A new round of workplace violence in hospitals and clinics is lending urgency to efforts to create a first-ever federal standard for protecting nurses, social workers and others in the medical system. Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) and Rep. Joe Courtney (D-Conn.) this month introduced legislation that would require healthcare employers to write and implement a workplace violence prevention plan.
Deputies fatally shot a man inside a North Carolina hospital's emergency room Tuesday after authorities said he pointed a gun at them. Law enforcement officers arrived at Sentara Albemarle Medical Center in Elizabeth City at 1:18 a.m. in response to a call about a man who had entered the hospital's emergency room with a handgun, according to the Pasquotank County Sheriff's Office. The man had pointed his gun at several staff members, and a security guard tried to restrain him before law enforcement arrived, according to authorities. Authorities found the suspect in the emergency triage room and three of the deputies fired at him after he pointed his weapon at them, officials said. The man received medical treatment but was later pronounced dead at the scene.
Around 100 nurses, community members and labor allies rallied Tuesday at Brittingham Park to address safety concerns within the nurses’ contracts at Meriter Hospital, emphasizing that nurses are prepared to strike if their demands continue to go unmet.
Meriter nurses have been working without a contract since March 23. They began negotiating their contract in January with Meriter management to improve safety for nurses and patients, according to Pat Raes, president of Service Employees International Union Wisconsin and a registered nurse at Meriter.
Nurse practitioners met in Lansing Wednesday to discuss improving their industry.
At the annual Michigan Council of Nurse Practitioners (MICNP) Legislative Advocacy Day, nurse practitioners discussed health care worker shortages, full practice authority, continuing education and other points of concern with law makers to advocate for the future of the profession, according to MICNP officials.
Five nurses working in the same unit at a Boston-area hospital have been diagnosed with non-cancerous brain tumors, prompting them and their labor union to search for answers while the medical facility contends it has ruled out an environmental risk for workers there.
According to a statement that Mass General Brigham’s Newton-Wellesley hospital provided to NBC10 Boston, the five nurses either work or have previously worked in the facility’s fifth-floor maternity unit.
The hospital said it interviewed 11 staff members who have worked at some point on that floor as part of an investigation into the nurses and the tumors. Of them, five were diagnosed with brain tumors, all of which were benign growths, while the other six were found to have other health concerns.
A patient was injured in a small fire at UPMC Hanover Monday night. According to a spokesperson from UPMC Hanover, a small fire occurred in a patient room at the hospital last night. The staff responded by extinguishing the fire and moving nearby patients to other units away from the blaze.