Labor Unions (Page 8)

On:
In: Health Care Reform, Healthcare, Hospitals, Labor Unions, Minnesota Nurses Association, Nurses, Patient Safety, Unsafe Staffing

NOTES ON NURSING

Expert Affirms Nurses’s Warnings About Electronic Health Records System   At a meeting of the Marin Healthcare District board on May 14, a group of Marin General nurses told the board problems with the new computer system were diverting them from their patients and causing errors, such as sending orders to the wrong patients. One nurse reported that a patient had received a medication to which he was allergic.

Worst Times to be Admitted for Heart Attack.  Hint: Involves Nurse Staffing   It’s possible that staffing issues at hospitals during these times are part of the problem; patients who come into the hospitals just before the weekend and late at night may see fewer nursing staff members and this could contribute to less attention that may impact care.
… Read more about: MNA NewsScan, May 28, 2013: Nurses warn about electronic health system; The Obamacare shock  »

On:
In: Healthcare, Hospitals, Labor Unions, Legislative Policy, Minnesota Nurses Association, National Nurses United, Nurses, Nursing

NOTES ON NURSING

Federal Report Shows Wide Disparity in Nursing Supply   The U.S. Nursing Workforce Report issued by the Health Resources and  Services Administration National Center for Health Workforce Analysis predicts continuing shortages as more than 500,000 RNs are expected to retire within the next seven years.

HEALTH CARE

One-Third of Patients Willing to Change Doctors to Save Money Respondents also were asked how much money they would need to save annually to make that switch. Thirty-four percent thought keeping down out-of-pocket insurance costs was more important than retaining their doctors.

Angelina Jolie:  My Medical Choice   It has got to be a priority to ensure that more women can access gene testing and lifesaving preventive treatment, whatever their means and background, wherever they live.
… Read more about: MNA NewsScan, May 15, 2013: RN supply/demand gap to be 1.2M by 2020  »

On:
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  »

On:
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  »

On:
In: Activism, Labor Unions, Legislative Policy, Minnesota Nurses Association, Nurses, Organizing, Uncategorized

LABOR UPDATES

CEO Pay Gap Up 1000% Since 1950    Today Fortune 500 CEOs make 204 times regular workers on average, Bloomberg found. The ratio is up from 120-to-1 in 2000, 42-to-1 in 1980 and 20-to-1 in 1950.

Worldwide May Day Rallies Thousands of low-paid workers are rallying in the streets on May Day to demand better pay and improved working conditions a week after a Bangladesh building collapse that was a grim reminder of how lax safety regulations make work a danger in poor countries.

Health Care Dominates Highest Paying Jobs (no surprise:  nurses excluded) in America   Anesthesiologists top the list with average annual pay of $232,830 as of 2012, the latest year for which official figures are available from the U.S.
… Read more about: MNA NewsScan, May 1, 2013: May Day!  »

On:
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  »

On:
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  »

On:
In: Health Care Reform, Healthcare, Hospitals, Labor Unions, Legislative Policy, Minnesota Nurses Association, Nurses, Nursing, Patient Safety, Unsafe Staffing

Standards of Care Update

MNA nurses and representatives continue to meet with legislators to update them on the goals of the Standards of Care Act.  MNA is proposing that hospitals be required to report their staffing plans and actual nurse hours per patient day, and a Department of Health study of hospital staffing and its effect on nursing sensitive indicators like infections, falls and pressure ulcers.  We are confident that a MDH study will validate what nurses already know–that proper nurse staffing leads to better nurse outcomes–but we also recognize the need for Minnesota-specific data.  Our main objective for the remainder of the 2013 legislative session is to ensure that a comprehensive and accurate study is completed. 
… Read more about: MNA Legislative Update, April 5, 2013  »

On:
In: Labor Unions, National Nurses United, Politics

Kathleen M. Harrington Mayo
Government Relations, Chair 200 First Street SW Rochester, MN 55905

Dear Ms. Harrington:

Thank you for bringing your Operations staff to meet with leaders from SEIU and UNITE HERE last Friday to discuss the Mayo Destination Medical Center (DMC) and the related legislative proposal. While we have significant concerns and unanswered questions, we are excited about the possibility of significant job growth in the health care and hospitality sectors.

We look forward to meeting again in the very near future and to discussing specific proposals about the future DMC workforce and how collective bargaining can ensure these are quality jobs.
… Read more about: Open letter to Mayo’s Government Relations Chair  »

On:
In: Bargaining, Health Care Reform, Healthcare, Hospitals, Labor Unions, Legislative Policy, Minnesota Nurses Association, Nurses, Nursing, Patient Safety, Unsafe Staffing

LABOR UPDATES

Harry Kelber:   1914 – 2013     Harry Kelber spent 80 years as a labor activist. Through it all he championed worker ownership of their unions. When Labor Notes commissioned a roundtable on “organizing the unorganized” in 2007, Harry’s contribution argued that rank-and-file workers should be part of organizing drives.

HEALTH CARE 

Did Hospitals Profit Off Drugs Meant for the Poor?   An inquiry by a U.S. senator has found that three nonprofit hospitals in North Carolina have made millions from a discount drug program intended to help the poor and uninsured.
… Read more about: MNA NewsScan, April 3, 2013: RIP Harry Kelber; CAH Mortality Skyrockets  »