Action Calendar Action Calendar Action Calendar Action Calendar Action
How Can We Manage the Conundrum?
How Can We Reform the System?
A series of four integrated workshops addressing major concerns in the current health care system. Each workshop may be taken individually. The workshop are open to all who are concerned with the status of our current health system. Speakers with expertise on each topic will present background information and suggestions for reform.
9:00 - 11:00: Workshop I: The United States Health Care System and Health Care Reform
An overview of the historical precedents to the current health care system, including some attempts over recent years to make the system more responsive and cost efficient.
11:10 - 1:10: Workshop II: Pharmaceuticals and Health Care Reform
Pharmaceuticals are a major cost of health care. Recent changes in biologicals and sophisticated medications have increased the importance of pharmaceuticals. This workshop looks at many of the factors influencing the cost of drugs and what can be done to address the issues in medications being available to those who need them.
1:20 - 3:20: Workshop III: Health Workers and Health Care Reform
Even with the many technological changes, health care is still a labor intensive industry. The biggest cost of health care is its human resources. This workshop looks at some of the professional changes, the shortage of some workers, especially nurses, and how we can address these issues.
3:30 - 5:30: Workshop IV: Community Constituencies and Health Care Reform
Changing demographics, a more diverse community, the 'graying' of America, all impact on health care. This workshop discusses specific constituencies, how their needs are dealt with, and steps to take to make the system responsive to those needs.
No charge. To register: Catherine DeLorey, 617-873-0225, cdelorey@idea.cambridge.edu
Union Nurses: Today's Nurse Leaders
March 11 - May 6 (Monday evenings)
7 - 8:10 pm (Every Monday, except Patriots Day, April 15)
The Labor Guild's School of Industrial Relations, with faculty provided by the MNA, is presenting an eight-week course for union nurses who want to learn how to make their local bargaining units more powerful and effective in dealing with professional and union issues facing nurses in today's critical health care environment. The course will feature classes on the history of nurse activism and the Nurse Practice Act, internal organizing, political/legislative action, media relations, coalition building and grassroots organizing for the survival of the nursing profession. The cost for all eight weeks is $80 with contact hours provided by the MNA. For information or to register, contact 617-786-1822. MNA bargaining units are encouraged to consider sponsoring members to participate in this program.
Building Collective RN Power To Protect Patients²
Conference Highlights:
€The implementation of new minimum RN to patient ratios
€Honoring California Nurses Association¹s organizing wins
€State and national organizing program
€Campaign to win a real pension for RNs
€Universal health care opportunities
€Visit your state representatives to discuss patient advocacy
Annual MNA Lobby Day: "Safe RN Ratios = Safe Care:
Safe for Patients, Safe for Nurses -- Pass HB 1186"
Tuesday, March 12
9:30 am (Registration at 9 am), The Great Hall, State House, Boston
The Congress on Health Policy and Legislation is planning its annual Lobby Day. The 2001 Lobby Day was our largest ever. Please help us surpass last year's attendance. We appeal to you to help us get as many members to this event as possible. The primary purpose of this year's event is lobbying for passage of House Bill 1186, our safe staffing legislation. We will be scheduling meetings for MNA members to meet with their state legislators to seek their support of our safe staffing legislation. Please share the date with your colleagues, encourage them to get the day off, or if already off to attend. The Department of Legislation and Government Affairs can assist you in booking appointments for your members to meet with their legislators. Please contact Charlie Stefanini at cstefanini@mnarn.org or Kate Anderson at kanderson@mnarn.org with the member's name and home address.
The Spirit, the Struggle and the Songs
Remembering the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
Saturday, April 6 at 8pm and Sunday, April 7 at 4pm
At the Jewish Theater of New England, Newton JCC
Created by the Workmen's Circle to commemorate the anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
This stirring program weaves together historical narrative, excerpts from ghetto diaries, and the music and poetry of the Jewish resistance to create a dramatic retelling of the inspiring resistance against all odds. Featuring The Workmen's Circle Yiddish Community Chorus, acclaimed klezmer musician Hankus Netsky and soloist Betty Silberman.
$20 general admission; $12 youth ticket
Discounted tickets available for groups of 10 or more.
Box office: 617-965-5226
Eleventh CFNU Biennial Convention
6th Annual Public Health Nursing Conference
Wednesday, June 12, 2002
8:30 am - 4 pm, Anna Maria College, Paxton, MA
Sponsored by the Mass. Association of Public Health Nurses, Mass. Depatrment of Public Health and Mass. Public Health Association, this conference will feature presentations and workshops on a variety of topics for public health nurses including grant writing, finding hidden resources in your community and a keynote address by Suzanne Gordon, award-winning journalist and author of: "From Silence to Voice: What Nurses Know and Must Communicate to the Public." For more information or to register, please call 617-524-6696 x104.
Whistleblower Whistleblower Whistleblower Whistleblower Whistleblower
Whistleblowing: A difficult decision
<http://www.anf.org.au/pubs_anj/pubs_anj_0202.html>
Jill Iliffe, ANF Federal Secretary, Australian Nursing Journal, Editorial, February 2002
What do you do when something happens that you know to be wrong, unethical or inappropriate? Reading Kevin's story in this ANJ brought to mind a number of situations during my nursing career where I was faced with this question. A colleague behaves unprofessionally; health care is provided that you know to be inappropriate; a decision is made that is ethically questionable; there is an adverse outcome that could have been avoided, and was perhaps even the result of negligence. What do you do? It is often a difficult decision to make, particularly when the other person or persons are more senior to you and in a position of power and authority. And every situation is different and requires a different response. ...
Nurses' union calls for 'whistleblower' law
<http://www.canada.com/search/site/story.asp?id=AA215C1C-C5DA-40C3-911B-D5029A2E39FE>
Neil Scott, Regina Leader Post, March 3, 2002
The Saskatchewan Union of Nurses is seeking "whistleblower" protection for nurses who publicly discuss problems in the health system, following an incident involving a nurse who went public about problems at the hemodialysis unit at Regina General Hospital. Rosalee Longmoore, the president of SUN, said one of the nurses who spoke at a press conference in Regina Jan. 21 -- about staff shortages at the hemodialylis unit and resulting problems with patient care -- was subsequently called up onto the proverbial carpet. ...
