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December 30, 2002: California: MJC puts nurses on the market:"At a time when nurses are in big demand, Modesto Junior College has produced its biggest class of graduates in five years.
The class of 55 students that graduated this month with associate degrees is nearly double the size of nursing classes at MJC in the 1990s, according to Bonnie Costello, director of the nursing program.
The college gradually has admitted and graduated more students in an effort to catch up with the nursing shortage.
But Costello said she does not see the shortage ending any time soon."
http://www.modbee.com/local/story/5748309p-6719653c.html
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December 30, 2002: Florida: Year in Review: Health Care: Costs drive health care issues:"Access and affordability underscore 2002's health care conundrums.
Add to this a severe nursing shortage affecting quality of care – another cost driver – and the year is pockmarked by a series of crises, real and contrived.
This year's winners: the HMOs, hospitals, insurance companies, large pharmaceutical"
http://southflorida.bizjournals.com/southflorida/stories/2002/12/30/story4.html
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Dec. 30, 2002: Hawaii a new ballgame
for seasoned nurse negotiator:"There are some things that surprised me. In compensation, the two things that shocked me were the job rate pay system, where somebody reaches job rate at two years and doesn't really progress beyond that, and the absence of weekend differentials. Everywhere I've ever been on the mainland the employers realize those are prime shifts and nurses working them are compensated accordingly. Hawaii is probably about three years behind the mainland in terms of the acuity of the shortages and in terms of nurses leaving staff position to work for agencies where they have more control and aren't dealing with the same clinical demands. They may get more money and have more control over their schedules for easier work."
http://starbulletin.com/2002/12/29/business/story2.html
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Dec. 30, 2002: Indiana: Hospital does its part to recruit nurses:"Karin Bolyard, a registered nurse at Johnson Memorial Hospital, remembers when nurses would go to a pharmacy in the hospital staffed by friendly pharmacists who would dispense medications for her patients.
Now, she's responsible for dispensing them herself from a "machine pharmacy."
The change isn't revolutionary as far as the patients are concerned, but for nurses who've been out of the field for a few years, the change can be intimidating, Bolyard said."
http://www.thejournalnet.com/Main.asp?SectionID=1&SubSectionID=113&ArticleID=33541
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December 30, 2002: Tennessee: Vandy, Lipscomb in discussions on joint nursing degree:"Figures from the Tennessee Hospital Association indicate the shortage of nurses and other health care professionals shows no sign of easing. In 1998, about 5 percent of nursing positions in Tennessee hospitals were unfilled. That number grew to more than 8 percent in 1999 and 9 percent in 2000. By February of this year, it had moved past 10 percent.
In addition to nurses, there are shortages of pharmacists, radiological technologists, respiratory therapists and other professionals."
http://nashville.bizjournals.com/nashville/stories/2002/12/30/story5.html
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December 30, 2002: Texas: INS memo eyes nursing shortage:"Classified ads touting lucrative sign-on bonuses and flexible schedules have become the norm, and job fairs giving away everything from cars to luxury vacations are becoming commonplace
Still, the Dallas-Fort Worth area's vacancy rate for registered nurses hovers around 12%. So dire is the shortage that many hospitals have turned to foreign recruitment, but the processing time to bring a nurse into the United States often takes nine to 18 months."
http://dallas.bizjournals.com/dallas/stories/2002/12/30/story3.html
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Dec. 30, 2002: Utah: Health Care Industry Leads the State in Job Opportunities:"Job seekers looking for a wealth of opportunity need to look no further than health care, which tops a list of industries in Utah with the brightest hiring prospects for 2003.
The Top 5 list -- compiled by Mark Knold, senior economist with the Utah Department of Workforce Services -- identifies industries that continue to seek employees despite a depressed economy.
Utah's health care industry tops the list, Knold said, because of the wide variety of available jobs, including medical assistants, nurses and X-ray technicians.
http://www.sltrib.com/2002/Dec/12302002/monday/monday.asp
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December 30, 2002: Wyoming: Ivinson Hospital nurses express some concerns:"All is not well at Ivinson Memorial Hospital, and 28 hospital employees are tired of keeping it a secret.
