Massachusetts voters are souring on a ballot measure that would limit the numbers of patients assigned to nurses, according to a WBUR poll (topline results, crosstabs) out Wednesday that shows 58 percent of voters now plan to say "no" on Question 1. Earlier polls showed the "yes" camp leading or tied with the "no" side.
Federal labor board officials have found evidence that Johns Hopkins Hospital officials tried to deter nurses from forming a union. The National Labor Relations Board said it will issue a formal complaint against the hospital if officials don’t agree to settle the complaint.
As a registered nurse for 16 years, Beth Carroll has worked in several health care facilities in Delaware and Maryland. Across the board, she and her colleagues face the same burdens — extreme exhaustion and missed time with family because of working so much overtime.
Maine’s current and projected shortage of registered nurses remains real despite some success among the state’s nursing programs in recent years to boost their numbers of graduates. The state recorded 801 nursing graduates from its public and private nursing programs in 2017, up from 659 in 2015, 701 in 2013 and 563 in 2011.
Although South Carolina is expected to increase its workforce in nursing more than any other state, the projected growth will not be enough to keep up with demand for nurses, according to a recent report published by registerednursing.org. The organization is using statistics collected from the Bureau of Health Workforce to make these predictions.
The nurse has already reached the four-patient ratio limit. Out of nowhere, eight patients are rushed in from a serious car crash -- a few with life-threatening injuries. If the nurse lends a hand with one of the desperate patients, the hospital would be breaking the ratio law and could be punished with a $25,000 fine. That's the potential scenario laid out by Lowell General Hospital nurses, who spoke to The Sun editorial board about Question 1 last week.