Healthcare (Page 8)

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In: Healthcare, Hospitals, Labor Unions, Legislative Policy, Minnesota Nurses Association, Nurses, Nurses Strike, Patient Safety, Uncategorized, Unsafe Staffing

NOTES ON NURSING

Angels Fund Set Up for RNs and Co-Workers Lost in Limo Fire   This year’s Nurses Week was sadly darkened by the death of two RNs and three other caregivers in a tragic limousine fire on the San Mateo Bridge in the San Francisco Bay Area.

UMass Nurses Will Strike Over Poor Patient Care Conditions    After posting more than $88 million in profits, UMass Memorial Medical Center has slashed its nursing and support staff in the last two years.

LABOR UPDATES

Dairy Queen Offers Grads Their First Job – Without Pay    Edina-based Dairy Queen is giving new college grads the chance to shill for its Orange Julius brand.
… Read more about: MNA NewsScan, May 13, 2013: Fund set for RNs, colleagues lost in limo fire; ND highest in worker death  »

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In: Health Care Reform, Healthcare, Hospitals, Labor Unions, Minnesota Nurses Association, National Nurses United, Nurses, Nursing, Patient Safety, Uncategorized, Unsafe Staffing

Nurses-Week

NOTES ON NURSING

HHS Secretary Sebelius Hails Nurses   National Nurses Week gives us a chance to recognize the contribution of the health care providers at the heart of our health care system.  Every day, nurses provide leadership, innovation and advocacy to meet the health care needs of Americans.

Advanced Nurses Lower Costs, Improve Care   Studies find that Advanced Practice Registered Nurses who provide preventive  care are as effective as primary-care physicians in accuracy of diagnosis and  prescription.

LABOR UPDATES

The Labor Market Won’t Be Healthy Until People Feel Like they Can Quit Their Jobs  The unemployment rate may be falling and the number of jobs rising.
… Read more about: MNA NewsScan, May 8, 2013: Kaiser battle=sign of vibrant HC unions  »

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In: Health Care Reform, Healthcare, Labor Unions, Minnesota Nurses Association, Nurses, Patient Safety

NOTES ON NURSING

Successful Nurse-Intensive Chronic Disease Management Experiment in Jeopardy    But Health Quality Partners, with its emphasis on continuous nurse-to-patient contact, did work. Of the 15 programs, four improved patient outcomes without increasing costs. Only HQP improved patient outcomes while cutting costs.

HEALTH CARE

Austerity is Hurting Our Health    Austerity is having a devastating effect on health in Europe and North America, driving suicide, depression and infectious diseases and reducing access to medicines and care, researchers said on Monday.

Uninsured Population Swells    About 84 million were uninsured or underinsured, 3 million more than when the 2010 health law was signed and 20 million more than in 2003.
… Read more about: MNA NewsScan, April 29, 2013: Successful program=funding cuts  »

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In: Health Care Reform, Healthcare, Hospitals, Legislative Policy, Minnesota Nurses Association, National Nurses United, Nurses, Nursing, Unsafe Staffing

NOTES ON NURSING

Nurses Fight State by State for Minimum Staffing Laws   Legislatures in at least seven states and the District of Columbia are trying to answer that question as they debate bills that would require hospitals to have a minimum number of nurses on staff at all times.

Ruling:  MI Hospital Cheated Nurses Out of Proper Pay   McLaren Lapeer Region improperly cut the wages of 51 registered nurses and must pay them tens of thousands of dollars in back pay, an arbitrator has ruled.

LABOR UPDATES

Minnesota’s Pay Equity Laws Have Bridged Gap for Women   Fifty years after Congress passed the Equal Pay Act, women still make less than men.
… Read more about: MNA NewsScan, April 24, 2013: CA adjusting well with state-mandated RN staffing levels  »

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

NOTES ON NURSING

Boston Nurses Talk of Caring for Wounded and Families of Marathon Bombing    The screams and cries of bloody marathon bombing victims still haunt the nurses who treated them one week ago. They did their jobs as they were trained to do, putting their own fears in a box during their 12-hour shifts so they could better comfort their patients.

