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Tuesday, July 31, 2001: Hawaii, Manoa: On-line, television nursing courses planned:"The University of Hawai'i-Manoa has begun recruiting students for nursing courses that will be taught electronically at Kaua'i Community College beginning next year. Students in the "distance education" nursing program will study for a bachelor of science degree via UH's HITS (Hawai'i Interactive Television System) and the Internet."
http://www.kauaiworld.com/display/inn_news/news03.txt

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Tuesday, July 31, 2001: Minnesota, Duluth: St. Mary's nurses approve contract. Vote nets plan that boosts wages 19 percent but leaves pension untouched:"Nurses at St. Mary's Medical Center voted in record numbers Monday to accept a three-year contract that boosts wages by 19 percent -- but lacks a sought-after guarantee for stable work schedules."
http://web.duluthnews.com/content/duluth/2001/07/31/local/du_NURS0731.htm

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July 31, 2001: Vermont, Montepelier: State wants minimum staffing at nursing homes to ensure care:"The state is proposing that nursing homes have a minimum number of staff per patient, in response to concerns that patients' health and safety are being threatened by staff shortages at some facilities. If enacted, the proposal will require that each patient of a nursing home in Vermont receive a minimum of three hours of direct care a day."
http://rutlandherald.nybor.com/News/State/Story/30891.html

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July 30, 2001: Congressional probe finds rise in nursing home abuses:"Elderly people were abused in nearly a third of the nursing homes in the United States over the past two years, many suffering serious injuries such as hip fractures, congressional investigators said Monday. Some 5,283 nursing homes were cited for abuse violations, according to a review of state inspection records requested by Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif. These homes were cited for nearly 9,000 abuse violations from January 1999 to January 2001. "We found examples of residents being punched, choked or kicked by staff members or other residents," Waxman said."
http://24hour.modbee.com/24hour/nation/story/643467p-688789c.html

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Monday, July 30, 2001: Tennessee, Chatanooga: Some look to Congress to cure nurse shortage:For anyone who has ever hit the call button in a hospital room and wondered how long it would take for help to come, the national shortage of nurses should be a concern. "There's no one that is not affected by it," said Dyerenda Johnson, Memorial Hospital's nurse recruiter. "Everyone at some point in time will be hospitalized or have a loved one hospitalized."
http://www.timesfreepress.com/2001/jul/30jul01/webnursingshortage.html

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July 30, 2001: Nurses Get Bionic "Power Suit":"Researchers in Japan have developed a robotic exoskeleton for nurses that will allow them to lift patients without effort and without risking injuring themselves. "Back injuries are a huge problem for us," says a spokeswoman for the Royal College of Nursing in London. Britain's National Health Service reports that up to 3600 nurses must take time off work because of back problems each year. To try to fix this global problem, Keijiro Yamamoto and his team at the Kanagawa Institute of Technology in Japan have come up with a prototype "power suit" with a jointed metal framework that straps on to the wearer's limbs. Although the prototype is distinctly unlovely - it trails an unwieldy thicket of cables and compressed-air lines - Yamamoto says he's beginning to refine his design."
http://www.cosmiverse.com/science07300102.html

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July 30, 2001: Canada, British Columbia, Vancouver: Tally of B.C. nurses threatening resignation reaches 5,000 mark:"More than 5,000 B.C. nurses have now signed resignation letters, which union representatives say they may submit if the provincial government legislates a settlement to their ongoing labour dispute. The letters are brief, simply stating that the signer is quitting his or her job, effective 28 days after the letter is received. Nurses in the northern community of Prince George started the letter-campaign and submitted 200 letters to union officials last week."
http://www.nationalpost.com/scripts/printer/printer.asp?f=/news/updates/stories/20010729/national-605023.html

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Monday, July 30, 2001: England, Insulin overdose inquest opens, Hospital says insulin overdose not to blame for death:An inquest is opening into the death of a former nurse who was wrongly given an insulin overdose while recovering from a liver transplant. Diabetic Teresita Cruz, 55, died in March at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham. The University Hospital NHS Trust said the overdose did not cause her death. Ms Cruz, from Leicester, had developed liver disease and diabetes in December last year
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/health/newsid_1465000/1465110.stm

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Monday, 30 July, 2001: England: Union to 'rescue' Filipino nurses. Many Filipino nurses work in NHS hospitals:"A health union plans to remove a group of Filipino nurses who it says are being exploited in a private care home in London. The move follows two interventions by Unison in the past month to move 40 Filipino nurses from private care homes in Hertfordshire and Bristol to NHS hospitals. Nurses were being treated as cheap labour in the cases where the union had intervened, Unison's Michael Walker said.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/health/newsid_1465000/1465364.stm

