Uncategorized (Page 7)

Stories we’re scanning:

HEALTH CARE

Health Care Costs Causing More Americans to Go Without Needed Care  Health care costs are weighing on Americans’ minds — and sapping their budgets, according to a new survey that shows that within the last year, more than half of people needing medical care didn’t get it because of the expense.

U.S. Lags In Bettering Value of Health Care   While the U.S. health system has the highest per capita cost of the 12 nations studied — spending 17.6% of its gross domestic product on healthcare — it ranked at the bottom in terms of readiness to implement a value-based care system.
… Read more about: MNA Daily NewsScan, June 12, 2012: American exceptionalism? Not when it comes to HC; Sutter RNs strike update  »

NOTES ON NURSING

Can Patient Photos Help Reduce Error?  Putting children’s photos in their electronic hospital charts could help reduce one type of medical error, a study published Monday suggests.

HEALTH CARE

DeMoro:  Maybe We Can Get It Right   If President Obama is now confiding to Democratic donors that he may have to “revisit” health care in a second term if the Supreme Court throws out his first attempt, as Bloomberg News reported June 1, maybe this time we can get it right.

Hospitals Add Palliative Care Programs at a Feverish Pace   The field has expanded so rapidly that a majority of American hospitals now have palliative programs, to the delight of patients who say they’ve finally found relief and a sympathetic ear.
… Read more about: MNA Daily NewsScan, June 5, 2012: Another chance to get health care right? Labor woes at Belmont  »

NURSES

Note:  Senate Media is live streaming this event.  Here’s the link if you have Windows

MNA we will post our own video later today.  Meanwhile, follow us at on Twitter. 

Watch  as MNA RN Jean Ross gives dramatic testimony to Sen. Al Franken about debt collectors in ER – NurseTV.org   Related:  Sen. Franken questions Accretive Health execs today over allegations of aggressive debt collection practices. strib.mn/KW2dB9

Night Shift May Boost Women’s Breast Cancer Risk    “About 10 to 20 percent of women in modern societies have night shift work,” said lead researcher Johnni Hansen.
… Read more about: MNA NewsScan, May 30, 2012: Video of Franken Hearing on Debt Collection; Fake Innovation Wastes HC $$  »

Attention MNA Nurses

Hospitals are making record profits despite the economic downturn. One alarming tactic that’s becoming more common is hospital debt collectors posing as health care staff to get payment from patients, sometimes before they’ve ever been treated. You may have seen recent news coverage about Attorney General Lori Swanson’s investigation of Accretive Health, the debt collectors that have been used by both Fairview and North Memorial. This practice raises ethical and legal questions about patient care and privacy.

Now U.S. Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) will chair a U.S. Senate field hearing at the Minnesota State Capitol to examine if current federal laws effectively protect patients’ access to care and privacy. 
… Read more about: Sen. Franken To Hold Hearing Related to Debt Collection Tactics  »

NURSES, LABOR, HEALTH CARE

Watch live as nurses lead an international call for the Robin Hood Tax that will heal the world.   

Live Stream from Chicago

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… Read more about: MNA Daily NewsScan, May 18, 2012: RNs leading HUGE march in Chicago to heal the world  »

Nursing

Board of Nursing Seeking to Expand LPN Scope –  Listening Sessions Today  Bethel University, 1:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. MNBON proposals reflect a corporate health care employer’s dream to muddy the lines of responsibility between RNs and LPNs – allowing health care facilities to get more work for less money. It also pits our two practices in a fabricated fight that will only result in jeopardizing public safety.   Please attend!

NNU’s Rose Ann DeMoro Named To Most Influential Health Care Leaders List for 10th Straight Year   This year, DeMoro was placed at number 31 on the list which is dominated by government officials and corporate executives.
… Read more about: MNA Daily NewsScan, May 17, 2012 – Practice scope issues discussed TODAY; SEIU tentative agreement; Docs Ditch Rx Pads  »

Notes on Nursing

National Nurse Licensure is DEAD (for now).  The House adjourned for the session in the wee hours of this morning, WITHOUT taking a final vote on the National Nurse Licensure Compact. That means it’s dead for this year. It will most likely come back next session, so stay tuned, but for now, be proud of all the calls, emails, letters and visits that nurses made to stop this dangerous bill!

Chicago Tries to Revoke Nurses’ Permit to March    What in the world?  The registered nurses of National Nurses United cannot wait to welcome one of the world’s leading defenders of common people to their uncommon May 18th march and rally in Chicago.
… Read more about: MNA Daily NewsScan, May 10, 2012: Natl Nurse Licensure Dead; Nurses Will March in Chicago; HC Execs Make $1M A Year  »

What is this? The MNA Daily NewsScan is a round up the day’s biggest nursing, health care and organized labor stories.  As news unfolds in real-time, we update the NewsScan with new links and info, so check back often!

Stories we’re scanning:

Notes on Nursing

OpEd:  Why Nurses Need More Authority   Allowing nurses to act as primary-care providers will increase coverage and lower health-care costs. So why is there so much opposition from physicians? 

Statement in Support of Attorney General Lori Swanson   “On behalf of our 20,000 nurses, I want to thank Lori Swanson for ignoring political pressure and corporate influence and continuing to stand up for the patients we care for,” Hamilton said.
… Read more about: MNA Daily NewsScan, May 8, 2012 – Doc says nurses need more authority; Kudos to AG Lori Swanson; Rally with SEIU  »

National Nurse Licensure Compact

The National Nurse Licensure Compact bill passed both the House and the Senate last week, and this week a Conference Committee of House and Senate members met to iron out differences between the two bills. MNA opposes the resulting conference report, which did little to address our concerns with the original bill. Signing on to the Compact will be bad for Minnesota patients, bad for our high nursing standards, and bad for nurses who want to organize or bargain fair contracts. Please use the link below to contact your state senator and state representative and ask them to vote against the Compact when it comes to a final floor vote.
… Read more about: Legislative Update, May 4, 2012  »