Recent rumors that hospital morale is on life support are true, they say. And the problems don't end there.
"There is a veil of secrecy and half truths that are presented to the staff on a regular basis," an employee said. "It's a complete lack of communication. … This administration, which claims to care very deeply for its employees and patients could care less about its employees."
The employees, who are primarily nurses, said the public has a right to know what is going on behind hospital doors. The group approached the Laramie Daily Boomerang with their concerns, and were granted anonymity so they would not lose their jobs, which they said would be at risk."
http://www.laramieboomerang.com/more.asp?StoryID=743
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December 29, 2002: Washington State:"Short-staffed Washington hospitals recruiting nurses from abroad:"Washington hospitals are looking overseas to fill staffing gaps caused by a nationwide shortage of nurses.
Nearly 100 nurses from the Philippines will arrive next year to work at Tacoma's two biggest hospitals - Tacoma General and St. Joseph Medical Center - and their sister facilities.
From major institutions such as Swedish Medical Center in Seattle to a 38-bed hospital near Yakima, many other hospitals also are recruiting abroad as one solution to a problem administrators say is only getting worse."
http://www.tribnet.com/news/story/2388562p-2441418c.html
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December 29, 2002: Montana: Nurse workforce key to Billings' future:"The29 Billings nursing stu-dents who graduated this month with bachelor's degrees didn't have to look for work. The students of the Montana State University College of Nursing's Billings campus were heavily recruited by employers from around the nation."
http://www.billingsgazette.com/index.php?id=1&display=rednews/2002/12/29/build/opinion/20-nurse-edit.inc
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Saturday, December 28, 2002: Florida: Nursing school's contract with FGCU under reevaluation:"It was designed to answer a critical national shortage.
Now, after two years of going beyond its projections, the Norman R. Wolford School of Nurse Anesthesia in Naples is considering what it will do next.
The Wolford School is affiliated with Florida Gulf Coast University for nurse anesthesia education and with NCH Healthcare Systems and Collier Anesthesia, PA, for clinical training."
http://www.bonitanews.com/02/12/bonita/d872189a.htm
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December 28,2002: Illinois: Salary factors into nurses teaching nurses
Some practitioners can't afford the drop in pay, but others say educating students is worth it.:"Julie Callison knows she'll take a pay cut, but she wants to help a new generation of nurses learn the job.
Callison works as a registered nurse at OSF Saint Anthony Medical Center. She's finishing her bachelor's degree in nursing and plans to pursue a master's degree.
Such highly trained nurses earn an average of $24,000 more in practice than they do teaching. But they're becoming increasingly vital in the classroom because a nursing shortage pressures nursing schools to graduate more students."
http://www.rrstar.com/business/healthcare/20021228-25503.shtml
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Friday, 12/27/02: Tennessee:"Hospitals prescribe incentives to head off staff shortages:"While HCA wants to fill a wide range of jobs, including radiology technologists and other technical positions, Burkhart said 75% of the funding is directed toward training nurses. He said nursing scholarships range from $3,000 to $15,000 a year.
''And now that we've gotten the scholarship program off the ground, we've switched to how do we increase enrollments at the particular schools,'' he said. Because nursing, in particular, is an expensive field to teach, Burkhart said, HCA helps buy equipment and subsidize instructors ''to help increase capacity'' to turn out graduates."
http://www.tennessean.com/local/archives/02/12/26961745.shtml?Element_ID=26961745
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Dec. 27, 2002: Wisconsin: LTC secures grant to curb health care shortage:"There are about 70,000 registered nurses in Wisconsin. That's not enough.
The shortage of RNs is expected to increase over the next several years as the population continues to age in Wisconsin, workers retire, and more people require health services.
Access to quality health care is dependent upon having enough nurses to staff hospitals, long-term care facilities and medical clinics.