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Sunday, July 29, 2001: Montana: Oncology nurse primed for Relay for Life, Aug. 17:"Jena Nance is no stranger to cancer. During her 12 years as an oncology nurse, Nance has cared for countless patients as they battled the disease. Having also worked as a Hospice nurse for six years, Nance has seen firsthand how devas tating it can be to lose a loved one to this disease. Working with cancer patients on a daily basis made the decision to become involved with the Relay for Life an easy one for Nance. `` I've always felt like it was a wonderful cause. The American Cancer Society supports my patients day in and day out, and I like to be able to give back to the people who give to us,'' she said.
http://www.mtstandard.com/newslocal/lnews1.html

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July 29, 2001: Australia: AIRC set to intervene in nurses' dispute:"A dispute between Victorian nurses and the state government is headed for the full bench of the Australian Industrial Relations Commission (AIRC). At the centre of the long-running dispute are nurse to patient ratios. Earlier this year the AIRC set a range of nurse-patient ratios - varied according to the demands in different hospital departments - but later withdrew them because they were the subject of a continuing dispute."
http://news.ninemsn.com.au/national/story_7108.asp

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July 28, 2001: Indiana, Merrillville: Nurse accuses physician of battery:A local physician is in trouble again — this time with the law. Police arrested Dr. Simon J. Trueblood on Thursday for allegedly attacking his nurse when she refused to fill a prescription for a narcotic painkiller for him. The Lake County prosecutor’s office charged Trueblood with battery in Lake Superior Court. On Friday, he returned to his office, Broadwest Algology Center, 6111 Harrison St. Trueblood declined comment through his receptionist who referred calls to Trueblood’s attorney.
http://www.post-trib.com/cgi-bin/pto-story/news/z1/07-28-01_z1_news_3.html

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Tuesday, July 24, 2001: Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh: Rx for better care: unionized nurses:"The clerk who checked me out at Kaufmann's department store the other day was, until recently, a registered nurse at a local hospital, as was the manager of the Motel 6 down the street. They are among many nurses who have fled a profession in crisis. If you are not a nurse, or a member of another health-care profession, you may not think this is anything to be concerned about. There are few professions that have the potential to affect our well-being more than the nursing profession. Most of us encounter our first nurse seconds after we are born. If we become critically ill, the person who will be at our bedside to get us through the worst moments is likely to be a nurse. And when we are at death's door, we will be fortunate if a nurse is present to comfort and reassure us. Imagine not having a nurse to turn to at these critical times."
http://www.post-gazette.com/healthscience/20010724hoped3.asp

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Wednesday, July 18, 2001:Schools of pain have to hurt to help. Researchers seek better understanding of pain:"Regina Curry hurts people for a living. Sometimes she presses a metal cube against their forearms, watching them as it rapidly heats to 124 degrees. Sometimes she puts a stinging cream on their skin. Until last year, she injected people with chili pepper oil, but she gave that up because the cream's irritation lasts longer. Curry, 33, is a nurse in a research clinic operated by the Wake Forest University School of Medicine. She works with paid test subjects who participate in studies on pain."
http://web.tallahasseedemocrat.com/content/tallahassee/2001/07/18/health/0718.health.pain.htm

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Wednesday 18 July 2001: Australia: Nurse action threatens beds: Labor:"Nurses voted to enforce nurse-patient ratios yesterday in a move the Victorian Government said amounted to an industrial campaign by stealth that would prevent new hospital beds from opening. Australian Nursing Federation members voted at a stop-work meeting at Dallas Brooks Hall yesterday to strictly enforce nurse-patient ratios set by the Australian Industrial Relations Commission last year across Victoria from this afternoon."
http://www.theage.com.au/news/state/2001/07/18/FFXTPT6K8PC.html

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Wednesday, July 18, 2001: Ireland: Poor state of care for elderly exposed in report:"ELDERLY people will comprise almost one fifth of the population within 25 years and steps to prepare for that situation must be taken now, a Dail committee was told yesterday. "A cursory look at the projected growth of people over 65 in the next 25 years paints a frightening picture, unless very necessary preparatory steps are taken now," said Fine Gael's equality and family affairs spokesperson, Frances Fitzgerald. Society is already over-reliant on nursing homes and the provision of community care needs to be urgently addressed, said Ms Fitzgerald."
http://www.unison.ie/irish_independent/stories.php3?ca=9&si=474548&issue_id=4886

