Licensed practical nurses at the University of Illinois Hospital and Clinics walked off the job Thursday, striking after nearly a year of unsuccessful contract negotiations. The 35 nurses say they’re fighting for job protections and fair wages, among other things. In all, the health system has more than 1,000 nurses, including registered nurses, who are not part of the group that is striking.
The union representing nurses at Indiana Regional Medical Center has called a one-day strike of its members on Monday, Nov. 26, union leaders said today. The strike notice abides by a federal labor law requiring 10-day advance notice of strikes against health care employers, and follows what union leaders called “little progress” in more than a dozen negotiating sessions with IRMC.
Eight nurse practitioners who worked at the embattled 25 Again hormone clinic have been accused of violating prescription laws for controlled substances as well as guidelines adopted by professional groups for hormones. The Kentucky Board of Nursing staff issued complaints alleging the eight repeatedly prescribed hormones in excess of a 30-day supply limit in violation of the laws governing controlled substances.
The National Labor Relations Board has found further evidence Johns Hopkins officials are restricting the rights of nurses trying to unionize. This is the third time the labor board has found merit to such allegations since the National Nurses Organizing Committee filed a complaint in June, after the unionization effort began.
Nurses are often called the backbone of the medical system. Doctors and hospital administrators regularly praise their role in providing care to patients and juggling a wide range of responsibilities. The Bureau of Labor Statistics lists nursing as the biggest growing job over the next six years, but right now nurses seem to be in short supply.
A Paradise nurse narrowly escaped the Camp Fire with her life as she worked to help evacuate the town hospital last week. “It just came through so quickly,” said Karen Davis. Davis was working as a nurse at the Feather River Hospital when the unimaginable happened. “We got a code saying, ‘get your patients out,'” she said. The hospital was sitting in the direct path of the fast-moving wildfire. “I think there were 67 patients that we put in ambulances, private cars, and police cars,” she said.