Ramadan Hanukkah Winter/Summer Solstice Christmas
Kwanzaa New Years 2002 Martin Luther King Day
Warm greetings to all Seachange readers this holiday season, and wishes for success as we carry on the battle for peace, justice, equality and prosperity! Special greetings to the courageous nurses of Portland, Oregon, and Smithtown, New York, as they carry on their strikes for safe staffing for the well being of their patients and themselves. Follow their struggle in the media, and send greetings and contributions. - Sandy Eaton, RN, Quincy, Massachusetts
<http://www.fairpay4nurses.org>
<http://www.nysna.org/NEWS/current/stcath.htm>
Hospital: Strike Hasn't Hobbled Us
In March 2000, Catholic Health Services began investing $28 million in St. Catherine of Siena Medical Center in Smithtown to renovate the emergency room, purchase new beds and make its cardiac catheterization lab state-of-the-art, among other improvements.
The investments are part of an ambitious three-year plan by its new owners to transform the former troubled St. John's Episcopal Hospital into a thriving institution.
Since then, there has been a small overall increase in patients using the hospital, said president Jim Wilson. A budget deficit that hit $33 million before the sale is expected to come in close to $7 million this year, with hopes of a better bottom line in 2002.
But with the hospital's 474 nurses now in the fourth week of a strike, the hospital's attention has been diverted somewhat from its turnaround mission to a more immediate concern: keeping the hospital going with a force of replacement nurses.
"I don't believe it's going to unravel all of the work we've done," said Wilson, though he conceded it could slow some initiatives. "It creates certain challenges in our turnaround work."
Negotiations for a new contract are set to continue Wednesday. The main issues include nurses' concerns about staffing issues and forced overtime, and the nurses' desire to exchange the hospital's health insurance for a union-sponsored plan. The last contract ended in May.
So far the hospital has been able to operate at normal levels with the replacement nurses, with no cuts in service, Wilson said. Though the number of inpatients has dipped slightly in recent months, Wilson said the drop is likely partly due to fallout from Sept. 11 and the recession.Wilson declined to say how much the hospital was spending for replacements, but he acknowledged that "managing the hospital with replacement nurses is an expensive way to staff the hospital."
Michael Chacon, a nursing representative from New York State Nurses Association, said hospital negotiators told the union it cost $500,000 in the first two weeks of the strike to staff with replacements - a number he estimated was double what it would cost to pay the regular nursing salaries.
Chacon said that while Catholic Health Services has done a "decent" job renovating the hospital, it hasn't addressed the strike's core issues.
"They've done the makeover but they haven't done anything to change the personality that exists that made them falter as to being able to recruit staff," he said.
Chacon also said he believed the hospital was not running smoothly without the regular nurses. He charged there has been a breach of infection control when a patient infected with scabies, an itchy skin condition caused by a mite, spread the disease to at least five hospital employees.
Hospital officials said that while a patient was diagnosed with scabies, five employees who were treated for the condition as a precaution turned out not to have it. The state Department of Health said Friday that it was reviewing whether there had been an outbreak and could not yet confirm whether the employees had been infected or not.
Margaret Ochotorena, vice president of patient care services, said the replacements were "very qualified and very competent," she said she would prefer the striking nurses to return.
"We're really very eager to see our nurses back here," she said. "They are very much missed."
Copyright © 2001, Newsday, Inc.
Staffing at heart of OHSU strike
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by Joe Rojas-Burke & Wendy Y. Lawton, The Oregonian, December 19, 2001
Striking nurses say their conflict with Oregon Health & Science University arises from inadequate staffing at the state's busiest medical center. OHSU says its efforts to train and recruit registered nurses have added hundreds to its staff during the past two years. Can both sides be right? Without a doubt, hospitals across the nation are struggling to hire enough nurses. In the Willamette Valley, hospitals have come to rely on temporary agencies to supply 10 percent to 18 percent of their registered nurses, according to a report by the Northwest Health Foundation, a nonprofit that promotes access to medical care. The worsening nationwide shortage of registered nurses is eroding the safety and morale of the nursing work force -- and threatens to undermine patient care, according to Christine Tanner, author of the foundation report and head of OHSU's undergraduate nursing program. The nurses union walked out Monday morning after a majority of the 1,500 members voted to reject OHSU's wage and benefit offer. The union and OHSU on Tuesday agreed to meet at the request of a state mediator. But neither the Oregon Nurses Association nor the medical center had offered to change its demands. ...