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July 17, 2001: Ireland, Dublin: Deputies probe midwives shortage in capital:"A DAIL committee will today discuss the increasing shortage of nurses willing to work in the capital because of low pay and high living costs. The meeting of the Joint Committee on Family, Community and Social affairs comes after a warning by the Irish Nurses' Organisation that the dearth of midwives in Dublin is now of critical proportions."
http://www.unison.ie/irish_independent/stories.php3?ca=9&si=473815&issue_id=4878

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Tuesday, July 17, 2001: Minnesota: State hoping scholarships woo nurses, fight shortage:"State officials hope $220,000 in scholarship money, including $10,000 to University of Michigan-Flint students, will help combat a shortage of nurses. The scholarships, which will help 10 UM-Flint students doing clinical work at Hurley Medical Center, aim to increase the number of advanced practice nurses, such as nurse practitioners, nurse midwives and nurse anesthetists."
http://fl.mlive.com/news/index.ssf?/news/stories/20010717f17a4nursingscholarshipsts.frm

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July 17, 2001: New York State,Plattsburgh: Pay, union ties debated as balm to nursing shortage:"Clinton County Nursing Home employee Mary Ryan said the nursing shortage has strengthened employee teamwork. "The best thing that has come out of this crisis is that we have a much better understanding of the job each other does," said Ryan, director of nursing at the 80-resident facility in Plattsburgh. The crisis she’s referring to has left Clinton County Nursing Home with 20 position vacancies and hit the health-care industry statewide equally hard."
http://www.pressrepublican.com/Archive/2001/07_2001/071720018.htm

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Tuesday, July 17, 2001: Australia, Victoria: Thousands of nurses demand funding boost:"Up to 3,000 nurses in Victoria are expected to attend a stopwork meeting in Melbourne to call for more funding for nursing staff. Australian Nursing Federation (ANF) state secretary Belinda Morieson said industrial action would be considered, although she did not believe members would vote to strike. Skeleton staff and emergency operation theatre staff were to remain on duty during the one-hour meeting from 2.30pm (AEST) on Tuesday."
http://news.ninemsn.com.au/health/story_15851.asp

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July 17, 2001: New Zealand: Mercy ending all geriatric care next month:"Mercy Hospital's eight-bed care unit for geriatric patients will close between now and August 3 with the loss of 14 nursing staff jobs. Mercy's chief executive, Michael Woodhouse, said a "contributing factor" to the care unit closure was the Government's proposed reallocation of $8 million of national funding for elderly care. The reallocation will mean less of the cost of geriatric hospital care will be met by the Government and more money will go to rest-home care."
http://www1.odt.co.nz/cgi-bin/getitem?date=17Jul2001&object=IGA1993627OH&type=html

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July 17, 2001: Government suggests ways to reduce hospital errors:"Dispensing medicines by computer, hiring more nurses and making sure patients better understand their treatments are ways that hospitals can reduce medical errors, the government said Tuesday. The trouble is, few hospitals follow even the most effective ways to cut out mistakes, federal health researchers said."
http://www.usatoday.com/news/healthscience/health/2001-07-17-medical-errors.htm

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Tuesday July 17, 2001: Colorado: Fort Lyon enlisting prison nurses:"Otero Junior College and Lamar Community College are offering nursing programs to help students obtain nursing positions at the Fort Lyon Correctional Facility, which will open in December. Rocky Mueller, outreach educational coordinator with OJC, said the Fort Lyon Facility will house elderly inmates, some of whom will require medication."
http://www.chieftain.com/tuesday/news/index/article/15

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July 17, 2001: Florida: Orange blames nurses in jail death:"Orange County's investigation into the death of jail inmate Karen Johnson found: A registered nurse working in the jail June 2 failed to notify a doctor that Johnson's withdrawal symptoms were "severe" and, under county policy, required immediate medical attention. A licensed practical nurse did not alert the jail's physician that Johnson had a methadone prescription when she was returned to the jail May 30. A second nurse who co-signed the order did not notice the error."
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/orl-or-jail071701.story?coll=orl%2Dnews%2Dheadlines%2Dlocal