John Q John Q John Q John Q John Q John Q John Q John Q John Q John Q
TV, movies discover popular new bad guy in Evil Medicine
<http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/021502/bus_8626293.html>
Associated Press, February 14, 2002
NEW YORK -- Murderers. Drug lords. Hospital administrators. There's a new villain in Hollywood. In the movie John Q, debuting today, a bureaucrat refuses to place the title character's son on the list for a donor heart because his family can't afford the $250,000 transplant operation. The boy's loving father, played by Denzel Washington, becomes a vigilante, taking the hospital's emergency room hostage. Despite the melodrama and wild exaggeration of what patients and their families face, John Q resonates because we know the bad guy, too. We may not have a dying child, but who hasn't had a health care claim denied? Who hasn't worried about losing their job-based health insurance? Filled an outrageously priced prescription? Or endured the rushed advice of a condescending doctor? In a society where an estimated 45 million people have no health insurance, at least 39 million are underinsured and health care costs are primed to jump -- once again -- roughly 16 percent this year, anyone who takes on Big Medicine makes a great hero. ...
More Drama Added to Politics of Transplants
<http://www.nytimes.com/2002/02/19/health/policy/19FILM.html?ex=1015086001&ei=1&en=fa406bca487b5da7>
Jeff Stryker, The New York Times, February 19, 2002
The movie "John Q." stars Denzel Washington as John Q. Archibald, a father so desperate to obtain a heart transplant for his son that when his HMO refuses to pay for the operation he takes over an emergency room at gunpoint. This hospital cum hostage drama opened nationwide last week amid some brickbats from reviewers, although in this case it was not just movie critics who weighed in. Health policy analysts, transplant coordinators and managed care advocates had plenty to say about "John Q.," even before it opened. Does the story at the heart of the film square with real life? ...
From: "Don McCanne" <don@mccanne.org>
Sent: Tuesday, February 19, 2002 9:27 AM
Subject: QoD: Prof. Laks on John Q
'John Q.'s' Public Warning
<http://www.latimes.com/features/health/la-000012439feb18.story?coll=la%2Dheadlines%2Dhealth>
Benedict Carey, Los Angeles Times, February 18, 2002
"Hundreds of thousands of Americans watched this weekend as a desperate father held a hospital emergency room at gunpoint and demanded a heart transplant for his dying son. Fortunately for everyone, it all happened in a movie, 'John Q,' which opened Friday." Hillel Laks, MD, Professor and Chief, Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery, UCLA Medical Center, Los Angeles: "It's very important for people to know what their insurance pays for, and to know they can do something about it. John Q. could have gone to the company and said, 'I don't like this policy. I want to spend $100 more and get better insurance.' If he's willing to go shoot people to save his son, why can't he pay a little extra a month to make sure he's covered?" ...
Comment: Professor Laks is a noted and respected expert on heart transplants. However, before he ventures further into expressing public opinions on health policy, I would emphatically recommend that he become more versed in the basic fundamentals of this discipline. He might begin by reading "Understanding Health Policy" by Thomas Bodenheimer and Kevin Grumbach.
Importunely, Dr. Laks' response represents the prevailing view of the leadership of the medical associations, of many business leaders, and the conservatives and many moderates who now control the political agenda. Their rhetoric is that control of health care should be shifted to the consumer, and this is done by defining the contribution of either the employer or the government and then allowing the beneficiary-patient to have "choice" of the type of coverage by contributing the balance of the premium. That "choice" for those with very limited income and assets, such as John Q and another 100,000,000 or so in the United States, either requires an often unaffordable premium, or requires that the individual select options with unaffordable out-of-pocket expenses. For the benefit of Dr. Laks and others that don't seem to quite get it, in health policy terms, this is called "defined contribution" and "shifting risk to the beneficiary." In fact, everyone who is going to take a stand on issues of health policy should read "Understanding Health Policy." If individuals are going to support cruel and inhumane health policies, they should understand exactly what they are doing. In this age, they should not be allowed the intellectual laziness and the "Let them eat cake" insensitivity of proclaiming, "Let them have choice," and then walking away from the problem.
Understanding Health Policy: <http://shop.mcgraw-hill.com/cgi-bin/pbg/0071378154.html?id=aaHGHsD3>
Fear and trembling at the hospital
<http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2002/02/20/DD68795.DTL>
Jon Carroll, San Francisco Chronicle, February 20, 2002
DESPITE ITS REASONABLY dreadful reviews, the Denzel Washington movie "John Q" managed to rake in a respectable $20.6 million at the box office over the weekend, making it the No. 1 movie in the nation. "John Q" is the story of a man who hijacks a hospital. His son can't get a needed transplant, his insurance company stonewalls, the hospital says its hands are tied, and meanwhile the kid is dying. So Washington, pushed to the brink, pulls a gun. Gee, I wonder why a movie like that is so popular. ...
Update Arizona Update Arizona Update Arizona Update Arizona
Quality patient care
<http://www.azstarnet.com/star/mon/20218monletrpckg.html>
John M. Porter, MD, Professor of surgery, University of Arizona, Director of trauma, University Medical Center, February 18, 2002
Re: the Feb. 9 article "UMC to increase nursing coverage." The business of medicine is quality patient care, not just business and definitely not business as usual. University Medical Center has pledged to hire more nurses to decrease the nurse-patient ratio. This will be expensive, but it will improve the quality of care that all of us, as potential patients, will receive. As a surgeon, I know firsthand that the quality of one's experience as a hospitalized patient and the minute-to-minute care that one receives is most determined by one's nurse and the individual attention that he or she can deliver. Decreasing the nurse-patient ratio will improve this. It will also improve the quality of the work experience of the nurses, which will help with hiring and retaining quality nurses. ...
Panel goal: solve dearth of nurses
<http://www.azstarnet.com/star/wed/20227NURSINGTASKFORCE.html>
Jane Erikson, Arizona Daily Star, February 27, 2002
Gov. Jane Hull has named 35 nursing directors, deans of nursing, public health experts and others to a 35-member task force charged with finding solutions to the state's critical nursing shortage. The committee - which includes seven nurses, just one from Tucson - is to submit its recommendations to the governor before Christmas 2003. "National analysts continue to talk about the potential for health crises due to the lack of nurses," Hull said in a statement. "My goal ... is to prevent such a crisis from happening in Arizona." But Peg Mead, who has worked as a registered nurse for almost 48 years, said the crisis already has occurred. "She's behind the times if she thinks the crisis hasn't happened already. I believe it's already here," said Mead, who requested last year to be named to the task force. ...