Nurses, OHSU officials continue to butt heads as strike presses on
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by Don Colburn, The Oregonian, December 19, 2001
On day two of the nurses strike at Oregon Health & Science University, the indoor rhetoric matched the outdoor weather. It was perfect for mudslinging. At dueling news conferences Tuesday afternoon, striking nurses and their employer, OHSU Hospital, traded charges and countercharges about conditions and care at the hospital. "OHSU is telling you everything is fine right now. We know that is absolutely not the case," said Kathleen Sheridan, negotiator for the Oregon Nurses Association, the union representing OHSU nurses. Her message to OHSU: "Settle or close this hospital down." ...
OHSU, nurses mediation fails
<http://www.oregonlive.com/news/index.ssf?/news/fullstory_breakingnews.html>
KATU-TV, December 19, 2001
Reports from OHSU say that today's mediation between the university and roughly 1,500 striking nurses has failed. A media briefing is set for 3 p.m.
On Monday, nurses walked off the job while the hospital called in replacements and posted guards in some parts of the hospital. A few services were disrupted.
The strike by hundreds of registered nurses forced Oregon Health & Science University to divert emergency cases to other Portland hospitals and cancel some heart procedures. OHSU reopened its emergency room to all cases yesterday but continued to postpone some heart procedures.
Nurses and supporters formed picket lines in front of OHSU's main hospital and Doernbecher Children's Hospital. Replacement nurses arrived by bus yesterday. Each costs the university hospital 52 dollars an hour, plus housing and transportation.
© 2001 KATU-TV
Settle this strike -- STAT
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Editorial, The Oregonian, December 20, 2001
Labor strikes are always an ugly business, but the one entering its fourth day on Pill Hill in Southwest Portland is especially grim and troubling. And it's already displayed unsettling questions about both sides involved. Nurses are tarnishing their shining image with some of the behavior we've witnessed on the picket lines this week. The loud chanting and blasting car horns, echoing for hours off the towering hilltop buildings, have not been a comfort for seriously ill patients in their hospital rooms at Oregon Health & Science University. Even during a strike, this is still a hospital zone. But the intensity of the nurses' picketing underlines the powerful frustration that has set off this strike, frustration that raises issues about OHSU management styles. A majority of the 1,500 nurses at the medical center voted for the strike, and they are clearly embittered. As reported Wednesday by Joe Rojas-Burke and Wendy Lawton of The Oregonian, wages and benefits are sticking points in these nurses' contract dispute, but there are deeper issues in their hearts. In interviews, nurses described severely stressful working conditions -- short staffing, excessively long shifts, mushrooming responsibility and a sense their concerns aren't being taken seriously. ...
State rules on nursing give leeway
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by Don Colburn, The Oregonian, December 21, 2001
Like medicine itself, the regulation of Oregon hospital care comes down to judgment calls as much as to hard-and-fast rules. Case in point: How many nurses does it take to run a hospital? That issue, along with pay scales, is at the heart of the 5-day-old strike by nurses at Oregon Health & Science University. ...
OHSU has paid $684,000 for nurses
<http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/index.ssf?/xml/story.ssf/html_standard.xsl?/base/front_page/10090257478400257.xml>
by Wendy Y. Lawton, The Oregonian, December 22, 2001
In October, Oregon Health & Science University hired a San Francisco medical staffing firm to supply replacements for any striking nurses, paying the company $54 an hour for each of the 250 nurses working in university hospitals and clinics. According to public records obtained by The Oregonian, OHSU is also footing travel and hotel bills for replacement nurses and license fees for workers arriving from at least 12 other states. OHSU also paid a $212,500 deposit for these services after signing on with Heathcare Consulting and Staffing Services. The strike stretches into its sixth day today at Oregon's busiest medical center, with no progress between management and the union in their dispute over pay and other issues. About 1,000 registered nurses stopped work Monday. By Friday, university officials say they've spent $684,000 on replacement nurses. Over the next month, the university said, the agency has 750 nurses committed to work. After Healthcare Consulting takes its share, replacements make $35 per hour. OHSU nurses -- who in part walked out over wages -- make about $18 to $28 per hour. ...