Lakeshore Technical College and its partners, Northeast Wisconsin Technical College and the Bay Area Workforce Development Board, have received a $530,000 grant to help make a dent in the health care worker shortage."
http://www.wisinfo.com/heraldtimes/news/archive/local_7818315.shtml
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Dec. 26, 2002: Wisconsin: Grant targets shortage of health care workers:"The U.S. Department of Labor has given seven Wisconsin technical colleges a $2.26 million federal grant to combat the state's shortage of health care workers.
The money will be used in partnership with local work force development boards."
http://www.jsonline.com/news/state/dec02/106128.asp
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12/25/2002: Nevada: Traveling nurses finding plenty work in Las Vegas:"James Brooks came to Las Vegas two years ago to begin a 13-week stint as a traveling emergency room nurse.
He hasn't left.
The statewide nursing shortage has made traveling nurses such as Brooks a hot commodity. He can work in Las Vegas for as long as he wants, often making twice as much money as a regular nurse.
"Nurses are so short everywhere that you can find a spot you like and just stay there,"said Brooks, who came from Michigan and now works at Summerlin Hospital Medical Center."
http://www.rgj.com/news/stories/html/2002/12/25/30701.php?sp1=rgj&sp2=News&sp3=Local+News
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December 26, 2002: Massachusetts: MWCC initiates practical nursing program:"GARDNER -- Mount Wachusett Community College will celebrate the grand opening of its Practical Nursing Program at 10 a.m. on Monday, Jan. 6, at the West River Health Center in Orange. The new program is part of an on-going effort at the college to address the current nursing shortage."
http://www.ayerpublicspirit.com/Stories/0,1413,110%257E5680%257E1074232,00.html
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12/24/02: Florida: Nursing shortage affects schools:"Some of the 35 schools in Sarasota County don't have a school nurse. And the district's ratio of one nurse to every 4,600 students is more than three times what the state of Florida recommends.
"A lot of people don't realize that we don't have a nurse in every school," said Wilma Hamilton, Sarasota County Superintendent of schools. "We hope that some of our children will get earlier treatment from school health nurses."
Each school has a skilled health aide, but he or she may not be equipped to accommodate the needs of all the students who are guaranteed an education."
http://www.sun-herald.com/NewsArchive2/122402/tp7np1.htm?date=122402&story=tp7np1.htm
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December 24, 2002, Montana: Responding to the nursing shortage: Billings philanthropist, hospital create new nursing scholarship program:"Ralph Nelles and his family are going to play a huge part in the lives of many local nursing students for the next few years.
Nelles, who has made a significant impact with donations to Billings Catholic Schools, has agreed to fund the Nelles Nurses Scholarship Program through St. Vincent Healthcare."
http://www.billingsgazette.com/index.php?id=1&display=rednews/2002/12/25/build/health/1-nursingshortage.inc
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December 24, 2002: New Hampshire: Baby Becca is home for the holidays:"Born almost three months early, weighing just 1 pound 14 ounces, Becca Rose had spent her entire life in hospitals. She's now more than 10 pounds, but the tracheostomy required after nearly three months on a respirator means she needs round-the-clock monitoring and skilled nursing care. Christine said Becca Rose may need the tracheostomy, which is a surgical construction of a respiratory opening, for as long as a year.
The baby's doctor was ready to release her from Elliot Hospital Newborn Intensive Care Unit on Dec. 3, but the Interim Health Care Agency couldn't find licensed practical or registered nurses to care for her even though the insurance company was willing to pay for 70 hours a week."
http://www.theunionleader.com/articles_show.html?article=16802
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Tuesday, 24 December, 2002: United Kingdom: Australia tempts UK nurses:"Australia is launching a campaign to attract more British nurses to the Outback.
Health authorities in the Northern Territory, Queensland and Western Australia are facing another seasonal shortage of staff.
They are hoping a new package of incentives will tempt staff from the UK to take up the challenge of nursing in remote regions, combining a working holiday with guaranteed employment. The nursing shortage here in the Northern Territory is at its worse during the wet season."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/2601427.stm
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Thursday, December 19, 2002: National nursing shortage continues:"Once they graduate, today's nursing students should find hospitals, nursing homes and medical practices tripping over themselves with job offers.
