For the second time in nearly three months, nurses at Barton Health have provided notice that they intend to go on strike — the latest sign that the two sides remain at an impasse more than a year after negotiations started. Nurses represented by the California Nurses Association informed Barton they intend to strike on Friday, May 24.
Nurses in contract talks with Twin Cities hospitals are asking for protections from being hit, spit on, shoved and yanked by confused or agitated patients. While pay and other benefits are key issues, negotiators for the Minnesota Nurses Association said that workplace safety has emerged as a priority because nurses are fed up with the risk of violent injuries and want their labor contracts to hold hospitals accountable for their safety.
A Maine bill designed to guarantee the right to practice alternative medicine has been changed after a nurses’ group raised concerns it could create a class of unlicensed health care workers with broad practice rights. The proposal is called the Right To Practice Complementary and Alternative Health Care Act, and it could come up for a vote before the Maine House by late May.
It’s been nearly a decade since the Institute of Medicine recognized the vital role nurses play in patient care — and issued words of warning that sparked a national movement to strengthen America’s most-trusted profession. I was Chief Nursing Officer at Sarasota Memorial Hospital when the institute released its 2010 landmark report, “The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health.”
Hundreds of registered nurses with the California Nurses Association (CNA) gathered in Sacramento on Tuesday, May 7 to meet with state legislators to urge the passage of a number of signature bills that protect the health and well-being of registered nurses, their patients and the public.
Recently, Washington State Sen. Maureen Walsh received nationwide backlash for saying nurses in smaller hospitals “probably play cards for a considerable amount of the day” during their shifts. This comment came during a debate on proposed legislation that would provide nurses uninterrupted meals and breaks at work and protect them from mandatory overtime. She apologized after receiving national outrage, during which she received 1,700 decks of playing cards.