Proponents and opponents of a bill limiting the number of patients per nurse seem to agree on only two things: The quality of patient care in Illinois is a concern, and the nursing shortage is real. Beyond that is much disagreement on a legislative push to put Illinois alone with California as the only states to set nurse-patient limits.
It can be difficult to talk about substance abuse among nurses. Many people seem to see nurses as angelic caregivers who would never compromise their morals. Others think about easy access to medication - and an increasingly drug addicted society - and imagine lots of nurses must be addicts.
Describing 12-hour shifts with no break for a meal or even a trip to the bathroom, hospital nurses who say they’re overloaded with patients are pushing for a new state law that would limit the number of people they care for at the same time. Nurses groups say the proposed mandate to set a maximum number of patients per nurse — between one and four, depending on the type of unit — would improve both working conditions for nurses and also patient safety.
A group of Northampton County nursing home employees are considering hitting the picket line after contract negotiations failed this week. Dozens of union nurses and employees at Gracedale Nursing Home in Nazareth are fighting for higher wages and for more nurses on staff.
Two current students, and a former one, say they faced bias. The accusations come only two months after controversy over treatment of Asian students in another program.
A strike by city nurses that was set to occur next month may have been averted, according to union officials. Upward of 10,000 nurses from Montefiore Medical Center, NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital and Mount Sinai Hospital systems were expected to go on strike on April 2 over contract negotiations.