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July 17, 2001: New York State, Plattsburgh: Pay, union ties debated as balm to nursing shortage:"Clinton County Nursing Home employee Mary Ryan said the nursing shortage has strengthened employee teamwork. "The best thing that has come out of this crisis is that we have a much better understanding of the job each other does," said Ryan, director of nursing at the 80-resident facility in Plattsburgh. The crisis she’s referring to has left Clinton County Nursing Home with 20 position vacancies and hit the health-care industry statewide equally hard. With the average age of a nurse in New York state at 48, a need for 170,000 more nurses in the next eight years, a 21-percent decline in nursing-school enrollment over the past five years and a rapidly aging population, many are fretting about the future of health care."
http://www.pressrepublican.com/Archive/2001/07_2001/071720018.htm

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July 17, 2001: Pennsylvania, Abington: Hospital offers financial aid to nursing students:"The Dixon School of Nursing of Abington Memorial Hospital is offering financial aid packages to all of its students in an effort to prevent feeling the pinch of a national nursing shortage. The aid will cover the full annual tuition of $6,000 through grants, scholarships, interest-free loans or a combination of these. If a graduate signs on to work at AMH, the loans will be forgiven. Eileen Van Parys, chairman of the Dixon School of Nursing, said there has been a "real concern" lately about filling vacant nursing jobs in the area."
http://www.phillyburbs.com/couriertimes/news/news/916323.htm

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July 17, 2001: Pennsylvania, Pittston: Life Flight off the ground:"Saying the medical chopper and crew will shave valuable minutes off emergency response times, Geisinger Health System launched its Life Flight program Monday at the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport. The $1.5 million venture bases a full-service medical helicopter and a 10-member medical flight crew at the airport with the promise of providing 24-hour, seven-day-a-week emergency medical services to Northeastern Pennsylvania."
http://www.scrantontimes.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=2094436&BRD=2185&PAG=461&dept_id=415898&rfi=6

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July 17, 2001: Australia: Nursing loses favour:"WOMEN would rather be airline pilots, judges, members of the armed forces or even cabinet ministers rather than nurses. Indeed, they are no longer destined to be secretaries, hairdressers, nurses or teachers, according to the Australian Council of Deans of Nursing. "The whole gamut of occupations – including armed combat – is open to women and nursing has to be made attractive if it is to recruit newcomers," the council said in a submission to a Senate inquiry."
http://news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,2362024%255E421,00.html

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Tuesday 17 July 2001: Australia, Melbourne: Angry nurses converge on city:"Nurses threaten action over staffing Up to 3000 nurses from most hospitals in Victoria are heading to Melbourne to decide if they'll go on strike. The Australian Nursing Federation says its members are angry enough about the future of 1000 nursing jobs to come to Melbourne for a mass meeting."
http://www.theage.com.au/news/state/2001/07/17/FFXYIQ6K8PC.html

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Tuesday 17 July 2001: Australia, Victoria: Nurses threaten action over staffing:"Victorian nurses are threatening industrial action because of a dispute over the future of 1000 nursing positions created under a recent recruitment drive by the Bracks Government. Despite assurances yesterday that the positions would receive "ongoing" government funding, more than 2000 nurses are expected to attend a stopwork meeting today to consider limited action. The government launched a nursing recruitment drive last year after the Australian Industrial Relations Commission ruled that 1300 extra nurses were required to implement changes in nurse-patient ratios agreed to under an enterprise bargaining agreement."
http://www.theage.com.au/news/state/2001/07/17/FFX5P6R47PC.html

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July 17, 2001: England, London: Irish nurses face funding fight:"The government was today accused of exacerbating London's nursing crisis by withdrawing funding from Irish student nurses who have a long tradition of coming to the capital to train and work. More than 4500 London hospital nursing posts are unfilled. From December, Irish student nurses will no longer be entitled to a £5,000 a year bursary which helped them to afford to live in the capital while training."
http://www.thisislondon.com/dynamic/news/story.html?in_review_id=417219&in_review_text_id=366326

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Monday, July 16, 2001: Hospitals telling patients about errors:"Hospitals across the country are now required by a powerful watchdog to routinely disclose mistakes or lose critical accreditation -- an outcome which could lead to loss of reimbursements and credibility. The mistakes include action or inaction that caused -- or could have caused -- serious harm to the patient. `` Reporting errors to patients is an excellent idea,'' said Laura Harrington, a medical malpractice attorney in Portsmouth, R.I., and a registered nurse who formerly worked in a hospital setting. `` It will defuse lawsuits rather than adding to them. In my experience people do not want to sue their doctors.''
http://www.thesunchronicle.com/display/inn_city/city3.txt