Replacement nurses cost OHSU $684,000
The Associated Press, December 22, 2001
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) -- Oregon Health & Science University has spent nearly $700,000 to hire replacement nurses during a strike that began Monday. In October, the hospital hired a San Francisco medical staffing firm to supply replacement staff for striking nurses. The hospital is paying Healthcare Consulting and Staffing Services $54 an hour for each of the 250 nurses. The hospital is also paying travel and hotel bills for replacement nurses and license fees for workers arriving from at least 12 other states. OHSU paid a $212,500 deposit for these services after signing on with the company. ...
The high cost of nurses' strike
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by Joe Rojas-Burke, The Oregonian, December 23, 2001
With hundreds of registered nurses out on strike, Oregon Health & Sciences University is spending close to a half-million dollars a week extra on a replacement work force and losing as much as 20 percent of its patients to competitors. The alternative -- giving in to the wage and benefit demands of the nurses' union -- would be far more costly, asserted Dr. Peter Kohler, president of the medical school and health system. "The long-term costs of going too high are greater than the short-term costs of enduring a strike," Kohler said during an interview this week in his campus office. The pickets' chants rumbled in the distance, punctuated by occasional car-horn blasts. OHSU's calculation depends, of course, on how long the strike lasts. At the end of one week, both sides have given no ground. The strike comes at a critical time for OHSU. The hospital has made significant financial strides in recent years, boosting its profit margin to 7.6 percent -- a level that's below some competitors but the best in years at OHSU. ...
Patient Safety at heart of Nurses strike
The management at Oregon Health and Science University wants to have it both ways. It wants the public to think it is working to solve the nursing shortage and protect its patients from eroding care, yet it continues to treat its nurses with disrespect and refuses to sign a reasonable contract. It continually reminds the community that it provides the highest level of care in Oregon, yet refuses to pay its nurses accordingly. Before negotiations began between OHSU and its nurses, management participated in developing a plan with the Oregon Nursing Leadership Council designed to solve Oregon's growing nursing shortage. Goal 4 of that plan clearly states that in order to recruit and retain nurses in the profession competitive wage scales must be implemented. Nurses at OHSU make from 12 to 19 percent less than colleagues at other leading Oregon hospitals yet OHSU offers only 12 percent raises over two years minus an average of 7 percent that the nurses will pay for increase health insurance premiums. The bottom line is OHSU expects its nurses to accept two percent wages increases in each of the next two years! That is not a competitive wage and will do nothing to recruit and retain sufficient numbers of nurses to provide safe patient care. ...
Nurses' pickets at OHSU enter Christmas Day
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by Steven Carter, The Oregonian, December 25, 2001
A strike by nurses at Oregon Health & Science University spilled into Christmas Day with neither labor nor management making any concessions toward a settlement.
"We feel the ball is in management's court," said strike coordinator Jason Hatch.
"We are going into the next mediation session with the current offer of 14 percent increase over 27 months," said Christine Pashley, OHSU spokeswoman. The nurses want a 20 percent salary increase over 24 months.
Hatch said nurses would maintain picket lines at four university hospital sites during Christmas.
The union, the Oregon Nurses Association, is also picketing OHSU's outreach clinics on a rotating basis. Nurses plan to picket the Gabriel Park location early Wednesday.
Pashley said the hospital is down to about 53 percent occupancy vs. about 75 percent last Christmas. The hospital is still accepting trauma patients but is diverting ambulances to other hospitals.
Pashley said Santa would be coming to visit Doernbecher Children's Hospital today, as he does every year. Normal Christmas events at the hospital will continue, she said.
The next mediation session in the nine-day strike is scheduled for Friday.
© 2001 OregonLive.com. All Rights Reserved.
