MNA Daily NewsScan, May 8, 2012 - Doc says nurses need more authority; Kudos to AG Lori Swanson; Rally with SEIU (Page 107)

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. “What Accretive is doing seems to be the epitome of the ‘profits-before-patients’ type of health care delivery that needs to stop, and we’re grateful Attorney General Swanson is having none of it.”

Health Care

Study:  Bigger Hospitals Drive Cost Increases  For everyone out there worried that President Barack Obama’s health reform law  will spur monopolies and make it easier for hospitals to raise their prices, a  new study says it’s already happening, and it’s not because of the health law.

Health Care Increasingly Out of Reach for Millions of Americans    Having trouble finding a doctor?  You’re not alone.Tens of millions of adults under 65 — both those with insurance and those without — saw their access to health care dramatically worsen over the past decade, according to a study released Monday.

House GOP Bill Cuts Medicaid, Social Programs to Protect Military Spending   The Republican-led House this week will lay bare the choice between social programs and Pentagon spending in an age of austerity when it takes up legislation to slice $261 billion from food stamps, Medicaid, social services and other programs for struggling Americans over the next decade to stave off more than $50 billion in military spending cuts scheduled to take effect next year.

Labor Updates

CEOs Earn 343 Times More than Typical Workers   “Despite the collapse of the financial market at the hands of executives less than 3 years ago, the disparity between CEO and workers’ pay has continued to grow to levels that are simply stunning,” said Richard Trumka, AFL-CIO president.

Rally with SEIU  – Tell Fairview that quality care should be at the center of hospitals – not big banks.  Date:  May 10.  Time:  3:30 p.m.

HAPPY NURSES WEEK!

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In: Uncategorized

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  »

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In: Activism, Healthcare, Labor Unions, Nurses, Nursing, Politics

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

  • Happy National Nurses Day! U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius is among those voicing their thanks for the work nurses do each and every day.

Labor Updates

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In: Uncategorized

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  »

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In: Activism, Labor Unions, Nurses, Nursing

What’s Going On?
The Minnesota Board of Nursing wants to significantly change the Nurse Practice Act to alter scope of practice language.

This is NOT a friendly change.

Their 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.

With that in mind, MNA has serious concerns for the safety of patients and nurses regarding the Board of Nursing’s proposal to expand the scope of licensed practical nurses.
… Read more about: Urgent: Board of Nursing, LPN Scope of Practice issue and YOUR input needed!  »

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In: Activism, Healthcare, Labor Unions, Nurses, Nursing, Politics

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:

Health Care

  • Op/Ed: CEOs, it’s time to take ownership of the problems at your hospitals.

Notes on Nursing

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In: Activism, Healthcare, Labor Unions, Nurses, Nursing, Politics

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:

Health Care

U.S. Health Care Spending “Dwarfs” That of Other Countries   The U.S. spent nearly $8,000 per person for health care services in 2009, the  study found, confirming that “health care spending in the U.S. dwarfs that found  in any other industrialized country.”

Notes on Nursing

Debate on Who Administers Anesthesia Moves to Courts   The debate pits nurse anesthetists, who specialize in administering anesthesia and maintain that they are well equipped to treat patients on their own, against anesthesiologists, who are physicians and say nurses lack the necessary training.
… Read more about: MNA Daily NewsScan, May 3, 2012 – Who Administers Anesthesia; U.S. HC Spending “Dwarfs” Others  »

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In: Activism, Healthcare, Labor Unions, Nurses, Nursing, Politics

ALERT:  Rally for Jobs

The clock is ticking on the 2012 Legislative session. Despite being in session for months, the Legislature has failed to act on real job creation projects like a large infrastructure bill and a Vikings stadium.  These projects would create thousands of family sustaining, union jobs to help Minnesota’s economy recover.  Let’s tell Legislators to act now and create jobs!      RSVP Here

WHERE: State Capitol Steps (75 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd, St. Paul)
WHEN: Thursday, May 3, 11:00 AM

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Health Care

“The System Really is Not Failing – Failure IS the System”   At a recent Association of Health Care Journalists meeting, Dr.
… Read more about: MNA NewsScan, May 2, 2012 – Rally for Jobs!, “Permanent Patients,” Increased Retirement Age  »

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In: Healthcare, Labor Unions, Nurses

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:

Health Care

$18 For A Baby Aspirin? Hospitals Hike Costs For Everyday Drugs For Some Patients    Sudden chest pains landed Diane Zachor in a Duluth, Minn., hospital overnight, but weeks later she had another shock – a $442 bill for the same everyday drugs she also takes at home, including more than a half dozen common medicines to control diabetes, heart problems and high cholesterol.
… Read more about: MNA Daily NewsScan May 1, 2012 CA Nurses on Strike; $18 for baby aspirin; more fallout from Fairview debt collection debacle  »

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In: Healthcare, Hospitals, Labor Unions, Nurses

What is this?
The MNA Daily NewsScan is our attempt to round up the day’s biggest nursing, healthcare and organized labor stories in one place! As news unfolds in real-time, we’ll update the NewsScan with new links and info, so be sure to check back often!

Stories we’re scanning:

Health Care

Labor Notes

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In: Activism, Healthcare, Hospitals, Labor Unions, Nurses, Nursing, Politics

Policy

CALL TODAY.   The Minnesota House passed the National  Nurse Licensure Compact by a 75-56 vote.    Govenor Dayton is our last line of defense on this highly flawed legislation that may jeopardize patient care. Don’t delay.  651-201-3400.  Learn more.

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Health Care

Minnesota Hit Hard After Medicaid Missteps   It was painful to watch Minnesota’s stellar health care reputation and its Human Services commissioner, Lucinda Jesson, get pummeled on Wednesday at a congressional hearing on Medicaid oversight.

Sen. Franken to Investigate Fairview’s Medical Debt Collector’s Tactics   Sen.
… Read more about: MNA Daily NewsScan 4-27-12 Call NOW to Halt Natl Nurse Licensure  »