Update Australia Update Australia Update Australia Update Australia Update
State to hire 3000 nurses
<http://theage.com.au/articles/2002/03/02/1014705007235.html>
The Age, March 3, 2002
The Victorian Government said yesterday that it would recruit 3000 additional full-time nurses to combat spiralling costs from the use of private nursing agencies. The Department of Human Services has directed hospitals to engage agency nurses only for unplanned absences and to limit pay to 80 per cent above the basic award. Health Minister John Thwaites said private agencies had exploited a national shortage of nurses by almost doubling rates charged to taxpayers. "Action is now being taken to ensure patients receive the highest quality of care and our hospitals are not reliant on a privatised nurse workforce," he said. ...
Update California Update California Update California Update California
Nurses Across State Cash In on Shortage
When Danielle Ortiz was finishing up nursing classes at Victor Valley College last May, she had one ambitious goal: to land a job as a labor and delivery nurse, a specialty slot not often handed to green college graduates. Luckily for her, she was entering a booming nursing job market in a state with one of the worst nursing shortages in the country. So with very little work experience, she easily landed a job in the field of her dreams -- and collected a $2,000 sign-on bonus to boot. ...
Seminars boost morale, pay of Tri-City nurses
<http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/uniontrib/wed/metro/news_1mi20tri.html>
John Berhman, San Diego Union-Tribune, February 20, 2002
OCEANSIDE Tri-City Medical Center's 517 nurses found out yesterday how important they are to the hospital district, and how anxious the district is to keep them. Ordinarily, employee benefits seminars would not attract much attention or excitement. But two at the hospital yesterday were different, according to several of those who participated. Nurses were told by Joy Gorzeman, chief operations officer and head of nursing, that they were to receive a 5 percent pay increase effective Sunday. ...
Enloe, Glenn ink pact to keep hospital until July 1
<http://www.chicoer.com/display/inn_news/news4.txt>
Heather Hacking, Chico Enterprise Record, February 22, 2002
WILLOWS - Glenn County staved off closure of its emergency room during negotiations with Enloe Medical Center Thursday, but the fate of the facility is still very much uncertain. The deal will continue the current level of medical services until July 1 of this year, with an option of extending two more months if needed. County leaders will have that much time to try to find an alternative plan, perhaps by having another medical company take over running of the hospital, which has beds for up to 15 people a night. Glenn Medical Center is run by Enloe, and it announced Jan. 23 it would be closing the 24-hour emergency room and reducing services at the medical center effective March 1. The community rallied against the closure during a town hall meeting that drew 200 people. ...
Mediation Effort Breaks Down
Charging that management engaged in what became a media disinformation effort, Registered Nurses at Sierra Vista Medical Center expressed their regret that negotiations today involving a Federal mediator had collapsed and said they will meet tonight to consider their next course of action. Members of the Sierra Vista nurse Bargaining Committee said they were flabbergasted when they discovered that a local media report that the hospital and its parent company, Tenet Healthcare were willing to meet them half way turned out not to be the case. ...
Physicals With the Works
<http://www.latimes.com/features/health/la-000014326feb25.story>
Bob Rosenblatt, Los Angeles Times, February 25, 2002
In this age of managed care, many of us no longer have easy access to the best and brightest in medicine. Unless, of course, money is no object -- or someone else is picking up the tab. If that's the case, you might get to experience something called the "executive physical." For $2,000 and up, you can spend two days getting poked and prodded, undergoing a battery of tests and talking at length to a top-notch doctor about your eating habits, family medical history and exercise routine. ...
Filling the need for nurses
As hospitals and health-care administrators scramble to deal with a widespread shortage of nurses, a number of companies have emerged to capitalize on the deficiency. Companies such as San Diego-based AMN Healthcare Services have built a strong business out of supplying temporary nurses to hospitals suffering from a shortage of qualified staffers. By bolstering its roster of nurses and their number of assignments, AMN has seen its revenue grow nearly sixfold during the past three years. The demand for nursing services has been so strong that AMN and a competitor, Cross Country Inc. of Boca Raton, Fla., were able to buck the weak market for public stock offerings last year. ...
Nurses State Their Case to Senate Panel
In the latest twist of a long-running labor dispute between hundreds of nurses and the nation's second-biggest hospital chain, a state Senate panel held a hearing Friday in Monterey Park to investigate allegations of unfair labor practices at Garfield Medical Center. The hearing, called by the Senate Industrial Relations Committee, is the latest act in a drama that has unfolded over more than a year and included a brief strike in December. The committee came to town at the urging of state Sen. Gloria Romero (D-Los Angeles), a member of the panel. To open the hearing, officials noted that representatives of Garfield and Tenet Healthcare Corp. -- which owns 44 hospitals in the state, 19 of them in the Southland--declined to appear. ...
Nurse Alert Š Nurses Beware
<http://www.calnurse.org/cna/rnfraud.html>
California Nurses Association
* An employee front group known as the California Nurses Alliance is calling RNs throughout the State of California.
* The California Nurses Alliance is calling nurses and passing themselves off as CNA.
* The California Nurses Alliance is the same group who worked with the hospital association in lobbying against Governor Davis signing the Safe Staffing Ratios into law.
* If you receive a call from this group ask for their name and phone number and then call your local CNA office.
Update Canada Update Canada Update Canada Update Canada
CFNU President Addresses Senate
<http://www.nursesunions.ca/na/index.shtml#6>
Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions
The following text is from a February 2002 presentation by CFNU President Kathleen Connors to the Standing Senate Committee on Social Affairs, Science and Technology which is looking at health care reform:
Nursing Shortage a Global Problem
<http://www.nursesunions.ca/na/index.shtml#6>
Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions
GENEVA - Overworked? Stressed? Frightened? Well you are not alone! The International Council of Nurses 5th Annual Workforce Forum reports that nurses from around the world are feeling the crunch of the nursing shortage. Nursing leaders from 8 industrialized countries, including CFNU President Kathleen Connors, RN, recently met in Geneva to try and tackle the problem. Common causes of nursing shortages identified included decreased funding for health care, lower nursing school enrollment, poor working conditions and an ageing workforce. "Whether they work in hospitals or in nursing homes, the world's nurses face common challenges in their day-to-day work lives," stated Connors. "We must find common solutions by working together internationally."
