getting Back to Work    Of the 2,700 Minnesota soldiers returning from Kuwait last spring, only 78 are still unemployed – a 90% improvement in only four months.

NOTES ON NURSING

Study:  Nurse Phone Calls Reduce Risk of Readmission    In addition, healthcare costs decreased by about $1,225 for each patient enrolled in the program compared with similar patients who were not enrolled, reported researchers with the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health.
… Read more about: MNA Daily NewsScan, December 10, 2012: Nurses Protest RTW in MI  »

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In: Activism, Bargaining, Healthcare, Hospitals, Labor Unions, Nurses, Nursing, Politics, Right to Work

NOTES ON NURSING

MNA Nurses Reach Tentative Agreement with Twin Cities Hospitals     The Minnesota Nurses Association and Twin Cities Hospitals reached agreement last night on new three-year-contracts, which are being unanimously recommended by the MNA Negotiating Committee for ratification by the membership.  Members, vote dates are Dec. 18, 19, 20.  Learn more about the agreement and the vote in the member portal.

LABOR UPDATES

Lame Duck Michigan Legislators Slam Through Right To Work Bills    In the state where workers sat down in Flint General Motors plants seventy-five years ago and emboldened the industrial labor movement that would give birth to the American middle class, Republican legislators on Thursday voted to gut basic labor rights. 
… Read more about: MNA Daily NewsScan, December 7, 2012: TC Nurse Contract Tentative Agreement; Sham Democracy in Michigan  »