The national nursing shortage has not gone away and employers are offering big incentives to coax nurses onto the payrolls.
Seventy-five percent of hospital personnel vacancies are for nurses, and more than one in seven hospitals reported a "severe" registered nurse vacancy rate of more than 20 percent, according to the American Association of Colleges of Nursing."
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/valleynewsdispatch/s_108627.html
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December 19, 2002: Australia: Nurses win pay rise:"The NSW Industrial Relations Commission has awarded the state's nurses a six per cent pay rise, which together with previous agreements will boost their salaries by almost 16 per cent by mid next year.
In an interim ruling, the commission said the six per cent rise should help address chronic nurse shortages plaguing NSW public hospitals.
The increase is effective from January 1, the same day a previously agreed four per cent rise will kick in.
Nurses' pay will climb by a further five per cent on July 1 under a Memorandum of Understanding with the state government.
"The full effects of these increases will be to produce a total increase of over 15.75 per cent in the first six months of 2003," the commission said."
http://news.ninemsn.com.au/National/story_31669.asp
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December 19, 2002: United Kingdom: Homes hope for hospital workers:"Houses on a country estate could be made available to health workers as one solution to the acute staffing crisis that has forced tomorrow's closure of Wells Cottage Hospital.
On the eve of the hospital's temporary closure, the Countess of Leicester, of Holkham Hall, revealed yesterday that some of the estate's 300 properties could be made available to key nursing staff who may be recruited to work at the hospital for its proposed reopening in March.
Meanwhile, retired nurses living in the area are being urged to consider going back to work to help overcome the problems faced by the 12-bed hospital and minor injuries unit."
http://pacific.bizjournals.com/pacific/stories/2002/12/16/story3.html
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December 18, 2002: California: Community Memorial plans to expand:"As the county faces a severe nursing shortage, Strople said Community Memorial is doing its best to find new nurses who will be needed to staff the new building.
"We're always concerned about the nursing shortage. We're continually recruiting nurses," Strople said. "We have several programs that deal with that. We're just going to have to do our best."
http://www.insidevc.com/vcs/ve/article/0,1375,VCS_251_1617452,00.html
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December 17. 2002: Alabama: Supply & demand National nursing shortage affects local hospitals, too:"With a weak economy and unstable job market, most recent college graduates enter a Darwinian world where jobs are few and competition is tough. This cloudy projection was not the case for at least 19 graduates who walked across the stage last week.
"The sunshine is that there are jobs," said Birdie Bailey. "There are jobs everywhere."
The dean at the University of North Alabama College of Nursing and Allied Health said the new health-care workers would quickly become the sought-after treasure of area employers and beyond."
http://www.timesdaily.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?Site=FT&Date=20021217&Category=NEWS&ArtNo=212170304&Ref=AR&Profile=1004
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Tuesday, December 17, 2002: New Jersey: Today's nurses in control when it comes to pay talks:"Sign-up bonuses can reach $7,500. Benefits can include employer-subsidized day care, family illness days and use of the employee gym.
Hospitals want good nurses, and some are working hard to recruit them.
Bigger and wealthier hospitals are poaching nurses from struggling hospitals. Agencies, meanwhile, are luring nurses from hospitals. Pay for experienced nurses is going up.
"Nurses are absolutely in the driver's seat," said Nadine Green, a recruiter for InteliStaf, a national recruiting agency with an office in East Brunswick. "One agency is paying more than another. Hospitals are getting smart and finding out how to keep their own people. There is a price war going on."
http://www.nj.com/business/ledger/index.ssf?/base/business-3/1040109139210290.xml
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December 17, 2002: Africa: Botswana:"The government decided, at the beginning of NDP 8, to upgrade existing nursing schools to address the shortage of trained personnel. The resignation of some health personnel and failure of some foreign-trained graduates to return to Botswana had exacerbated the shortage.
