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Hunting from a recliner? No, it’s not Sarah Palin but it’s a great story. Tune in as Casey and Dan talk about this and much more.Joining us is Minnesota RN Jean Ross. Jean is one of three co-presidents for National Nurses United and has been an RN for over 30 years. Checking in about national issues from single payer healthcare to the proposed Medicaid and Social Security cuts. With over 160k members National Nurses United is a powerful political force on the national political scene.

And later…we host an incredible woman, Dr. Yvonne S. Thornton, author of the best selling book, The Ditchdigger’s Daughters. Dr. Thornton has just finished her second book, Something to Prove, A daughter’s legacy to fulfill a father’s legacy. When she was a little girl her father had a dream that all five of his daughters would be doctors. He knew that would not happen if they stayed in the housing projects so he moved the family to a different state and the rest of the story you won’t believe! Oh, how about five doctors in the family? Try four and one nurse. This is a story that you will hear and be clear that anything is possible! Read more…

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Guest: Jean Ross

Joining us is Minnesota RN Jean Ross. Jean is one of three co-presidents for National Nurses United and has been an RN for over 30 years. Checking in about national issues from single payer health care to the proposed Medicaid and Social Security cuts. With over 160k members National Nurses United is a powerful political force on the national political scene. Read more…

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Guest: Mary Michelucci

This show was originally broadcast August 29, 2010 but it was so good, we’re going to play it again. Casey and Dan visit with Mary Michelucci, an RN from San Francisco’s St. Luke’s Hospital. The hospital has been under fire for discriminatory hiring practices. This is yet another issue that has plagued the hospital since Sutter Health took it over. Read more…

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This show was originally broadcast August 29, 2010 but it was so good, we’re going to play it again. Dan’s back from Disneyland and updates us on the new and improved “It’s a Small World” ride. Anyone who has ever been to Disneyland knows just how annoying this ride was. Get ready—Danny boy says it’s even worse now—but hey, don’t tell your kids.Casey and Dan visit with an RN from San Francisco’s St. Luke’s Hospital. The hospital has been under fire for discriminatory hiring practices. This is yet another issue that has plagued the hospital since Sutter Health took it over.

Later in the show we visit with RN consultant and inspirational speaker Terri Tate. Terri introduces a very sensitive topic known as “lateral violence,” or nurse-on-nurse violence. Its a very sensitive topic and this is an interesting and important conversation you won’t want to miss. Join us!

Happy Holidays to you and yours…Remember you can listen in the Boston area on station WWZN 1510AM every Saturday at 11 am EST or live stream at www.revolutionboston.com and in the San Francisco Bay area Sundays at 2PM PST on Green 960AM or live stream at www.green960.com.

You can also download and listen anytime at NurseTalkSite.com and TheRadioFactory.com or on iTunes. Read more…

Here’s a good link to have handy in the day of  the corporation as boss: Can My Boss Do That? is a worker’s rights and workplace information web site seeking “to have all work honor justice and respect the laborer and employer.”  We hope you won’t need it, but if you do, its a nice thing to have in your tool belt.The site warns, “Caution! Work computers can track internet usage, including visiting and emailing this site.”So, check out this site’s featured content on the lowdown:Unemployment InsuranceFind out the rules on collecting unemployment benefits [read more]LayoffsYour rights during layoffs, including plant closings [read more]Leaving a jobProtect your rights by doing these things [read more]Last paycheckWhat to do if your boss won’t give your final pay [read more]Looking for work?Don’t get scammed [read more] Read more…

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Guest: Karen Higgins

Casey and Dan have a great conversation with our friend RN Karen Higgins about the recommendations that came from the President’s Debt Reduction Panel. What Karen has to say is shocking, at the very least, and should make all of us stand up and take note. We are NOT in the business of spreading fear but we do want to shine the light on the continued assaults on the working class in our country. If you are a nurse—can you imagine working in the ICU or any other department in a hospital when you are 69 or 70? Think of what it takes to get through your shift now—when you are still physically strong—add a few years and who’s lifting who? Read more…

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“Oh my there is so much happening in the news these days Dan,” says Casey. Dan responds with “lets see if we can RAP IT ALL UP Casey.” Well, you have to check it out..they do indeed RAP IT UP.

Obamacare, don’t you dare,touch my junk, its not fair,pat downs, radiation,don’t ask…don’t tell,debt panels, medicare,social security go to hell,unemployment, that’s OKbut don’t take my tax cuts away,people, people where does it go?the republicans got it…JUST SAY NO!

But, on to the real stuff. Casey and Dan have a great conversation with our friend RN Karen Higgins about the recommendations that came from the President’s Debt Reduction Panel. What Karen has to say is shocking, at the very least, and should make all of us stand up and take note. We are NOT in the business of spreading fear but we do want to shine the light on the continued assaults on the working class in our country. If you are a nurse—can you imagine working in the ICU or any other department in a hospital when you are 69 or 70? Think of what it takes to get through your shift now—when you are still physically strong—add a few years and who’s lifting who? Read more…

Here’s what Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz has to say about single payer, in an interview published in The Times of India:

Why have you been pitching for a single payer system for health insurance rather than a system where several private companies compete?The US model of private health insurers has been proven inefficient and expensive. Insurance companies have a very strong incentive to do cream skimming. They make more money figuring out the high cost and low cost people. Rather than provide better healthcare at lower costs, insurance companies innovate at finding better ways of discrimination. They are inefficient because they are trying to figure out how to insure people who don’t need the cover and keep out people who need it. With many companies, they also need to spend on marketing and advertising. The incentives are all wrong and the transaction costs are very high and you have to give them a high profit. In health, social and private incentives are totally disparate. Competition does not work in healthcare especially in the health insurance market. Several countries like the UK, France and Sweden have a single payer system, differing only in the organisation of healthcare delivery. People in these countries have done much better than the US.

Read more…

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Guest: Mary McGibbon

On Nurse Talk this week an encore of Casey’s visit with Minnesota RN Mary McGibbon talking about Minnesota’s nurses strike, the largest strike of its kind in U.S. history. It was all about the ability to treat all patients with safety and good care as the number one priority. Read more…

Following the adjournment of the President’s Deficit Commission, National Nurses United, the nation’s largest professional nurses’ union, called on Congress to fully scrap the deeply flawed recommendations of the panel’s co-chairs, and move forward with the urgent actions that will protect America’s nurses and working families.Such a plan would start with a new economic program to put people back to work, a point made more pressing by today’s latest disastrous employment numbers, extending benefits for the unemployed which puts immediate money into the economy, and genuinely cutting healthcare costs, by expanding Medicare to cover all Americans.“We need a plan for everyone, not just Wall Street, the banks, and their champions in Washington who seem to dominate the political debate,” said Deborah Burger, RN, co-chair of the 160,000-member NNU. “Congress and the White House should stop focusing on the agenda of Wall Street and financiers which mischaracterizes causes of the deficit – the Bush tax cuts, the endless wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the downturn in the economy – and advance the programs Americans need, such as stimulus spending.”“Nurses know that the ongoing explosion in healthcare costs is also a major source of the federal deficit, and the insecurity faced by millions of American families and patients,” said Burger. Read more…