After eight long years and three presidential elections, we have finally managed to elect a President without hanging chads, and election tampering issues abounding from every corner!! We don’t have to wait for a recount and the results were clear with a wide margin. There were still issues at many polling places, but thankfully, far and above, the issues revolved more around record turnout and long lines than with irregularities. No matter who your candidate was, the election was for a change fair and clearly evident. This was best accomplished by the huge turnout of voters who wanted to be sure their voice was heard. Americans voted and their voices…
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VOTE VOTE VOTE!
I for one am ready for this election to be over! It has been the longest campaign, and of course has turned into one of the dirtiest ever! But then there is an awful lot at stake this time. The economy has never been as bad as it is now, and health care in this country has never been at such a low. As nurses we are part of one of the largest industries in this nation and we have a HUGE voice. There are almost 3 million of of us and we can influence this election and the way this country addresses health care and the nursing shortage. We…
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News for Nurses
A couple of items worth bringing to your attention: Behavior Affects Patient SafetyJCAHO recently issued a Sentinel Alert calling for all JCAHO accredited institutions to take note of findings hat patient safety is being undermined by inappropriate and unprofessional behavior exhibited by health care professionals. Nurses, physicians, pharmacists, therapists and support staff who demonstrate intimidating and disruptive behavior toward other health care professionals, patients and others will need to be dealt with if facilities wish to comply with JCAHO standards as of January 1, 2009. For far too long, inappropriate behavior has been ignored, unreported and never addressed for fear of reprisal or being labeled as a “whistle blower.” Research…
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Are You Registered Voter???
I learned something very disturbing today at Healthcare United. Did you know that one in four health care workers is NOT registered to vote?! There are over 10 million health care workers in the U.S. Twenty five percent of them are not registered to vote. That’s 2.5 million potential votes!!! The shortage of nurses and physicians is not going to be fully addressed until we elect a President and a Congress that understands the health care crisis and is willing to DO something to fix it. Ten million health care workers united towards a goal of providing the very best health care possible is a force to be reckoned with,…
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Safe Staffing Poll Results
The American Nurses Association (ANA) has compiled the results form it’s Safe Staffing Saves Lives survey. The results are unfortunately not surprising ad nurses are encouraged to continue to contact their legislators to support the Registered Nurse Safe Staffing Act of 2007. Over 10,000 nurses took part in the Safe Staffing survey. Here are just a few of the results: 73% of responders report that they believe that staffing is not sufficient on their shift or in their unit. 59.8% say they know someone who has left nursing because of fears about safe staffing. 48.2% said they would not be confidnet about having a loved one care for at their…