For many nurses, strike makes for a cold Christmas
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by Emily Tsao, The Oregonian, December 26, 2001
Wearing a bright red Christmas sweater, nurse Dominga Lopez tried to get into the holiday spirit. But for the president of the bargaining unit for nurses at Oregon Health & Science University, this Christmas was anything but normal. Instead of spending the holiday with her family, she was helping set up a potluck for striking nurses. With no negotiations scheduled Tuesday, the nurses' strike involving 1,400 union members continued for a ninth day. OHSU officials say they can't afford the union's last request of about a 20 percent raise over 24 months. The hospital is offering to increase wages about 14 percent over 27 months. Talks with a state mediator are expected to resume this week. While many nurses took time to spend the holiday with their families, about 15 diehard picketers at a time marched in front of the Southwest Portland hospital's emergency entrance, braving the cold and wind Tuesday afternoon. ...
Number of patients at OHSU shrinks
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by Joe Rojas-Burke, The Oregonian, December 27, 2001
Hundreds of hospital beds are going unused at Oregon Health & Science University because of the strike by registered nurses that began Dec. 17. OHSU's struggle to sustain inpatient levels could hurt the medical center financially -- and it already is thrusting heavier burdens on other hospitals in the Portland area. The number of patients checked into OHSU's two hospitals dropped to 46 percent of capacity on Christmas, an OHSU official said Wednesday. That's down from a rate of more than 70 percent last Christmas and more than 90 percent before the strike began. With a reduced staff of nurses, OHSU officials said they have limited admissions to keep the ratio of nurses to patients at an acceptable level. The strike controversy also may be driving some patients -- or their doctors -- to choose other hospitals. ...
Nurses march in cold with humor
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by Don Colburn, The Oregonian, December 28 ,2001
© 2001 OregonLive.com. All Rights Reserved.
Legislators rally to save VA hospital
<http://www.masslive.com/springfield/unionnews/index.ssf?/news/pstories/ae1212va.html>
by Jo-Ann Moriarty, Jacqueline Walsh & Fred Contrada, Springfield Union-News, December 12, 2001
WASHINGTON ‹ Western Massachusetts lawmakers returned to Capitol Hill yesterday determined to fight any possible effort by the Veterans Administration to close the veterans hospital in Northampton. "It's essential that we continue to have a VA hospital based in western Massachusetts," said U. S. Rep. John W. Olver, D-Amherst. "It comes without any warning," said U.S. Rep. Richard Neal, D-Springfield. "The VA argues that there are fewer veterans taking advantage of services. I think that is ridiculous when you understand the role that that hospital plays in western Massachusetts." ...
Dramatic Change Needed at Hospital
December 13, 2001
To the Editor, Martha¹s Vineyard Times:
What is going on at the hospital? I am amazed and very dismayed by the things I have heard from many different sources.
We are losing great people that we desperately need on the Island. I have heard we have lost a urologist, physicians, and the visiting ophthalmologist. What is next, our visiting ear, nose, and throat doctor, our cardiologist, nurses?
Who is over this chief executive, and why is the board not governing this man? Why aren¹t they exercising their responsibility? Aren¹t they the ones who hired him?
I have heard some abominable accounts of bullying and threat tactics. This does not sound like America to me.
I am very concerned and wonder why others have not aired their concerns. It seems as if the hospital needs to make a dramatic change, fast, before there is no one left to help us as residents on this Island.
Melanie Dunn
Vineyard Haven
Local Green Party forms
<http://www.gazettenet.com/12182001/politics/9710.htm>
by Mary Carey, Hampshire Daily Gazette, December 18, 2001
The Paradise City Green Party officially formed Friday, and organizers say House Speaker Thomas Finneran is the catalyst. The top issue for party members based in Northampton - and the reason they are springing into action now - is the lack of a 1st Hampshire District representative in the state House. The seat has remained empty since former Rep. William P. Nagle Jr. of Northampton vacated it in June. Finneran, who is charged with setting an election to fill the seat, has failed to do so. ...
No change in Lifespan operation
Alfred Verrecchia says he will have a hands-off policy.
<http://www.projo.com/cgi-bin/story.pl/business/06736581.htm>
by Felice Freyer, Providence Journal, November 18, 2001
The new chairman of Lifespan's board of directors yesterday signaled that a hands-off philosophy would guide him in his new role with the Providence-based hospital corporation. Alfred Verrecchia, chosen Tuesday night to replace Barnet "Bunny" Fain as chairman, said his election does not herald any change for Lifespan, which encompasses four hospitals in Rhode Island and one in Massachusetts. "There shouldn't be a difference. It shouldn't matter who's the chairman of the Lifespan board," said Verrecchia. "What makes Lifespan tick are the doctors, nurses and people who run the institution." ...