"Phase I of the Institute of Health Sciences upgrading programme comprising of Gaborone, Francistown and Lobatse IHSs was completed in 1998 creating 571 additional spaces," she said.
She said recruitment efforts both locally and externally that were intensified during the plan period were frustrated by among others difficulty in acquiring candidates in highly specialised areas."
http://www.gov.bw/cgi-bin/news.cgi?d=20021217&i=Ministry_to_use_P33b_for_major_projects
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December 17, 2002: United Kingdom: NH nurses rally to aid of infant:"Becca Rose Wenzel is still in the Newborn Intensive Care Unit at Elliot Hospital in Manchester, but hopefully not for much longer.
What's keeping Becca Rose in the hospital is the nursing shortage. The tracheostomy required after three months on a respirator, means the baby, who was born almost three months prematurely, needs round-the-clock monitoring and skilled nursing care.
Her parents, Christine and Paul Wenzel, despaired of bringing Becca Rose home soon. She could have been released Dec. 3, but the Interim Health Care Agency couldn't find nurses for home care.
But after a Dec. 11 story in The Union Leader about the family's problem, the health care agency received enough responses that Becca Rose may be able to greet the new year in her family's Barnstead home.
http://www.theunionleader.com/articles_show.html?article=16623
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December 16, 2002: United Kingdom: Army medics called to ease NHS backlog:"Army medical staff have assisted in more than 150 civilian operations in Northern Ireland to help reduce hospital waiting lists, it has emerged. Military anaesthetists and nurses have helped orthopaedic surgeons carry out 160 NHS fracture operations in the military wing of Belfast's Musgrave Park Hospital. A dramatic drop in the number of military casualties freed up theatre space to deal with the province's 60,000-plus patients on hospital waiting lists, the highest in any UK region. A spokesman for Belfast's Royal Victoria Hospital confirmed all the nursing and medical staff involved in the 160 operations - apart from the surgeon - was supplied by the army. http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_728974.html
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Sunday, December 15, 2002: The hurried pace of nursing:"Reporter Jeff Sturgeon followed veteran nurse Kim Manning of Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital for a firsthand look at nursing Oct. 9. The visit was approved in advance by Carilion Health System. His account follows.
Hospital nurse Kim Manning hooked a patient to an IV, hustled to another complaining of chest pain and fixed a jammed drug cabinet - all in the first few minutes of clocking in at 6:30 a.m.
She neglected only her 20-ounce coffee from Dunkin Donuts, which stood on the counter at the nursing station.
As Manning passed by it over and over without time for a sip, the coffee became cold evidence of the hurried pace of nursing today. Experts say the nation has 10 percent to 13 percent fewer nurses than it needs."
http://www.roanoke.com/roatimes/news/story141374.html
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December 15, 2002: Washington State: Nursing Colleges Rejecting Qualified Applicants:"Hospitals across the country are desperately seeking nurses like Tracey Rasmussen, a 34-year-old mom with a warm, down-to-earth bedside manner and a 3.9 GPA.
But Rasmussen was rejected twice from nursing school - one of thousands of qualified would-be nurses turned away from the profession each year because nursing colleges lack space, faculty and funding.
Anyone who's spent time in a hospital lately knows about the nation's nursing shortage. By 2020, the shortage is expected to grow to nearly 30 percent, a shortfall of more than 800,000 nurses nationwide, according to projections by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Finding people who want to be nurses isn't hard. Getting them into nursing schools is.
It was so frustrating," said Rasmussen, who was finally accepted into Washington State University's Yakima nursing program and has a job on the maternity ward of a local hospital waiting for her when she graduates in May.
Despite the looming shortage, nursing schools in the United States turned away nearly 6,000 qualified applicants last year, according to a survey by the American Association of Colleges of Nursing."
http://santafenewmexican.com/site/news.cfm?BRD=2144&dept_id=461625&newsid=6395557&PAG=461&rfi=9
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December 15 2002: Australia: Foreign nurses hired as shortage bites:"One of Melbourne's biggest private hospitals, the Epworth, is recruiting about 60 nurses from Ireland - almost all of them Filipinos - as Australia joins the international search for qualified nursing staff, who are in short supply the world over.