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Jul. 16, 2001: Canada, Ontario: Patient satisfaction report tells two stories:"Most satisified with care, but say nurses slow to respond to calls A new report suggesting high levels of satisfaction among Ontario hospital patients on the heels of a $200-million handout to the province's hospitals has done little to quell the concerns of front-line nurses. Nurses across the province say they remain overworked and hospitals understaffed. ''The report confirms what we're saying: There are not enough nurses on the front line,'' said Barb Wahl, president of the Ontario Nurses' Association."
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_PrintFriendly&c=Article&cid=995320869474

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July 16, 2001: Maryland: Area hospitals coping with nursing shortage:"Local hospital officials say they've mostly averted the staffing problems plaguing other Maryland hospitals, but a state hospital group expects the shortages to worsen in years to come. The Maryland Hospital Association recently counted 3,600 staff vacancies in Maryland hospitals and said more than two-thirds of the 42 job categories surveyed had vacancy rates of 10 percent or higher. Nearly half of the open slots were for nurses, but high vacancy rates were also found among laboratory and radiology personnel."
http://www.hometownannapolis.com/cgi-bin/read/2001/07_14-10/TOP

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Monday July 16, 2001: West Virginia, Charleston: School nurses oppose medication proposal. Some insist drugs should be dispensed by a professional:"With more students having to take medicine during school hours and more school nurses being assigned to oversee a larger number of schools, the state Department of Education has proposed a plan that would allow secretaries and clerks to distribute the drugs. School nurses adamantly oppose this plan because they say it lowers the standards and puts students at risk."
http://www.dailymail.com/news/News/2001071620/

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16 July 2001: England: Prime Minister’s Speech – NHS Reform:"The Prime Minister has outlined the Government’s plans for NHS reform which include recruiting 30,000 extra doctors and nurses, new modern contracts for health professionals, and improving the patient experience."
http://www.number-10.gov.uk/news.asp?NewsId=2307&SectionId=30

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July 13, 2001: Singapore: New nurses face theory-practice gap:"SOME nursing skills can only be learnt on the job with help from experienced staff, and hospitals should ensure that newly-qualified nurses are given time and support to hone them. The National Cancer Centre's senior nurse educator, Miss Lee Geok Yian, delivered this message yesterday to delegates at the First SingHealth Nursing Conference at Changi General Hospital, which will end tomorrow."
http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/singapore/story/0,1870,56958,00.html?

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July 12, 2001: Singapore: Nurses must keep up to date and yet remain true to the calling:"The nursing profession must keep up to date to be able to translate scientific knowledge into clinical practice. For this to happen, there must be multiple strategies such as a learning environment that encourages inquiry and critical thinking. On top of this, nurses must also show their true calling of compassion, commitment and care
http://www.channelnewsasia.com.sg/articles/2001/07/12/singaporenews66071.htm

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July 12, 2001: England, London: US “super nurse” to give profession greater say. New RCN chief makes speech:"Dr Beverley Malone, the newly appointed General Secretary of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN), today (12/07/01) outlined her commitment to improving the standing of nurses in the UK and ensuring they have more say in healthcare policy. US-born Dr Malone urged the government to include nurses at every level in the decision-making process, warning that without nursing representatives the task of advocating for patient care could be left by the wayside."
http://www.health-news.co.uk/dsp_loggedout_story.cfm?FORMStoryID=54355

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July 12, 2001: California, Castro Valley: Eden nurses picket over staffing. 'Shortage causing detriment to care':"Nurses at Eden Medical Center say they are fed up with working conditions at the hospital, and about 40 of them staged a daylong picket Wednesday to draw attention to their demands. The workers, represented by the California Nurses Association, have been holding contract negotiations with Eden and its corporate affiliate, Sutter Health, since late May. The nurses have been working without a contract since July 1. The main issue is staffing, said Chris Larson, a registered nurse who has worked at Eden's Intensive Care Unit for 19 years."
http://www.dailyreview-ang.com/S-ASP-Bin/Ref/Index.asp?PUID=144&Indx=969577

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July 12, 2001: New York State: Number Of RN Graduates Declines:"The number of registered nurses graduating from New York nursing schools declined last year for the fourth year in a row. There has been a 25% decrease in graduates since 1996, according to a new survey by the Center for Health Workforce Studies at the School of Public Health at the State University of New York at Albany. The trend pervades the state, with counties in western New York seeing the largest drop, 32.1%, since 1996. In New York City and Long Island, the number of registered nurse graduates is expected to decline by 28.3% and 26.1%, respectively, between 1996 and 2002."
http://www.crainsny.com/news.cms?postDate=2001-07-12&newsId=658

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July 12, 2001: Washington State, Kennewick: Donations help CBC nursing expand:"The Tri-Cit