Children's lowering its losses
<http://www.businesstoday.com/business/business/chil12182001.htm>
by Jennifer Heldt Powell, Boston Herald, December 18, 2001
Children's Hospital beat its own expectations and narrowed its operating loss to $2.5 million for the year ending October - a $26.7 million improvement over the previous year. Hospital officials expected to lose $30 million for the year, but an increase in revenue, spending cuts and government aid contributed to the turnaround. ...
Peace group persistent advocates against war: Meet every Tuesday in Copley Square
<http://ledger.southofboston.com/archives>
by Candi Carter Olson, The Patriot Ledger, December 19, 2001
BOSTON - When they come to Copley Square every Tuesday evening, members of United for Justice with Peace know that a lot of people will ignore their message. That's why they keep coming every week. "We are trying to encourage people and let them know that they are not alone if they oppose this war," said Susan McLucas. "I feel like if people aren't listening, it's more important to speak out." United for Justice with Peace is an umbrella organization for 23 peace groups. Since Sept. 11, the group has been at Copley Square every Tuesday evening to hold a vigil for peace. About 40 people showed up yesterday at the usual time, 5:30 p.m., ready to protest the war. They had a specific mission: opposing any plan to expand the war on terrorism to Iraq. Rather than a war, this group wants the United States to go through the United Nations and use an international police action, McLucas said. ...
Additional state mental health service cuts unveiled
<http://www.telegram.com/news/inside/service.html>
by Lee Hammel, Worcester Telegram & Gazette, December 21, 2001
WORCESTER-- Severe service cuts for this year were announced four weeks ago -- and reversed by the Legislature last week -- but the state Department of Mental Health has already announced more service cuts for the year to begin July 1. For that year, funding for all outpatient counseling for children with no insurance and half of the outpatient counseling for adults with no insurance will be canceled, DMH Commissioner Marylou Sudders said Wednesday. Because of an accumulation of budgetary setbacks, the decisions were made to cut all $500,000 in the uninsured children's account and $600,000 from the uninsured adults account. ...
State audit
<http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/355/business/Regional_Business_in_brief+.shtml>
by Liz Kowalczyk, Boston Globe, December 21, 2001
A state audit of 99 nursing homes found that 63 failed to give certified nursing assistants wage increases that were part of a $25 million relief package approved by the Legislature for that purpose in 2000. The 63 facilities will be required to return the money to the state along with a 50 percent penalty. The homes will pay the state a total of $1.7 million. The audit did not say how the nursing homes spent the money that did not go toward wages, although some of the 63 homes used a portion of the money for wages.
© Copyright 2001 Globe Newspaper Company
Pembroke Hospital nurses push for union
by Sue Reinert, The Patriot Ledger, December 21, 2001
Nurses at Pembroke Hospital have asked for a vote on union representation, a first at the psychiatric hospital.
The nurses filed a petition yesterday with the National Labor Relations Board seeking a bargaining election, said David Schildmeier, spokesman for the Massachusetts Nurses Association in Canton.
Loretta Brockelbank of Pembroke, a Pembroke Hospital nurse for nine years and a member of the organizing committee, said nurses are concerned about understaffing and ³security and safety.²
Hospital chief executive Dorothy Paquette provided a copy of a letter the hospital sent to nurses this week criticizing the union drive.
The union has a record of ³poor representation and empty promises at other hospitals,² the letter said.
It warned that the association campaign may bring ³conflict, misinformation and attacks on the hospital and nurses who do not support the MNA.²
Brockelbank said the hospital has ignored nurses¹ pleas for more security coverage and increased staffing.
On Aug. 30 a male patient at the hospital allegedly attacked a female nurse, injuring her so seriously she was hospitalized.
Pembroke police sought criminal charges against the patient, who has not been identified. Plymouth District Court Clerk John Sullivan is awaiting the result of a competency examination before deciding whether to issue a complaint.
Brockelbank said ³incidents have been occurring all along,² although previous assaults caused less serious injuries that did the Aug. 30 attack.