Talks break off between Newfoundland nurses and hospital boards
<http://www.canada.com/search/site/story.asp?id=6EECD7D6-5CE0-4863-BEF3-97EBA838C882>
Canadian Press, February 25, 2002
ST. JOHN'S, Nfld. (CP) - The nurses' union in Newfoundland will apply for conciliation this week after breaking off talks with the hospital boards on Friday. The union says the boards are looking for 40 concessions. And union president Debbie Forward says it has been impossible to discuss wages because representatives from the provincial government have not been at the table. She says the province has to give the boards a mandate for salaries. ...
Nurses asked to refuse overtime
<http://www.canada.com/search/site/story.asp?id=E6D28EC1-0873-45F3-8C9E-E2120B9009E0>
CP, February 28, 2002
WINNIPEG -- Manitoba's nurses have been asked to refuse extra shifts. Maureen Hancharyk, president of the Manitoba Nurses Union, says the union sent out a letter to its 11-thousand members yesterday. Hancharyk says she realizes refusing overtime could force the closure of hospital beds and the cancellation of elective surgeries. The directive comes about a month before the nurses' contract expires March 31st and they can legally walk off the job. ...
Nurses dismiss Legault's ideas
<http://www.canada.com/montreal/montrealgazette/story.asp?id={2DE85F65-E07D-47F5-B0AE-E342E7D9CCE9}>
Lisa Fitterman, Montreal Gazette, March 2, 2002
Longtime nurse Kelly Maragos says the day that she, like airline pilots, gets free tickets to exotic destinations such as Bora Bora, she'll gladly take vacations in deepest, darkest January. "It would please me greatly but that won't solve the problem," Maragos said in an interview from the Royal Victoria Hospital. ...
Province's nurses deserve their pay gains
<http://www.canada.com/search/site/story.asp?id=8E217B4A-C8D1-46EF-AE72-5FF48BC9948E>
Jean Pelletier, RN, Prince Albert, Regina Leader Post, March 3, 2002
I wish to respond to Murray Mandryk's Leader-Post column of Feb. 9, "SUN win will come at a price". If Mandryk is going to comment on the Saskatchewan Union of Nurses (SUN) contract, as a reporter he has an obligation to get his facts right. The contract that he refers to expires March 31, 2002. At the end of that contract, most nurses will be paid $24.92 per hour. This was the last step in the contract we received on April 1, 2001. The $26.55 per hour he refers to is the wage paid to public health nurses and a few other members of SUN. The majority of nurses are general duty nurses who are classified as Nurse 1 and receive $24.92 per hour at the top step. His comments about overtime are also offensive. If nurses did not work overtime the whole system would collapse. ...
Update Colorado Update Colorado Update Colorado Update
Union for Saint Joseph ER workers dissolving
<http://denver.bizjournals.com/denver/stories/2002/02/25/story3.html>
Amy Fletcher, Denver Business Journal, February 22, 2002
Emergency department workers at Saint Joseph Hospital are cutting union ties after failing to reach a contract with the department's management. Eighteen months ago, about 60 workers at Exempla Healthcare's Saint Joseph Hospital became the first health care employees to unionize in Colorado in more than 20 years. The small group, however, couldn't strike a deal with Saint Joseph's outside emergency room management company, Maricor. ...
Update District of Columbia Update District of Columbia Update District of
Students Encouraged to Become Nurses
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A54019-2002Feb22.html>
The Associated Press, February 22, 2002
WASHINGTON As a looming nursing shortage puts pressure on caregivers and hospitals, Education Secretary Rod Paige and Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson are teaming up to attract students to careers in nursing. The two Cabinet secretaries appeared together Friday at a city middle school to drum up support for nursing careers, showing off an education campaign designed to give children information on more than 270 possible jobs in the health field. ...
Update Florida Update Florida Update Florida Update Florida Update Florida
State still debates nursing shortage
TALLAHASSEE -- No one is debating the fact that more nurses are needed in the state -- one study says Florida will need 34,000 more registered nurses by 2006. The real debate comes during discussions about how to fix the problem and how the problem emerged. And it comes from all sides, from lawmakers to nurses to nursing schools. The study, released by the Florida Hospital Association, paints an even darker picture by saying there are fewer students studying nursing, fewer licensed nurses in health care and more leaving the field each day. Some say the shortage came as long shifts, forced overtime, increased paperwork, meager salaries and overbearing administrators left nurses frustrated and drained. Others say it is a lack of faculty and facilities to train new nurses. ...
Working overtime
<http://www.gainesvillesun.com/BUSINESS/articles/2002-02-17biza.shtml>
Joe Coombs, Gainesville Sun, February 15, 2002
David Speicher has a grand total of four days off this month. He'll typically work anywhere from an eight- to 16-hour day, and he's been doing this for the past seven years as an emergency department nurse with Shands at the University of Florida. And yet, Speicher doesn't mind the extra work. He has bills to pay, and he just started a tree farm in High Springs. "Hey, I need the money," said Speicher, 40, of Gainesville. "I worked about 900 hours of overtime last year." ...
Update Ireland Update Ireland Update Ireland Update Ireland Update Ireland
INO A&E Ballot shows 93% in favour of campaign of Industrial Action
<http://www.ino.ie/news_detail.php3?nNewsId=2650&nCatId=170>
Irish Nurses Organisation, 26 February 2002
The Irish Nurses Organisation¹s ballot of its members in A&E Departments has resulted in a 93% vote in favour of the campaign leading to industrial action, commencing on Wednesday, March 13th, in protest at the overcrowding and excessive workloads upon nursing staff in these units. The industrial action will commence with a 2 hour work stoppage between 12 midday and 2.00 pm, on Wednesday, March 13th and an ongoing work to rule involving the withdrawal of nurses from clerical/ administrative duties, together with their withdrawal from extended role duties ie taking ECGs and administration of IV therapy. A three hour work stoppage is planned for Wednesday, March 20th if the issues have not be satisfactorily addressed. ...
