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California Bill Would Let Patients See Out-Of-Network Providers

Health insurance plans have networks of doctors and hospitals that policyholders must use. If a patient wants to see an out-of-network provider, they face higher out-of-pocket costs. But a pending bill in the California Senate would require insurers to offer timely access to care. If that wasn’t possible, patients could see a non-network provider without having to pay more.

Kenny Goldberg, KPBS
June 7, 2014

Survey: RN staffing critical

One in four Bay State nurses says that patient deaths are “directly attributable” to having too many people in their care at one time, according to a new survey. The survey, commissioned by the Massachusetts Nurses Association/National Nurses United, also found 46 percent of nurses said understaffing has resulted in injury to patients, 51 percent said it has led to longer hospital stays, and 57 percent said it has led to medication errors. Research firm Anderson Robbins did the survey of randomly selected nurses.

Marie Szaniszlo, The Boston Herald
June 5, 2014

Union Nurses Say "Lift Up El Paso" NNOC-TEXAS/NNU

The “Lift Up El Paso” Alliance is organizing to improve the lives of workers in El Paso and is planning an action for later in July.

National Nurses Organizing Committee - Texas/National Nurses Union
June 4, 2014

Nearly 1 in 4 MA Registered Nurses Report Patient Deaths Attributable to Unsafe Patient Assignments.

78% of RNs agree that the quality of patient care in Massachusetts hospitals is suffering due to unsafe patient assignments including 59% of RNs who are aware of patient complications and 46% who are aware of patients who have been injured or harmed because hospitals are forcing nurses to care for too many patients at one time. Outraged Legislators Claim the Results Sound the Alarm for Immediate Action on Pending Legislation to Ensure Safe Patient Limits for Safer Patient Care

David Schildmeier, Massachusetts Nurses Association
June 4, 2014

Pinoy nurses fight closure of Daly City critical care unit

Nurses and other hospital workers of the Seton Medical Center staged a vigil last week to protest the proposed closure of the emergency care services and critical care unit. “These nurses behind me, we are all nurses, and we want to keep the hospital open and to be of service to the community. There are a lot of senior citizens in the area especially Filipino people. This is 90 percent Filipino community so they should advocate that Seton will be an acute hospital," said Tessie Cachola, a run staff nurse at Seton for 30 years said. The Daughters of Charity Health System, which owns Seton, reportedly can longer afford to fund the services.

Rommel Conclara, ABS-CBN North America News Bureau
June 2, 2014

Nurses union targets EHRs, other tech in campaign

National Nurses United has launched a media campaign criticizing the effects of what it called “digitalized care.” The mutlipronged campaign specifically criticizes electronic health records and bedside computers, saying they “too often fail” and lead to diagnoses and treatments based on “generic population trends” instead of individualized assessments.

Bob Herman, Modern Healthcare
May 30, 2014

Computerized Diagnostics in Healthcare Potentially Hazardous to Our Health

National Nurses United has been running ads on TV and radio lately about the obvious dangers of a troubling trend in our increasingly corporatized, for-profit healthcare system (consisting of the large hospital chains and health insurance cartels), replacing nurses and doctors with computerized diagnostics and protocols, which must be rigidly followed.

necocopiosus
May 30, 2014

Nurses ask for public's help keeping San Pablo hospital open

The California Nurses Association is calling on Contra Costa County residents to demand county leaders save Doctor's Medical Center in San Pablo from certain closure. The hospital is set to close in July after years of financial struggles and the failure of West Contra Costa County voters to pass a parcel tax that might have kept the facility open.

By Noelle Walker, KTVU.com
May 30, 2014

Algorithmic MDs Will Ruin Healthcare, Nurses Say

In a bid to make healthcare cheaper and faster, hospitals are turning to algorithmic systems for diagnosing patients. But the national nurses' union says that robots-meet-super-WebMD are no replacement for a real doctor.

Jordan Pearson, motherboard.vice.com
May 29, 2014

County hospital workers rip Preckwinkle's proposed pension fix

Several dozen unionized Stroger Hospital employees descended on a Cook County board meeting Wednesday, expressing their displeasure with President Toni Preckwinkle’s pension-reform plan, which is expected to surface soon in Springfield. As county hospital workers waited their turn to address the board, the echoes of an overflow crowd could be heard chanting “save our pensions” from a hallway outside the boardroom. But by the time they were allowed to take the podium, Preckwinkle had ducked out of the meeting to attend a separate event. She later returned after the hospital workers were gone.

Chicago Sun-Times.com
May 27, 2014