HEALTH CARE

Seniors Get Hung Up in Health Care Scams   Many of the fraudsters seem to be preying on the public’s confusion over the massive changes taking place in the nation’s health care system.
… Read more about: MNA NewsScan, April 22, 2013: Boston RNs talk; The jobless trap  »

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In: Activism, Health Care Reform, Healthcare, Hospitals, Minnesota Nurses Association, National Nurses United, Nurses, Patient Safety, Unsafe Staffing

Standards of Care Campaign Update
House File 588 (HF588) passed the full Minnesota House of Representatives 73-58 on Wednesday. There was bipartisan support for our bill to require the Department of Health to study the correlation between staffing and patient outcomes and hospitals to report their staffing quarterly to the public. Take a moment to thank our author and champion Representative Joe Atkins. He has gone to the mat for nurses over and over again because he believes us when we say patients are vulnerable in Minnesota’s hospitals today. His email is rep.joe.atkins@house.mn.   The bill still has to clear one more committee in the Senate.
… Read more about: MNA Legislative Update, April 19, 2013  »

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In: Healthcare, Minnesota Nurses Association, Nurses

 program  Over 70 registrants braved a host of weather-related forces on Thursday to attend the spring education program sponsored by MNA’s Ethics Committee.  Substance Use Disorder:  Implications for Nurses proved to be a compelling subject.   “I supervised nurses with substance abuse issues and watched them disappear and lose their livelihood,” said attendee Barbara Davis. Participants had the opportunity to delve deeply into the issue from many perspectives; all with an underlying ethical theme.

audience
Nurses are exposed to the challenges of Substance Use Disorder more frequently than the general population.  Whether it impacts a colleague, a patient, or even a personal situation, RNs benefit from gaining a wider knowledge base of the problem. 
… Read more about: MNA’s Ethics Committee Hosts Successful Education Day on Substance Use Disorder  »

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In: Health Care Reform, Healthcare, Hospitals, Legislative Policy, Minnesota Nurses Association, Nurses, Robin Hood Tax, Unsafe Staffing

NOTES ON NURSING

Nurse Crisis in New York   Despite an increase in candidates, the State Nursing Association said hospitals aren’t hiring. In the end, it is hurting patients. State Assemblyman Richard Gottfried is the sponsor of the State Staffing Bill.

What Nurse Jackie Means for America   The reality of health care lurks outside our studio in Queens, New York, and informs some of what the writers create. The relentless money crunches. Corporate overlords coldly pulling strings on delicate medical and staffing decisions. Overcrowded waiting rooms and illogical triage. Communication vacuums between doctor and patient. The constant vulnerability of patients to not only disease, but to the system.
… Read more about: MNA NewsScan, April 17, 2013: Nurse crisis in NY; Hospitals profit from errors  »

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In: Healthcare, Hospitals, Minnesota Nurses Association, Politics

By Linda Hamilton, RN, BSN

Attorney General Lori Swanson deserves the gratitude of all Minnesotans for hitting the brakes on the possible Sanford Health-Fairview Health Services merger that meant a takeover of our University of Minnesota Medical Center.  Taxpayers can have confidence that the educational, training, and research facilities they’ve paid for and donated to will stay in local hands.  Minnesota patients can rest easy that the mission to do research and care for the toughest cases will remain a priority.

That said, however, we can’t relax that the continued corporatization of health care in the state won’t continue or that patient care will continue to look very different in the future.
… Read more about: Corporate Mergers Need Watching…with a Microscope!  »

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In: Bargaining, Duluth Bargaining, Healthcare, Legislative Policy, Minnesota Nurses Association, Nurses, Nursing, Patient Safety, Unsafe Staffing

NOTES ON NURSING
Tentative Agreement for St. Lukes Nurses in Duluth   The Minnesota Nurses Association announced late Tuesday that Duluth nurses came to a tentative contract agreement with St. Luke’s hospital that would raise wages 4.5 percent. The three-year agreement would go into effect in July and run into June 2016.  View pictures of the great solidarity action  and a video of MNA’s powerful opening statement

Alarm Fatigue Puts Patients at Risk    The Joint Commission issued a “sentinel event alert” to hospitals, saying that the problem of “alarm fatigue” can jeopardize patients, and it urged hospitals “to take a focused look at this serious patient safety issue.’”  Watch MNA President Linda Hamilton’s interview on Fox 9 News.
… Read more about: MNA NewsScan, April 10, 2013: Tentative agreement for Duluth RNs; Alarm fatigue puts patients at risk  »