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. Related stories featuring Michigan Nurses Association Members:
U.S. Economy Adds 146,000 New Jobs; Jobless Rate Falls to 7.7% The report “is something of a mixed bag but, on balance, it’s a positive,” said Paul Ashworth, an economist at Capital Economics.
Optimism Turns to Despair as NHL Talks Break Off Donald Fehr thought he and the hockey players he leads were close to a deal to save the season. The NHL said not so fast, and then took away everything that created all the optimism in the first place.
HEALTH CARE NEWS
Huge Experiment Aims to Save on Care for Poorest, Sickest Patients The California experiment, now in its second year, has national significance. Federal officials have begun to roll out a similar, but larger effort required by the Affordable Care Act. That program will move up to 2 million of the nation’s sickest and most expensive patients into managed care.
ED Waits Linked to Higher Costs (links to full peer-reviewed research/publication)
Periods of high ED crowding were associated with increased inpatient mortality and modest increases in length of stay and costs for admitted patients.