Guards are stationed at the hospital only part-time at night, she said. In addition, ³there are more violent patients since we changed management,² Brockelbank said.
In January, Universal Health Services of Pennsylvania bought Pembroke Hospital, Westwood Lodge and Lowell Youth Treatment Center.
Charter Behavioral Health System, which filed for bankruptcy protection in 1999, formerly managed Pembroke Hospital and the other two facilities.
Laurie Taylor of Plymouth, another member of the organizing committee, said the hospital reduces its staff when patients are discharged during the day, only to have more patients admitted at night, leaving wards understaffed.
More severely ill patients are coming to the hospital, which is adding to the burden on staff, she said.
Understaffing has been a problem for the past five years, including when Charter ran the hospital, Brockelbank said.
Nurses approached the Massachusetts Nurses Association in November, Schildmeier said.
Forty out of the 50 staff nurses have signed cards saying they want to be represented by the union, he said.
Hospital management turned down a request last week to voluntarily recognize the union, Schildmeier said.
The hospital told nurses in its letter that voluntary recognition would have deprived nurses of their right to vote in a secret ballot.
If the union wins the vote, Pembroke Hospital would be the first private psychiatric hospital organized by the association. The union represents nurses at state-owned psychiatric centers.
Sue Reinert may be reached at sreinert@ledger .com.
<< URGENT >> (Massachusetts) HEALTHY START IS A PROGRAM THAT PROVIDES PRENATAL AND DELIVERY CARE FOR UNINSURED PREGNANT WOMEN; IT¹S ABOUT TO BE CLOSED BY THE LEGISLATURE AND 300 PREGNANT WOMEN WILL LOSE THEIR PRENATAL HEALTH CARE Š <http://www.MassAdHoc.org>
Looming Health Care Storm
<http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/editorials/la-000099966dec17.story?coll=la%2Dnews%2Dcomment%2Deditorials>
Editorial, Los Angeles Times, December 17, 2001
A hurricane-force "perfect storm'' of dangerous health care currents will hit the American economy next year, a bipartisan coalition warned last month. It will uproot at least 6 million Americans from their private health insurance plans and swamp employers as health care costs rise at four times the overall inflation rate. Although that alarm came from the National Coalition on Health Care, a group chaired by former Presidents George Bush, Jimmy Carter and Gerald Ford and representing companies employing 100 million Americans, Congress ignored it, focusing instead on that other storm, in Afghanistan. ...
Kaiser's PR fumble
The executives at Kaiser Permanente gave state HMO regulator Daniel Zingale an early holiday present. They made him look good. And Kaiser look very bad. That wasn't Kaiser's intention, naturally. Its lawyers undoubtedly thought they had a solid case involving some technical matters of who regulates what inside health care. They happened to forget about the court of public opinion. In health care, image can be everything. And this was such a case. ...
Second Wave of St. Joseph Charge Nurse Resignations
Stating their need for professional representation to effectively advocate for patient care, nineteen additional RNs from the medical-surgical unit formally stepped down yesterday from their charge and relief charge positions. This brings the number of charge and relief charge resignations to a total of 35. On December 4, 16 out of 17 Charge Nurses from the St. Joseph Critical Care Services stepped down to take positions as staff nurses on their unit. They took this action to enable them to be eligible for representation with the California Nurses Association (CNA), which is in the midst of an organizing campaign with the RNs. ...
Congress Acts to Stem National Nursing Shortage
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A14692-2001Dec21.html>
by Juliet Eilperin, Washington Post, December 22, 2001
The House and Senate passed bills aimed at easing the nation's nursing shortage just before adjourning Thursday, virtually ensuring that some form of legislation will become law early next year. Lawmakers said they had to act quickly to halt the decline in the number of nursing school graduates: The National League of Nursing says this figure dropped 13 percent between 1995 and 1999. ...
<<"As a registered nurse, I know this bill will help attract more nurses into the workforce>>
The unanswered question is - but for how long? - Barry Adams
The next big health care crisis is now: Health Scare
<http://www.thenewrepublic.com/122401/cohn122401.html>
by Jonathan Cohn, senior editor, The New Republic, December 24, 2001
The last time anyone in American politics spoke seriously of a health care "crisis" was during the recession of the early 1990s. At the time, unemployment was rising just as high medical costs were driving insurance premiums to unprecedented levels. As a result, millions of people lost their coverage and millions more worried they might be next. ...