Update Kentucky Update Kentucky Update Kentucky Update Kentucky Update
Don't Get Me Started: Nursing the Patient¹s Bill of Rights
<http://www.louisville.com/leodisplay1.html?article=8478>
Janet Boyd, LEO, February 20, 2002
Anyone who¹s ever lain helpless and needy in a hospital bed knows the value of a good nurse. Doctors are important ‹ they diagnose and give orders ‹ but it is the nursing staff who dress your wounds, monitor your vital signs, dole out your meds and haul your butt to the bathroom. It¹s a nurse, not your doctor, who appears beside your bed when you press the call button. Nurses deal with the everyday realities of illness ‹ the pain, the fluids, the smells. Theirs is the cool hand on your brow, the smile that says you¹ll make it out alive. It¹s little wonder nurses have historically been seen as angels of mercy. But too often in our current health-care system, nurses are overworked and exhausted. They¹re pawns in a bureaucracy that puts more emphasis on financial gain than on patient care, and many of them feel like indentured servants. Hospitals are cutting nursing staffs to a bare minimum and forcing the ones on duty to work mandatory overtime. Nurses say they are sometimes required to work as many as 20 hours in a row with too few workmates to effectively care for an entire unit of hospital patients. They do not have the option, they say, of refusing. Sometimes, they say, they are forced to work in a medical specialty they do not feel competent in. And then hospitals wonder why there is a shortage of nurses. ...
Update Kenya Update Kenya Update Kenya Update Kenya Update Kenya
Nurses Demand 450pc Salary Increase
<http://allafrica.com/stories/200202220533.html>
The Nation (Nairobi), February 23, 2002
Nurses yesterday demanded that the government give them a 450 per cent increase in salary and allowances. The nurses said although they welcomed the doubling of allowances for doctors and dentists in public hospitals, the government erred by leaving them and other paramedical workers out of the deal. ...
Update Massachusetts Update Massachusetts Update Massachusetts Update
Health beat: Abrupt hospital closings may lurk in state's future
<http://www.bizjournals.com/industries/health_care/hospitals/2002/02/18/boston_newscolumn5.html>
Allison Connolly, Boston Business Journal, February 18, 2002
If a hospital is in danger of closing, wouldn't state officials be among the first to know? Well, apparently not, according to testimony at a hospital oversight hearing of the state Legislature's joint committee on health care last week at the State House. In fact, the state may be one of the last to know. The discussion was spurred by the latest hospital to announce its closing, Deaconess-Waltham Hospital. Most observers were surprised when the hospital's parent company, Boston's CareGroup Inc., opted to close the hospital after it logged an operating loss of $9 million last year. The hearing was held to find out why the closing came as such a surprise, and whether 90 days notice is enough time to stage a rescue effort. But the burning question was: Why should a hospital closing come as a surprise at all? Legislators on the committee were told by state agency heads that there is no early-warning system alerting officials to a troubled hospital. And despite hospitals' status as nonprofits, their required public filings aren't actually submitted for as long as a year after the fiscal year ends. ...
Islanders ask doctor to stay
OAK BLUFFS - On an island seven miles offshore, a skilled surgeon is a valued member of the community. Which explains why more than 200 Martha's Vineyard residents turned out Tuesday to urge Dr. Richard Koehler to stay. The public forum was quickly assembled after the physician's resignation from Martha's Vineyard Hospital last month. Many on Tuesday night laid blame for the loss squarely on the board of trustees and demanded mediation to resolve the conflict. The grass-roots group also voted unanimously to ask the board to rescind its decision to accept Koehler's resignation, and to set up a timely meeting to discuss ways of retaining the doctor. But yesterday board members were mum about any action they may take in the case of the island doctor taking down his shingle. ...
Hospital Hears Strong Support For Koehlers
There were three items on the agenda for Tuesday night¹s forum on Island health care and broad goals. But for most of the 200 people in attendance there was only one question ‹ how to keep doctors Kathleen and Richard Koehler from leaving Martha¹s Vineyard Hospital and the Vineyard. The audience included several Island physicians and health care workers, as well as 7 of the hospital¹s 14 trustees and Kevin Burchill, hospital chief executive officer. But with the exception of brief comments from three of their members, the trustees sat quietly listening and did not join any give and take on the issues separating the two sides. ...
Island Community Raises Concerns Over Hospital; Board Listens in Silence
<http://www.mvgazette.com/news/2002/02/22/hospital_forum.php>
Mandy Locke, Martha¹s Vineyard Gazette, February 22, 2002
Members of the Martha's Vineyard Hospital board of trustees listened, for the most part in silence, to an outpouring of public concern and demands for change at a forum held Tuesday night. Nearly 300 Vineyard residents, doctors and hospital officials gathered in the regional high school Performing Arts Center to discuss the current state of the hospital - spurred by the recent resignation of hospital surgeon Dr. Richard Koehler. A parade of citizens stepped to the microphone to mourn the possible loss of Dr. Koehler - hailing both his medical expertise and his compassion. ...
UMass workers OK pact; strike averted
<http://www.telegram.com/news/page_one/umass.html>
Martin Luttrell, Worcester Telegram & Gazette, February 25, 2002
WORCESTER-- A threatened strike by 1,000 UMass Memorial Health Care employees was averted yesterday when members of the United Food and Commercial Workers ratified a contract offered by management. The vote of 341 in favor and 26 opposed to the 2-year contract was announced at 7:10 last night, as union members broke into applause after counting paper ballots at the American Legion East Side Post 201 on Plantation Street. Yesterday's vote came after a tentative agreement was reached during a day and evening of negotiations before a federal mediator on Friday. ...
Area¹s health industry upbeat
<http://www.gazettenet.com/02252002/business/11836.htm>
Phoebe Mitchell, Daily Hampshire Gazette, February 25, 2002
NORTHAMPTON - Area medical administrators seem relatively upbeat - even with another year of tight finances ahead - as local health institutions are faring better than counterparts in other parts of the state and Cooley Dickinson Hospital continues to boast of being in the black. Two-thirds of the state's hospitals have reported running in the red and dozens have been forced to close, but the picture here is not as bleak. ...
NARH 'tops out' care center
<http://www.thetranscript.com/Stories/0,1002,9049%257E427679,00.html>
Karen Gardner, North Adams Transcript, February 26, 2002
NORTH ADAMS -- A "topping out" ceremony on Monday marked the end of the first phase of construction to North Adams Regional Hospital's $8 million Ambulatory Care Center. A crowd of about 30 hospital personnel and officials with the building's owner, Columbia Development of Albany, NY, were joined by Mayor John Barrett III to watch as the final steel beam, topped with an American flag that blew ceremoniously in the breeze, was settled into place atop the steel structure. "For us, this is really the manifestation of the future of this institution," said John C.J. Cronin, chief executive officer of Northern Berkshire Health Systems. "An outpatient facility reflects the growth and trends of health care, and it makes a very positive statement about our focus and how we see our future developing." ...