The nurses will begin work in January and February on 12-month contracts and will join another contingent of about 40 the hospital recruited from Singapore last year in its first overseas recruitment drive.
A number of public hospitals, including the Monash Medical Centre, Peninsula Health and the Austin & Repatriation Medical Centre, are also recruiting overseas, in a bid to boost staff levels and complement local recruitment efforts."
http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2002/12/14/1039656259663.html
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Saturday December 14, 2002: California: Nurses at Large Calif. Hospital Unionize:"Nurses at the West Coast's largest nonprofit hospital voted to join the California Nurses Association, a decision that union officials say will curb the state's nursing shortage.
Registered nurses at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center voted 695-627 Friday in favor of unionizing. The National Labor Relations Board supervised the vote.
``It will be a sea of change in terms of how nursing is enhanced in Southern California,'' said Rose Ann DeMoro, executive director of the union."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uslatest/story/0,1282,-2244647,00.html
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December 14, 2002: California: Cedars-Sinai nurses to join union
Workers planning to negotiate for better pay, benefits, staffing:"Nurses at the West Coast's largest nonprofit hospital voted to join the California Nurses Association and looked forward Saturday to negotiating for better pay, benefits and staffing.
Registered nurses at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center approved the move late Friday with a 695-627 vote. The National Labor Relations Board supervised the election in what's been called a significant union victory.
"I'm ecstatic,' said Joao da Silva, an emergency-room nurse. "Nurses need to be united ... I think nurses are going to be respected a lot more now by management."
http://www.whittierdailynews.com/Stories/0,1413,207%257E12026%257E1053288,00.html
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Dec. 14, 2002: South Carolina: MUSC Asks hospitals to pay for nurse training:"The Medical University of South Carolina hopes to get hospitals to lend a hand in paying to train new nurses and ease the chronic nursing shortage.
Next year, MUSC hopes to double the number of students enrolled in its nursing program to 100 and wants to increase the number of nurses educated at a program in Florence, where the medical school works with Francis Marion University.
MUSC also wants to give South Carolina's registered nurses, who have associate degrees, the chance to get four-year degrees without leaving their hometown."
http://www.myrtlebeachonline.com/mld/sunnews/news/local/4738028.htm
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Sat, Dec. 14, 2002: South Carolina, Charleston: MUSC to impose hefty tuition increases:"The Medical University of South Carolina will impose tuition increases of up 15 percent for the various health profession degrees it offers under a plan the MUSC Board of Trustees approved Friday.
University officials say the tuition increases taking effect in the fall semester stem from a lack of state funding.
"It's a cost-shift from the state to students and families," Dr. Ray Greenberg, the university's president, said. "This is a painful process."
http://www.thestate.com/mld/thestate/news/local/4740562.htm
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December 13, 2002: Hawaii: Nurse strike claims victim: Holiday joy:"Nearly 1,400 nurses at Queen's, St. Francis Medical Center and Kuakini Medical Center, represented by the Hawaii Nurses Association, went into the second week of a strike after contract demands weren't met. No negotiations had been scheduled as of PBN's press time Wednesday night.
Contracts for approximately 2,500 nurses, including those at Kaiser Foundation Hospital and Kapiolani Medical Center for Women & Children, where nurses ratified agreements with management last week, expired Nov. 30.
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For Craft and other nurses on the picket line, the strike is sapping holiday energy and what usually is a festive environment this time of year."
http://pacific.bizjournals.com/pacific/stories/2002/12/16/story3.html
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December 13, 2002: Wisconsin: Nursing schools add programs to train nursing profs:"After years of recruiting students to consider nursing careers, nursing schools face a new dilemma: They don't have enough faculty. To help ease the faculty shortage, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and Marquette University both plan next year to launch new Ph.D. programs.
