MNA NewsScan, January 16, 2013: Where's the love from NIH for RNs? (Page 87)

NOTES ON NURSING

Nursing Receives Unproportionately Low Percentage of NIH Budget   Specifically, nurses get 0.75% of the US National Institutes of Health budget, even though nurses make up the majority of health professionals in the US.

Nurse-Led Recycling Initiative Reduces OR Waste   Pallotta and her OR colleagues were spurred to action when they read a study that found a large proportion of OR products could be recycled. What followed was a nurse-driven, evidence-based study and analysis of HackensackUMC’s practices and how they could be altered.

LABOR UPDATES

MnSCU, 4-year Faculty Reach Contract Agreement    The agreement includes a 2.2 percent pay raise, retroactive to last fall, said Nancy Black, president of the Inter Faculty Organization. If approved, it will be the first across-the-board salary bump most of the 3,600 faculty members have seen in four years, she said.

NYC School Bus Drivers on Strike    “We’ve tried every option to avoid a strike, but our members feel that their back is to a wall and they must take a stand on this issue,” Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1181 President Michael Cordiello yesterday.

Union Members Recommit to Expanded and Improved Health Care for All   More than two hundred union leaders and activists gathered in Chicago for the Labor Campaign’s fourth national conference to strategize about next steps for labor in the movement to win universal health care. With government officials from both major parties contemplating cuts in Medicare as part of a “grand bargain,” delegates resolved to stand up to any cuts in this cornerstone social insurance program.

HEALTH CARE

35% of Americans Ask Dr. Google for Diagnosis   Could that mole be melanoma? Is this cough just a cold? If you have ever gone online to try to diagnose yourself, your spouse, your child or a friend, you have plenty of company, a new survey confirms.

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In: Health Care Reform, Healthcare, Labor Unions, Minnesota Nurses Association, National Nurses United, Nurses, Nursing

NOTES ON NURSING

Nursing Receives Unproportionately Low Percentage of NIH Budget   Specifically, nurses get 0.75% of the US National Institutes of Health budget, even though nurses make up the majority of health professionals in the US.

Nurse-Led Recycling Initiative Reduces OR Waste   Pallotta and her OR colleagues were spurred to action when they read a study that found a large proportion of OR products could be recycled. What followed was a nurse-driven, evidence-based study and analysis of HackensackUMC’s practices and how they could be altered.

LABOR UPDATES

MnSCU, 4-year Faculty Reach Contract Agreement    The agreement includes a 2.2 percent pay raise, retroactive to last fall, said Nancy Black, president of the Inter Faculty Organization.
… Read more about: MNA NewsScan, January 16, 2013: Where’s the love from NIH for RNs?  »

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Health Leaders magazine named Lori Swanson, Minnesota’s Attorney General, one of its HL20-leaders who are making health care better- in its December, 2012 issue.  Swanson, who was also awarded 2010 Public Official of the Year by the Minnesota Nurses Association, was named for her battle with debt collections company Accretive and its alleged violations working for client Fairview Hospitals in Minnesota.

Swanson targeted Accretive after one of its employees had a laptop stolen from a car with more than 23,000 patient records inside and unsecured or encrypted.  That, Swanson charged, was a violation of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) laws. 
… Read more about: More honors for Minnesota AG Lori Swanson  »

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In: Healthcare, Hospitals, Legislative Policy, Minnesota Nurses Association, Nurses, Patient Safety, Politics, Readmissions, Unsafe Staffing

NOTES ON NURSING

Improving Nurses’ Work Environment Can Help Reduce Readmissions    The study, led by Matthew McHugh, PhD , JD, MPH, RN, FAAN, assistant professor at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing, found that  increased nurse-to-patient staffing ratios and a good work environment for nurses were associated with reduced 30-day readmission rates for Medicare patients with heart failure, myocardial infarction, and pneumonia. Funding for the study came from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) Nurse Faculty Scholars program.

New Grads Finding Rough Road to Employment    Since the recession, health care has been the single biggest sector for job growth, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy to get hired.
… Read more about: MNA NewsScan, January 14, 2013: More Nurses Mean Fewer Readmissions  »

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In: Health Care Reform, Healthcare, Hospitals, Minnesota Nurses Association, Nurses, Nursing, Unsafe Staffing

Legislative Session Begins

On Tuesday, the 2013 Session of the Minnesota Legislature began. Both the House and Senate have introduced their first key pieces of legislation:

  • The House and Senate each introduced a bill to establish a health insurance exchange, a key part of the Affordable Care Act that will provide an online marketplace for Minnesotans to compare different health insurance policies. This is an opportunity to improve access to health care and lower costs for uninsured and underinsured Minnesotans. The bill was crafted by a bipartisan group including chief House author Rep. Joe Atkins (DFL-Inver Grove Heights), Representative Jim Abeler (R-Anoka) and Representative Greg Davids (R-Preston).

    • … Read more about: MNA Legislative Update, January 11, 2013  »

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In: Activism, Health Care Reform, Healthcare, Hospitals, Labor Unions, Minnesota Nurses Association, Nurses, Nursing, Organizing, Politics, Unsafe Staffing

HEALTH CARE

Poor Performance Means Less Medicare Reimbursement for Most Minnesota Hospitals Medicare is revamping its payment system for hospitals as part of an effort to make them accountable on quality. The latest change will give bonuses and penalties to hospitals based on how well they performed on quality measures.

Health Care and Pursuit of a Profit Make a Poor Mix   A shareholder might even applaud the creativity with which profit-seeking institutions go about seeking profit. But the consequences of this pursuit might not be so great for other stakeholders in the system — patients, for instance.
… Read more about: MNA NewsScan, January 9, 2012: Medicare Penalizes MN hospitals; For profit=poor care  »

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MNA Legislative Preview

Session Begins January 8
The 2013 Minnesota legislative session starts on Tuesday, January 8. With new DFL majorities in the House and Senate, the political climate at the Capitol will be very different than the past two years, and will offer some new opportunities for nurses to work on policy priorities, as well as some new challenges.

In the 2012 election, DFLers won back majorities in both the Minnesota House and Senate. Senate Majority Leader-elect Tom Bakk of Cook and House Speaker-elect Paul Thissen of Minneapolis have stated their top priorities for the 2013 session will be responsibly balancing our state budget, strengthening our education system and creating good jobs .
… Read more about: MNA Legislative Preview-2013 session starts tomorrow!  »