The prognosis for their profession
On the first evening of their recent biennial convention, members of the Illinois Nurses Association did something they don't do too often. They showered a little attention on themselves. The occasion was the INA Centennial Celebration, and the nurses, for a few hours at least, took a break from tending to others -- and the problems plaguing their profession -- to celebrate their milestone. ...
Nursing Homes: We know what's needed for better care
<http://home.post-dispatch.com/channel/pdweb.nsf/da37732b0078d6c285256ad500494df3/86256a0e0068fe5086256b25003fd912?OpenDocument&Highlight=0,nurses>
by Marilyn Rantz, Editorial, Saint Louis Post-Dispatch, December 17, 2001
What can and should the Legislature do to ensure quality care for nursing home residents? Actually, quite a lot is known from research about quality of care in nursing homes and how to do things right. We know it takes good staff to provide the care people need. That is, staff who are knowledgeable and well trained about how to care for older people, staff who are kind and respectful and enough staff to get the job done. We know that registered nurses working with other nursing-home staff improve resident care. ...
Nurses warn Campbell off their contract
<http://www.canada.com/search/site/story.asp?id=84D09CEC-7E10-4B42-92D7-F77D1611D56B>
Canadian Press, December 22, 2001
VANCOUVER -- The BC Nurses Union is sending out a pre-emptive warning to the provincial government. Nurses want Gordon Campbell to keep his hands off their contract agreement. The union is concerned the government may eliminate the employment security provisions in the recently legislated agreement. Those provisions guarantee training and one year employment if a nurse has lost a job. Union leader Debra McPherson says eliminating the provision will only make the nursing shortage worse. ...
Nurses want a say in the cure
<http://www.canada.com/search/site/story.asp?id=04A8BFB5-FC32-4384-9D25-76A32A08FBA0>
Vancouver Sun, December 22, 2001
Contrary to the Dec. 15 editorial, "Restructuring health boards doesn't address incompetence," our union is extremely concerned that public health care spending is allocated in a cost-effective manner. Ironically, some of the information in your editorial about poorly conceived expenditures at Vancouver General Hospital came to light as a result of a Freedom of Information request filed by the BC Nurses' Union into the hospital's contract for a new patient information system. ...
Nurses union calls Chomiak's public consultations political ploy
<http://www.canada.com/search/site/story.asp?id=212BA670-0D75-4851-B3ED-F614364FB2FD>
Canadian Press, December 19, 2001
WINNIPEG -- The president of the Manitoba Nurses Union calls the government's public consultations on health care a political ploy. Maureen Hancharyk says the province's plan is a way for the health minister to deflect criticism onto the federal government. She says all provinces are blaming the federal government for a lack of health care dollars. Nurses are currently negotiating a new contract with the province but so far, money issues have not been discussed. The nurses want a 31 per cent raise over two years. ...
Ontario nurses win top pay scale
After more than eight months of negotiating, the Ontario Nurses' Association has struck a deal making its members the highest-paid nurses in the country.
The agreement will give them a 9- to 12-per-cent raise over three years, meaning that a senior full-time nurse could earn $33.75 an hour. The previous maximum had been $30.24.
When Ontario nurses reach their maximum pay under the new contract, the top wage for those in Alberta will be $32.42 an hour.
The deal covers 40,000 nurses in 136 hospitals. It is expected to be ratified in a series of secret ballots during the second week of January.
"When I talk to young nurses about their future, they see this job as a steppingstone to something else," said Barb Wahl, president of the nurses union. "But if you have a competitive salary and good working conditions, they'll stay."
Both sides at the negotiating table wanted to solve Ontario's nursing shortage. David MacKinnon, president of the Ontario Hospital Association, said the agreement gives hospitals three years of stability in which to address nurses' concerns.
"The negotiations have been long and torturous," Mr. MacKinnon said. "But what had happened in the past was that it would take a year or 18 months to get an agreement. So now we have more time to solve our problems."
The previous contract expired on March 31.
