Unclear if ICU Telemedicine Can Save Hospitals Money Remote monitoring of intensive care patients – a strategy to maximize scarce medical expertise – can cost hospitals anywhere from $50,000 to $100,000 per bed in the first year of operation, according to a new study. Whether this investment pays off in the long run by improving ICU patients’ care and saving money, “we don’t know,” said Dr. Gaurav Kumar.
… Read more about: MNA Daily NewsScan, August 2, 2012: Why a Robin Hood Tax; ICU Telemedicine »

MNA Daily NewsScan, August 1, 2012 – 35W Bridge Collapse Remembered

On: August 1, 2012

In: Activism, Healthcare, Hospitals, Labor Unions, Nurses, Nursing, Politics

HEALTH CARE

The 35W Bridge Collapse:

The Star Tribune looks back five years later at the events of August 1, 2007.
MNA RNs at HCMC were among those honored for their heroic efforts in the collapse’s aftermath.

LABOR NEWS

Supervalue Faltering Brings Union Concerns Some 84,000 unionized grocery workers spread out across the country have new reason for apprehension this month as it became clear the nation’s third-largest operator of supermarket chains is financially wounded and planning to make dramatic changes.
… Read more about: MNA Daily NewsScan, August 1, 2012 – 35W Bridge Collapse Remembered »

MNA Daily NewsScan, July 31, 2012: Accretive Banned; Nurse Burnout = More Patient Infections

On: July 31, 2012

In: Activism, Healthcare, Hospitals, Labor Unions, Nurses, Nursing, Politics

Health Care

Nurses Made the Difference: You spoke up and helped deliver justice to patients. Accretive Banned from Minnesota. Accretive Health will be barred from operating in Minnesota for two to six years under a settlement agreement announced Monday by Minnesota Attorney General Lori Swanson. The agreement ends a six-month legal battle in which Swanson had accused the Chicago consulting firm of deceiving patients, harassing them for money in emergency rooms and mishandling patient data at Fairview and North Memorial hospitals. Related NY Times report.

Food-borne Illnesses Not Diminishing Little progress has been made in combating many types of food-borne illnesses in recent years, according to new federal data, an outcome that food safety advocates say underscores the need to put into place the landmark food-safety bill signed by President Obama more than a year ago.
… Read more about: MNA Daily NewsScan, July 31, 2012: Accretive Banned; Nurse Burnout = More Patient Infections »

MNA Daily NewsScan, July 30, 2012 – Benefit Concert for Locked Out Sugar Workers, MN CEOs Get Big Raise

On: July 30, 2012

In: Activism, Healthcare, Hospitals, Labor Unions, Nurses, Nursing, Politics

LABOR

Rich Get Richer: Minnesota’s CEOs saw their pay rise 26 percent in 2011.

HEALTH CARE

The Star Tribune’s Editorial Board weighs in again regarding the controversy over how much Minnesota health plans profit from the taxpayer-funded Medicaid program.
… Read more about: MNA Daily NewsScan, July 30, 2012 – Benefit Concert for Locked Out Sugar Workers, MN CEOs Get Big Raise »

MNA Daily NewsScan, July 27, 2012 – Mail Carriers Meet in Minneapolis, More Minnesota Kids Get Health Care

On: July 27, 2012

In: Activism, Healthcare, Hospitals, Labor Unions, Nurses, Nursing, Politics

LABOR

Mail Carriers Call For Financial Fix: More than 9,100 members of the National Association of Letter Carriers met in Minneapolis this week to discuss their union’s future.

HEALTH CARE

The state of Minnesota is expanding health care coverage to thousands of uninsured children. The new initiative, first approved by the Legislature in 2009 and finally implemented this month, will erase barriers such as waiting periods and monthly insurance premium payments for some 16,000 children from lower-income families across the state.

NPR: GOP Says Coverage For The Uninsured No Longer The Priority.
… Read more about: MNA Daily NewsScan, July 27, 2012 – Mail Carriers Meet in Minneapolis, More Minnesota Kids Get Health Care »

MNA Daily NewsScan, July 26, 2012 – AFL-CIO Steps Up, Study Shows Medicaid’s Benefits

On: July 26, 2012

In: Activism, Healthcare, Hospitals, Labor Unions, Nurses, Nursing, Politics

LABOR

Yesterday, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka joined 1,300 workers with the Bakery, Confectionery Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union (BCTGM), who have been locked out of five processing facilities and other facilities of American Crystal Sugar, in announcing that the AFL-CIO and BCTGM are escalating their campaign for fairness and justice at the company.

The lockout, which began on August 1, 2011, came in the midst of bargaining over a successor contract between American Crystal Sugar and five locals of BCTGM at various locations in Minnesota, North Dakota and Iowa. Trumka pledged the ongoing support and coordination of efforts with the BCTGM National in focusing on American Crystal Sugar’s total disregard for their employees.
… Read more about: MNA Daily NewsScan, July 26, 2012 – AFL-CIO Steps Up, Study Shows Medicaid’s Benefits »

MNA Daily NewsScan, July 25, 2012 – Insider Spills Secrets, More Nurses Needed in Workforce, AFL-CIO President Trumka in St. Paul to Make “Major Announcement”

On: July 25, 2012

In: Activism, Healthcare, Hospitals, Labor Unions, Nurses, Nursing, Politics

NURSING

Although much attention focuses on filling physician spots, many hospitals increasingly are facing more vacancies in nurse positions. Nursing represented the biggest increase (40 percent) in job openings from Q1 to Q2, according to a brief issued today from recruiting firm HEALTHeCAREERS Network. Most nursing openings (90 percent) were looking for experienced nurses rather than entry-level nurses.

LABOR

Former U.S. Treasury insider Neil Barofsky tells all in a new book: “Washington abandoned Main Street while rescuing Wall Street. The suspicions that the system is rigged in favor of the largest banks and their elites, so they play by their own set of rules to the disfavor of the taxpayers who funded their bailout, are true.
… Read more about: MNA Daily NewsScan, July 25, 2012 – Insider Spills Secrets, More Nurses Needed in Workforce, AFL-CIO President Trumka in St. Paul to Make “Major Announcement” »

MNA Daily NewsScan, July 24, 2012 – Nurses March in D.C.

On: July 24, 2012

In: Activism, Healthcare, Hospitals, Labor Unions, Nurses, Nursing, Politics

HEALTH CARE

Colorado State Senator: Nurses, Doctors and other heroes stepped in to save dozens of lives during tragic shooting.

Nurses from across the U.S. – including many from National Nurses United – will be joining others as they march through the streets of Washington DC today, demanding more funding for HIV/AIDS treatment.

The nation’s health insurers will pay out more than $1 billion in rebates over the coming days after many of them fell short of new standards that require them to spend a certain share of premiums on patient treatment.
… Read more about: MNA Daily NewsScan, July 24, 2012 – Nurses March in D.C. »