MNA NewsScan, July 8, 2013: Hospital error rate “appalling;” Is 68 the new 65?

HEALTH CARE NEWS

How Consistent Hospital Error is Having a Deadly Effect on the Health Care System    “Medical harm is probably one of the three leading causes of death in the U.S., but the government doesn’t adequately track it as it does deaths from automobiles, plane crashes, and cancer. It’s appalling,” he told the magazine.

The 9 Things You MUST Check Before Choosing a Hospital    7. Check the Nurse-to-Patient Ratio – Ideally, a nurse should have only four to six patients under his or her care at a time (and less if it’s critical or intensive care).

N.Y. Hospital Nearly Harvested Organs from Living Woman   Records the newspaper obtained under state freedom of information laws document a series of missteps, including doctors ignoring nurses’ observations that Burns was responding to stimuli and trying to breathe on her own. The surgery was called off when she opened her eyes in the operating room.

NOTES ON NURSING

U.K. Nurses To Be Asked to Work Until Age 68    More than 200,000 nurses are set to retire in the next few years but Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt hopes many will keep working.

LABOR UPDATES

The Roberts Court on Labor Rights.  Be Afraid.  Be Very Afraid  Carmon reports that while appeals court judges reverse employer wins at a rate of 9 percent, they reverse employee wins by a whopping 41 percent.