A nurses union reported over the weekend that its 18,000 members in Central and Northern California have reached a tentative contract with Kaiser Permanente and its hospitals and clinics, a settlement that also will affect Southern California Kaiser nurses, a union representative said. The California Nurses Association said the new contract would give a 14 percent pay increase over three years for nurses in the northern part of the state. Kaiser nurses in Southern California expect similar treatment and have filed for certification to be represented by the same union, union spokeswoman Debra Grabelle said Saturday.
A much-anticipated state study on the number of nurses required to provide safe, effective patient care in Minnesota hospitals fell short of its goals after hospitals failed to provide the data to answer key staffing questions. The lack of hospital participation drew fire Monday from the state's nurses union, which hoped the study would fortify its negotiating position on the need for lower patient-to-nurse staffing ratios. "Are they just unwilling to cooperate with a study they themselves agreed to with our lawmakers?" said Linda Hamilton, president of the Minnesota Nurses Association. A spokeswoman for the Minnesota Hospital Association said its members cooperated with the study, but simply lacked the detailed data that researchers sought.
Nurse Family Partnership works like this: It pairs a low-income, first-time mother with a trained nurse, who counsel her throughout the pregnancy and until her child's second birthday. The nurses visit the mothers frequently in their homes and offer guidance on everything from nutrition during pregnancy to breastfeeding to caring for a newborn and child development. In many instances, the nurses also play the role of social worker to help the mothers apply for government assistance, if they qualify; navigate tricky family dynamics; or escape abusive relationships. And they mentor young mothers as well, encouraging them to finish their educations, apply for better-paying jobs, and set themselves on a path to financial stability, so they can support their families.
Teach someone to fish, the saying goes, and they'll eat for a lifetime. Teach a nurse to become more involved in helping people heal, and patients could enjoy a longer life. That's the philosophy behind training nurses to mentor other nurses, says Sheila Davis, chief nursing officer and chief of Ebola response for Partners in Health, the worldwide nonprofit organization. PIH introduced nurse mentorship programs in Rwanda in 2010 and Haiti in 2012 — and plans to expand to Ebola-stricken Liberia and Sierra Leone. We spoke to Davis about how raising nurses' expertise has very real benefits for patients.
Some of the largest health care systems in America do not have any nurses serving on their boards of directors. That is a huge oversight, especially in a time of rapid change in health care delivery, when consumers and providers would benefit from having nurses' frontline perspective present in boardrooms as healthcare policy decisions are made. Last month, nurse leaders from 21 national nursing and other health-related organizations came together to change that. The nursing leaders launched the national Nurses on Boards Coalition, which has a goal to put 10,000 nurses on boards of corporate and nonprofit health care organizations by 2020.
D.C.'s Medstar Washington Hospital is open and operating normally Monday despite a strike by dozens of its nurses. The strike began at 7 a.m. Monday and is expected to last 24 hours. "The strike, while unfortunate, has not affected our ability to care for patients," says a statement from MedStar Washington Hospital. The nurses claim the hospital hasn't treated them fairly and doesn't put enough nurses on the schedule. Also, the nurses say hospital executives refuse to fairly address matters of health, safety and equity for patients and nurses.