Seniors rally for better health care
<http://www.masslive.com/springfield/unionnews/index.ssf?/news/pstories/ae227hlt.html>
Chris Hamel, The Springfield Union-News, February 27, 2002
HOLYOKE ‹ A crowd packed with senior citizens last night called on Massachusetts to lead the way for the nation and establish universal single-payer health care. The rallying cry came during a forum attended by about 70 people at Holyoke Community College. Sponsored by the state's Advisory Committee on Consolidated Health Care Financing, the event was the only one scheduled outside Boston in a four-part series, mandated by the state's Managed Care Law of 2000. The advisory committee's co-chairs are state Rep. Nancy Flavin, D-Easthampton, and state Sen. Mark Montigny, D-New Bedford. Flavin's aide, Jay C. Tallman, who represented her, said the managed-care statute requires the Legislature to streamline and consolidate health care for all state residents. The advisory panel plans to issue a report in June, based on input from three consulting companies ‹ McDonell Consulting of Phoenix and two companies, LECG and William M. Mercer Inc., which have offices worldwide. LECG and McDonell were represented at the forum; Mercer Inc. and Montigny were not. A stream of people blamed corporate greed and government indifference for the current health- care crisis, which, they said, has left 40 million Americans uninsured or underinsured by such government benefits as Medicare. Some went as far as to say the real terrorism America is facing is the lack of adequate health care for the elderly, the disabled and working families. ...
First unit shuts down: Transitional Care at Waltham hospital not deemed 'essential'
<http://www.dailynewstribune.com/news/local_regional/walthospital03012002.htm>
DeAnna Putnam, Waltham Daily News Tribune, March 1, 2002
WALTHAM - Deaconess-Waltham Hospital started shutting down its first "non-essential" unit yesterday when it stopped accepting new patients in its long-term rehabilitation unit. The moratorium came even as the hospital's parent company planned a negotiation meeting with a grass roots group trying to keep the facility open beyond its scheduled April 11 closing. Deaconess-Waltham will still accept patients transferred to the Transitional Care Unit from within the hospital but plans to shut the whole unit down by the end of this month. ...
CareGroup wants hospital meeting
<http://www.dailynewstribune.com/news/local_regional/waltmeeting03012002.htm>
Waltham Daily News Tribune, March 1, 2002
The grass roots group attempting to save Deaconess-Waltham from closing has been invited by CareGroup to negotiations on Sunday, the day before the earliest anticipated release of a report critical to the hospital's future. Dr. William Mulroy, president of the Coalition to Save Waltham Hospital, said the move by CareGroup to call a meeting is encouraging because all previous meetings had been requested by the coalition. ...
Future looks uncertain for eating disorder unit in hospital
<http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/062/west/Future_looks_uncertain_for_eating_disorder_unit_in_hospital+.shtml>
Emily Sweeney, Boston Globe, March 3, 2002
Feelings of overwhelming anxiety, frustration, and guilt gripped the patient before the meal. ''I am fat. I don't need to eat. I am still full from the last meal. I'm energetic, why do I need to eat. No one else eats this much,'' were the words scrawled on a worksheet. The worksheet, an anonymous sample taken from a handbook from the Deaconess-Waltham Hospital's comprehensive treatment program for eating disorders, asks patients to spell out their thoughts. The only one of its kind in the state, the Eating Disorder Services program at Deaconess-Waltham has been around since 1994, but now it is in limbo. ...
Too many local hospitals on life support
Massachusetts has lost almost half of its hospitals and patient beds. With the state only a flu epidemic or plane crash away from an emergency room crisis and bed shortage, it's time for action. For a decade, state policy has encouraged hospital closings. This practice stemmed from the belief that too many hospitals led to higher costs. The industry and the state agreed to let market competition decide which hospitals would survive. Today, however, with no reserve capacity and with baby boomers aging, we are fast reaching the point where patients' lives and safety are in jeopardy. Many cities and towns are nearing a hospital bed shortage, and last year ambulance diversions and emergency room delays hit new highs. Public Health Commissioner Howard Koh warns that a bad flu season would spell disaster. This year and last saw mild outbreaks, but Massachusetts can't count on an extended winning streak at flu roulette. Acting Governor Jane Swift should declare a public health emergency to prevent another closing and to buy time. Legislators should then move to protect all needed hospitals at an affordable cost. ...
Update Michigan Update Michigan Update Michigan Update Michigan Update
Munson Registered Nurses Call for Agreement on Campaign Rules for Free and Fair Election
<http://www.minurses.org/news/press/Munsonfreeelect.shtml>
Michigan Nurses Association, February 19, 2002
Traverse City, MI - Registered nurses at Munson Medical Center hoped to get a commitment to a free and fair union election from Munson CEO Ralph Cerny at a 2:00 meeting today. Instead, Mr. Cerny limited the meeting to three nurses and was not willing to acknowledge or accept an Agreement that was signed by nurses and community members urging the Munson administration to allow a free and fair election. The Agreement was drafted and signed by Munson employees and members of the community who support the nurses' drive to organize with the Michigan Nurses Association (MNA). The document identifies quality patient care as the top priority of Munson staff and calls on all parties to refrain from any interference with the delivery of patient care during the upcoming organizing campaign. ...
Update Minnesota Update Minnesota Update Minnesota Update
Nurses say mandatory overtime endangers patient health
<http://www.workdayminnesota.org/daily/news/0208nurses.php>
Seth Lengkeek, Workday Minnesota, February 8, 2002
ST. PAUL ‹ Many workers can sympathize with, or at least imagine, the strain put on an employee¹s body and mind after working 12 straight hours. For some nurses in Minnesota, this is only half their workday. Due to a nursing shortage, many health care institutions require their nursing staffs to work mandatory overtime, sometimes equaling their normal workday hours. These exceedingly long days and nights raise concerns about how strain (physically, mentally, and emotionally) can have a negative impact on the quality of nursing care for medical patients. On Friday the Committee on Jobs, Housing and Community Development met at the State Legislature to discuss a bill, SF 2463, that would eliminate mandatory overtime requirements for nurses and allow the nurses themselves, not their employers, to decide whether or not they are capable of working an overtime shift without jeopardizing patient safety. ...
