MNA NewsScan, April 8, 2013: C-Diff on the rise; Swanson grills Sanford execs

NOTES ON NURSING

Better Staffing Would Help  Hospitals Fail to Take Simple Measures to Thwart Deadly Infections    The culprit is a strain of a spore-forming bacterium known as Clostridium difficile, or C. diff—in particular, a relatively recent strain that has grown more virulent and resistant to drugs.

LABOR UPDATES

Twin Cities Metro Plumbers Devote a Day of Service to Help Those in Need   It’s a chance to help Minnesotans who might not otherwise be able turn to a professional plumber, and to reduce wasted expenses going down the drain.

CEO Percs Flying High    Dodd-Frank rules? Securities and Exchange Commission lawyers? Leave them behind. And let yourself sink into the buttery leather seat of your corporate jet as it soars through the clouds.

HEALTH CARE

Swanson Grills Sanford Execs on Fairview Merger; MNA Leaders Testify    The merger proposal that could give Sanford Health control of the University of Minnesota Medical Center also has focused attention on the U’s relationship with Denny Sanford, an alum who is a major benefactor of U athletics.

MN Safety Net Hospitals Changing the Rules of the Game to Help Underprivileged   Under the Minnesota experiment, “those at a higher risk now have a care team who works with each patient, to keep them out of the emergency room,” said Peggy Metzer, CEO of People’s Center Health Services.

Nevada Discharging Mental Health Patients with Bus Tickets to Other States   Preliminary reports suggest that Nevada has made a habit of discharging mental patients by bus to other states. Rawson-Neal, the state’s primary hospital for mentally ill people, bused about 100 state psychiatric patients to California between July 1, 2012, and the end of February, and scores more to other states, according to data provided by Nevada health authorities.