Other provisions in the new contract are increases in night, evening, weekend and standby premiums; improvements to dental and vision-care benefits; rules to make sure nurses' vacations are not cancelled; a stronger complaints process, and more benefits for early retirees.
Surveys have shown that nurses across the country feel overworked and underpaid. The profession is facing a lack of qualified people: Almost 17 per cent of nurses working in Canadian hospitals say they plan to leave their jobs in the next year, according to a recent study. Among those age 30 and younger, almost 30 per cent are considering quitting.
The Canadian Nurses Association predicts that Canada will need 113,000 nurses within a decade. An aging work force and growing demand are factors in the shortage, which is exacerbated by the fact that institutions cannot retain nurses because of poor working conditions.
But rising wages in Ontario only make it more difficult for other provinces to compete, said Debra McPherson, president of the BC Nurses Union.
Nurses in Saskatchewan are to begin contract negotiations in January. The union has already said it will seek a 30-per-cent wage increase to match Alberta.
Copyright © 2001 Globe Interactive, a division of Bell Globemedia Publishing Inc.
US air raid kills 65 civilians - AIP report
<http://www.rte.ie/news/2001/1221/afghanistan.html>
RNAG - Radio Ceolnet, December 21 2001
Sixty-five civilians, including elders, tribal chiefs and anti-Taliban commanders, were today killed in a bombing raid by US aircraft, according to the Afghan Islamic Press. It is believed they were travelling to Kabul for the weekend inauguration of the country's interim government. Meanwhile, the Pentagon has claimed that US warplanes attacked and destroyed a convoy of vehicles in Afghanistan believed to be carrying al-Qaeda or Taliban leadership. The attack happened southwest of the Tora Bora mountain range. It is not clear if this was a different raid to the one referred to in the AIP report. ...
Up to 60 die as US bombs tribal leaders by mistake
<http://www.guardian.co.uk/Archive/Article/0,4273,4325336,00.html>
by Paul Harris & Peter Beaumont in Kabul, Sunday Observer, December 23, 2000
Trade unions, religious and citizens organizations join hands in opposition to wartime legislation
<http://www.japan-press.co.jp/2265/trade.html>
Representatives of 24 trade unions, religious, and citizens organizations met at Nihon Seinenkan Hall in Tokyo on December 13 to discuss ways to help increase the joint struggle against wartime legislation. The Japan Federation of Aviation Workers' Unions and the Japan Federation of Medical Workers' Unions organized the meeting. ...
Federal Medical Centre, Gusau, Discharges Patients Over Nurses' Strike
<http://allafrica.com/stories/200112170500.html>
Vanguard (Lagos), December 17, 2001
Gusau - AS the national strike by nurses and midwives enters its second week, the Federal Medical Centre, Gusau, has discharged all patients with minor cases. The Medical Director of the Centre, Dr. Nasiru Saidu, said that the action was necessary to allow such patients seek medical attention elsewhere. Saidu said it was very difficult for the centre to continue to allow the patients to stay in the hospital without proper care and attention. "Doctors alone cannot manage the situation because all nurses, midwives, medical and health workers have joined the strike," he said. ...
Award does not go far enough to tackle shortages
<http://www.rcn.org.uk/latest_developments/pay_2002/not_working_nhs.html>
Royal College of Nursing
Commenting on the announcement today, Monday 17 December, RCN General Secretary Beverly Malone, said: ³Nurses will feel sorely let down. We feel this award does not go far enough to tackle the problem of recruiting and retaining nurses. There are still problems with nurse shortages that the Pay Review Body has recognised. ³Pay is the single most effective factor to increase recruitment, improve retention and to demonstrate to nurses that they are valued. Frankly, this award is not good enough. ...²
World 'must spend more' to fight disease
At least 8m lives could be saved every year and the life expectancy and prosperity of the poorest nations transformed if the world agreed significant investment to fight disease, according to a report from the World Health Organisation yesterday. The report, by the Commission on Macroeconomics and Health set up two years ago and led by Harvard economist Jeffrey Sachs, makes the clearest and strongest case yet that disease, such as the Aids epidemic in Africa, has a fundamental and disastrous impact on the economies of countries and in the long run, the globe. ...