Student nurses on the front lines in health care crisis
<http://www.workdayminnesota.org/daily/news/0227nurselobby.php>
Barb Kucera, www.workdayminnesota.org editor, February 27, 2002
ST. PAUL Erin Service and Amy Misterek know that when they graduate in May with their nursing degrees, they will be propelled into the middle of a health care crisis. With not enough nurses to staff hospitals and clinics, nurses are being forced into working longer hours without the support they need. Student nurses like Service and Misterek often find themselves in positions of authority despite their inexperience. ³We¹re going to be working in intensive care and burn units² areas that normally would require years of expertise, said Service. Noted Misterek: ³It¹s kind of scary being a nurse with a bachelor¹s degree that within a year, you could be a charge nurse² supervising many others. ...
Update Missouri Update Missouri Update Missouri Update Missouri Update
Workers at St. Anthony's get another chance to vote on health-care union
<http://home.post-dispatch.com/channel/pdweb.nsf/da37732b0078d6c285256ad500494df3/86256a0e0068fe5086256b700035e55e?OpenDocument&Highlight=0,nurses>
Judith VandeWater, Saint Louis Post-Dispatch, March 2, 2002
The United Health Care Workers union is having another go at representing workers at St. Anthony's Medical Center, the area's third-largest hospital. The National Labor Relations Board will supervise a representation election at the hospital in south St. Louis County from March 13 to March 16. Four groups of workers - registered nurses; skilled technicians, including licensed practical nurses; skilled maintenance workers; and service workers - will vote as separate units. The union lost two elections at St. Anthony's in 2000. The NLRB found that the hospital had influenced the outcome of a January election that year by making management changes and giving raises before the election. It ordered a second vote; the union lost again. About 2,400 people were eligible to vote in the earlier elections. This time, the hospital gave the NLRB a list of more than 3,110 workers it considers eligible to vote. Jerry Tucker, a union adviser, said the union is challenging the eligibility of many on the list. The union believes the hospital has beefed up hiring to influence the election outcome. ...
Update Nevada Update Nevada Update Nevada Update Nevada Update
Nurses leaving hospitals, union says
<http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/sun/2002/feb/18/513056082.html>
Emily Richmond, Las Vegas Sun, February 18, 2002
Long hours, risky patient loads and understaffing are driving Nevada's nurses from hospital jobs in record numbers, according to a new union survey being released today. "I'm very afraid for Nevada's hospitals," said Christy Sawyer, a registered nurse who helped coordinate the survey for the Service Employees International Union Local 1107. The union contacted the 1,450 registered nurses known to have left hospital jobs in the past two years, and 190 of them responded to the mailed survey, Sawyer said. Sawyer said she was particularly concerned that 45 percent of those who responded did not return to work at another hospital. Instead the nurses chose doctors' offices, surgery centers or insurance companies, the survey showed. Some have left the profession entirely, Sawyer said. ...
Nurses say shortage puts health of Nevadans at risk
<http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2002/02/19/state1433EST0059.DTL>
Associated Press, February 19, 2002
LAS VEGAS (AP) -- Nevadans are at risk because nurses are overworked and forced to care for too many patients, a group of 100 nurses told lawmakers during a town hall meeting. The nurses asked Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., and state legislators to help solve a health care problem that many of them describe as so bad they would refuse to be hospitalized in Nevada if they got sick. "God help the day I get sick in Las Vegas," licensed practical nurse Celia Copeland told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. "Take me anywhere but here." ...
Update New York Update New York Update New York Update New York
CUNY and Union Join in a Bronx Program to Train Nurses and Improve Health Care Skills
<http://www.nytimes.com/2002/02/17/education/17NURS.html?ex=1014613200&en=c3dfa7ef069473cc&ei=5001&partner=YAHOO>
Steven Greenhouse, The New York Times, February 17, 2002
In an unusual partnership, the City University of New York and 1199, the giant health care union, will soon open a new college program in the Bronx, where thousands of union members can take free courses to obtain nursing degrees or to upgrade their skills, officials said. The new program is to be held in the old Alexander's store on Fordham Road and is intended to bring college courses to a neighborhood where thousands of health care workers live and work. Officials with the City University said they hoped that the new educational center would open this summer and immediately attract 1,500 students. They say the center could accommodate 8,000 a semester. Among the program's goals are to reduce the city's nursing shortage and to provide nursing degrees to many Hispanic workers. ...
Coming clean: NY hospital to restate financial results
<http://www.modernhealthcare.com/currentissue/topten.php3?refid=8403&db=mh99up&published=20020218>
Mary Chris Jaklevic, Modern Healthcare, February 18, 2002
Rating agencies said they're monitoring the finances of a New York hospital that took the unusual step last week of disclosing to bondholders that it misstated past financial results. The 332-bed Nyack (NY) Hospital said its net assets were overstated by $10.5 million to $12.8 million in its financial report for 1999, and by $10.9 million to $12.5 million for 2000. It said its accounting firm, KPMG, failed to catch the errors. The hospital said it is no longer working with the Big Five accounting firm. ...
Update New Zealand Update New Zealand Update New Zealand Update New
Whakatane Hospital Senior Doctors Pleased With Mediation
<http://www.asms.org.nz/media/Media%2002/media02-8.html>
Association of Salaried Medical Specialists, February 25, 2002
"Senior doctors at Whakatane Hospital are pleased with the mediation of their dispute with the Bay of Plenty District Health Board over onerous working conditions," said Mr Ian Powell, Executive Director of the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists, today. The mediation was held in Whakatane on Friday 22 February with an agreed proposal achieved for both parties to take back for ratification. Ratification should be completed within a fortnight. "The proposed agreement goes a long way to addressing the concerns raised by senior doctors over having to work on high frequency rosters with limited staff support." ...
Update Norway Update Norway Update Norway Update Norway Update
Cabinet minister calls for meeting on nursing strike
<http://www.aftenposten.no/english/local/article.jhtml?articleID=285679>
Aftenposten, March 1, 2002
Erna Solberg, Norway's minister for local government and labour, may try to break a deadlock in a nursing strike that's rammed the country's hospitals for weeks. She called both sides in for a meeting on Friday. Solberg called in officials for both the nursing union (Norsk Sykepleierforbund) and the employers' group NAVO, which represents state-owned hospitals. The meeting was set for 1pm in Solberg's office. ...
State won't order nurses back to work
<http://www.aftenposten.no/english/local/article.jhtml?articleID=285808>
Aftenposten, March 1, 2002
Norway's striking nurses won a victory of sorts on Friday. The cabinet minister in charge of local government and labour said she sees no need to use force to break a deadlock between the nurses and the state employers group representing the country's public hospitals. Minister Erna Solberg called both sides in for a meeting Friday afternoon, but said she won't use her power to order compulsory arbitration. State health officials have determined the nurses' strike, which affects only outpatient services, doesn't threaten life or health in Norway. ...
