New York Times Op Ed Trumpets Need for Safe Patient Limits for Nurses
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/19/opinion/19brown.html?ref=globalNEW YORK TIMESJune 18, 2010Is There a Nurse in the House?By THERESA BROWNPittsburghPICK any of the hospital dramas that have run for decades on American TV, and chances are the heroes are the doctors, running to a patient’s bedside to save a life whenever an […]
BREAKING NEWS: RNs Blast Six Months of Inaction by State Health Dept. on Unsafe Care At University of California Davis Hospital, UC Officials Also Ignore Dangers UC RNs Head Back to Court Friday on Bid to Strike for Patient Safety
Six months after Registered Nurses filed a complaint with the Department of Public Health regarding sweeping and pervasive patient care problems at the University of California Davis Medical Center in Sacramento state officials have yet to act, the California Nurses Association/National Nurses United said today.The complaint cites case after case of substantial under staffing that has led to near misses of serious injuries: for newborn, pediatric and adult patients, in heart, burn, neurological, post-surgical and other units. Among the many examples are dangerous delays in responding to emergencies, providing medications or antibiotics, and care for patients in substantial distress.UCD’s own staffing documentation provided to DPH by CNA shows that one-third of shifts at UC Davis were staffed with fewer RNs than the law required based on how sick patients were.READ MORE
“They’re angels in disguise. Everything they’re asking for they’re absolutely entitled to.”
We thought you’d like to hear how patients in Minnesota reacted to the largest-ever strike.According to the Star Tribune, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota, (Twin Cities nurses strike stays calm, but pressure on by JOSEPHINE MARCOTTY and CHEN MAY YEE, Jun 11, 2010), the day long strike was an opportunity to show their numbers and passion for patient safety showing up to picket in the damp and wind.As for the patients, according to the newspaper, “Outside United Hospital in St. Paul, a pregnant woman wearing a patient’s robe walked from the hospital to the picket line, spoke with some of the nurses, picked up a picket sign and went back inside.”At another hospital, a woman living near North Memorial Hospital in Robbinsdale, offered her bathroom to the striking nurses. A friend of Colleen Patterson, a patient recently discharged after a reported 25-day stay.”Patterson, wearing a baseball cap to cover the surgical scar on her head, sat in the back yard of the house, hugging nurses who showed up.””I hundred percent support the nurses,” she said. “They’re angels in disguise. Everything they’re asking for they’re absolutely entitled to,” reported the Star Tribune. READ MORE
Nurse Talk Wins! THE 16th ANNUAL COMMUNICATOR AWARDS ANNOUNCES 2010 WINNERS
NURSE TALK WINS TWO SILVER COMMUNICATOR AWARDS OF DISTINCTION! Yes, Nurse Talk is now an official AWARD WINNING SHOW.Recently the 16th Annual Communicator Awards announced the 2010 winners and Nurse Talk won two SILVER AWARDS OF DISTINCTION, one for programing and one for post production editing! Hats off to our brilliant Sound design engineer June Miller of JMC Sound–and to our fabulous hosts Casey Hobbs and Dan Grady. And of course –don’t forget me the chief of most things. READ MORE!
Lone Star Rebellion- Nearly 2,000 Texas RNs – Vote to Join Nation’s Largest Nurses’ Union
Capping a historic sweep that could alter the nation’s labor and political landscape, registered nurses at Valley Regional Medical Center Thursday night voted to join the nation’s largest RN union.The vote culminates a remarkable two week streak in which more than 1,900 registered nurses in five Texas hospitals voted in secret ballot votes supervised by the National Labor Relations Board, to be represented by the National Nurses Organizing Committee-Texas, an affiliate of the 155,000-member National Nurses United. READ MORE
13,000 California RNs to Strike June 10
The California Nurses Association announced that UC Medical Centers, plus several Ca. hospitals join forces over crisis of patient safety in state’s hospitals. As many as 13,000 registered nurses from hospitals throughout California are issuing a one-day strike notice Friday morning over patient care shortcomings at their facilities. READ MORE
The math doesn’t lie: The thinner nurses are spread in hospitals, the greater number of patients who die.
Big strike vote set in Minnesota, if approved would be the largest in U.S. history. Linda Hamilton, RN in the Children’s Hospital System and president of the Minnesota Nurses Association writes, “Everybody knows a nurse. And right now, more than 12,000 of us are in the fight of our lives with six different Twin Cities hospital systems…What are we fighting for? Nurses never have been and never will be in this profession for the money. We are in the profession for one simple reason – we care about you.” READ MORE
1,000 Nurses Call on Congress to Act Now on Patient Safety
Our friends at the California Nurses Association report that “more than 1,000 registered nurses from across the country rallied in Washington DC Wednesday, raising an unprecedented, unified voice for patient safety reforms and new, national standards for patient care conditions and standards for nurses.Among the legislative solutions are S 1031/HR 2133 that would, among other components, establish minimum ratios of nurses to patients for all U.S. hospitals, modeled after a successful California law, and S 1788/HR 2381 which would also promote nurse retention and reduce patient accidents and injuries by establishing safe patient lifting and handling policies.Sen. Al Franken of Minnesota, author of S 1788, hosted a hearing on the bill Tuesday at which several nurses on hand for the week cited experiences that demonstrated the need for the bill.Speaking Wednesday to an NNU rally across from the Capitol, Franken told the RNs, “You are the ones we look to for advice, comfort, expertise and care. You are tireless advocates for the country’s well-being. You’re the ones we trust to care for our loved ones, that’s what your expertise is, and it’s simply unacceptable that you’re putting your own health on the line to care for patients.” READ MORE
Temple University Hospital Strike Ends in Success
The 28-day strike at Temple University Hospital has ended with new contract agreements that provide “some of the best working conditions and benefits in Philadelphia,” thanks to the united efforts of PASNAP, the union that represents 1500 nurses, professionals and technical employees.Read the whole story on the California Nurses Association website: “Temple Unions Ratify New Contracts, Declare Victory after Strike”