Update Nursing Home Crisis Update Nursing Home Crisis Update Nursing
Nursing home neglect
<http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/062/oped/Nursing_home_neglect+.shtml>
0, Boston Globe, March 3, 2002
It is not surprising that a study commissioned by the federal government shows that nine out of 10 nursing homes are understaffed. These essential institutions rarely get the attention they deserve from families until a prospective patient is elderly, infirm, and not in a condition to shop for adequate care. Younger people need to demand better staff ratios and reimbursement rates if conditions are to improve for their parents and, eventually, themselves. The report, ordered by Congress, recommends a standard of 4.1 hours of care on average for each resident a day - 2.8 hours from nurse's aides and 1.3 hours from registered nurses. Those staffing levels translate to one nurse's aide for every five or six residents from 7 am to 11 pm. Many nursing homes make do with one aide for every eight to 14 residents. ...
Pressure mounts to cut Medicaid
<http://www2.bostonherald.com/news/local_regional/ap_medi03032002.htm>
Associated Press, March 3, 2002
BOSTON - Facing a tough economic climate, Beacon Hill lawmakers are examining the state's insurance program for the poor and disabled, which now swallows up one-fourth of state spending. Leaders hope to avoid major cuts to the state's Medicaid program, known as MassHealth, but say cutbacks may be inevitable for the program, which now insures about one in six state residents. ³By making a few small decisions, we've allowed Medicaid to expand and expand and expand,² state Representative Harriett L. Stanley, House chairwoman of the Legislature's Health Care Committee (sic), told a Boston newspaper. ³We didn't know how much they'd cost.² The program has added 300,000 Massachusetts residents in the last four years, and now covers nearly 1 million poor, elderly, and disabled residents. It is expected to grow by more than 10 percent next year. ...
Update Pennsylvania Update Pennsylvania Update Pennsylvania
Confronting shortages, hospitals and health-care providers
pay for tuition and guarantee jobs to woo and retain staff
If you've ever considered a career in health care, there may never be a better time than now. Hospitals large and small are offering tuition breaks and other financial incentives to attract students into nursing and other in-demand careers. Free tuition and the guarantee of a job after graduation sold Deon Eaton of the North Side on enrolling in a two-year registered nursing school at Ohio Valley General Hospital in Kennedy. ...
Update Political Actions Update Political Actions Update Political Actions
A valiant first step
<http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/050/metro/A_valiant_first_step+.shtml>
Brian McGrory, Globe Staff, February 19, 2002
You never forget that first time you walk into a den of political fat cats. For me, it was five years ago, Palm Beach, on one of those February days when a warm breeze rustled the tropical flowers and the blue Atlantic lapped gently against the Florida shore. Inside The Breakers hotel, tuxedoed waiters whisked plates of veal and shrimp through an opulent dining room as business executives from across the nation whispered into the receptive ears of the country's most powerful Republican leaders. ...
State's high court rules candidates should get Clean Elections funds
<http://www.boston.com/dailynews/056/region/State_s_high_court_rules_candi:.shtml>
Leslie Miller, Associated Press, February 25, 2002
BOSTON (AP) The Supreme Judicial Court has ruled that Clean Elections candidates are entitled to get public funding from the executive branch of government, bypassing a balky Legislature and handing advocates of the law a hard-won victory. The high court ruled that gubernatorial candidate Warren Tolman, who had sued for funding, is entitled to receive public funds under the Clean Elections law, and clarified that he should apply to a single justice for damages from the executive branch. Future Clean Elections candidates can apply individually to a single justice for distribution of their funds, the court ruled 5-2 on Monday. ...
Tolman gets state funding
<http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/059/metro/Tolman_gets_state_funding+.shtml>
Associated Press, February 28, 2002
State officials cut a $582,000 check yesterday for gubernatorial candidate Warren Tolman in the first concrete step to implementing the state's campaign finance reform law. Tolman will be able to pick up the check today, said Diane Ledwell, the state's deputy comptroller. The check will be the first payment to a candidate after more than three years of legislative and public wrangling. Massachusetts voters approved the law by referendum in 1998. ...
Clean Elections offers a big lift to Green Party
<http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/062/nation/Clean_Elections_offers_a_big_lift_to_Green_Party+.shtml>
Yvonne Abraham, Boston Globe, March 3, 2002
Jill Stein wants to be your Green governor. She is pushing a platform of universal health care, solar panels and windmills, better waste recycling, and an end to subsidies for corporations and environmentally unfriendly developers. In any other year, Stein would be just another third-party candidate, barely able to put a dent in the public consciousness. A complete unknown, she spoke at Northeastern University last week and drew only 12 people. But this isn't just any year. Since a recent Supreme Judicial Court decision, Stein could qualify to run under the Clean Elections system, which promises her candidacy a new legitimacy - and, more importantly, as much as $2.3 million in taxpayer money for her campaign. ...
Update United Kingdom Update United Kingdom Update United
Nursing Shortages Will Jeopardise NHS Modernisation Unless Government Delivers on Spending Review, Says RCN
In a new report supporting their submission, the RCN reveals that although progress in bringing new nurses into the NHS is welcome, retention of staff has become the critical issue facing the NHS. An ageing nursing workforce means almost a quarter of registered nurses (24%) will be eligible to retire in the next five years. The RCN also warns that despite more nurses entering the profession, nursing shortages continue. It shows that demand for nurses in the NHS is projected to rise, yet the number of registered nurses is diminishing. ...
Remove the link between wealth and health
Poverty is bad for your health. If you have little income, you are more likely to suffer from poor health throughout your life and die younger than if you are rich. Inequalities in health continue to blight people's lives, despite increased prosperity and reductions in mortality over the last 50 years: the gap in health between those at the top and bottom of the social scale has widened, particularly between the mid-Seventies and mid-Nineties. A boy born to a low income family in Manchester can, on average, expect to live nine years less than a classmate born in a professional family. ...
Why the nurse is treated worse
Decades of equal pay battles have left women earning only an average of 82 per cent of men's earnings. The Government and other parts of the establishment regularly wring their hands over this unfairness, which is caused partly by discrimination within jobs but much more by the fact that women tend to do work that is lower-paid anyway. In the public sector at least, the Government could try to redress the balance, but the subject is rarely discussed in these terms. However you choose to look at it, female occupations are less well paid than male ones. ...