The timing of the new doctoral programs is critical because faculty shortages are hitting while colleges are still under pressure to graduate enough nurses to meet demand, said the deans of the schools. The teacher shortage has become so severe nationally that many nursing schools — UWM included — have had to restrict the number of students seeking nursing majors."
http://milwaukee.bizjournals.com/milwaukee/stories/2002/12/16/story4.html
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December 12, 2002: Hawaii: Striking Nurses Move Away From ER, Patient's Son Outraged Over Obstruction:"The son of a man killed by a car last week made a plea to the nurses union to stop picketing the emergency room entrance at Queen's Medical Center. Wayne Kotomori is upset. He feels the nurses strike line at the emergency room entrance was the last thing he needed to see as he rushed to the hospital to be with his father."
http://www.thehawaiichannel.com/news/1834693/detail.html
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December 11, 2002: Poor Hospital Care Linked to Complications: Survey:"The stakes are so high in hospital care that it is really troubling when one fifth of patients were not satisfied with their stay," Gurin said in a briefing.
At least 12% of respondents said they were aware of a medication error or a problem with diagnosis, and in almost half those cases, the mistake led to a complication.
Among other issues, consumers complained of unanswered calls for assistance and inadequate pain relief. Seven percent said they had been pressured to leave the hospital when they didn't feel ready. Six percent developed an infection during their stay or within a week of discharge."
http://reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=healthNews&storyID=1889558
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Dec. 11, 2002: Florida: An untapped source to help nursing shortage: men:"Allan Delacruz hovers over the man who lies, dying, in the bed before him. He swabs the elderly patient's mouth, injects him with painkillers and checks his vital signs.
Delacruz, a registered nurse at Florida Hospital Orlando, talks soothingly as he works, even though he isn't sure the older man can hear him.
"Maybe part of the reason more males aren't here is because they don't want people to see their sensitive side," the 25-year-old Delacruz said."
http://www.centredaily.com/mld/centredaily/news/4715031.htm
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December 11, 2002: Florida: NSU to offer bachelor's for registered nurses:"In response to increasing demand, Davie-based Nova Southeastern University said it will offer registered nurses the opportunity to earn a bachelor of science degree in nursing.
NSU said the five-semester program, part of the school's health professions division, will combine classroom and Web instruction. NSU President Ray Ferrero Jr. said the school chose the methods to deliver its program so medical professionals will be able to improve their expertise without interrupting.
http://southflorida.bizjournals.com/southflorida/stories/2002/12/09/daily69.html
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December 11, 2002: Massachusetts: Experts: Conditions improving despite a rise in complaints:"It takes constant vigilance and skilled administrators to provide and improve quality service, especially during a nursing shortage, say experts in the field.
Nursing homes have improved in recent years, and Massachusetts facilities fare better than those in most other states, they say.
Still, residents file 19,000 complaints with Bay State regulatory agencies annually. That's up from 12,000 several years ago. The complaints range from minor to severe, from coffee not being heated up properly to the more serious allegations of physical or sexual abuse, said Mary McKenna, director of the state Department of Elder Affairs' long-term care ombudsman program, a federally-mandated effort to probe complaints."
http://www.lowellsun.com/Stories/0,1413,105%257E4746%257E1046236,00.html
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December 11, 2002: Minnesota: Willmar receives $225K in grants:"Like the cultural liaison position, the nursing simulation center is intended to "have a lasting impression on the community," according to Schmit. That project was developed by the economic development committee.
"Again, this is a major plus for the community," he said, because it will "fill a void that we see in the community and surrounding area" to attract people into the nursing profession."
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=6346720&BRD=580&PAG=461&dept_id=401608&rfi=6
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December 11, 2002: Montana: Health leaders hear from St. V's chief:"A nationwide nursing shortage, an aging population and increasing use of emergency rooms are major factors in driving health care costs everywhere Hood said. But while managed care in some major metropolitan areas pushes rate decisions, the needs of the small employer market come first in Montana, she said. "Every point that we raise our rates we know it will drive more employers to the decision of not offering health care benefits," Hood said. "We know that will increase the overwhelming load we are already experiencing as it relates to the uninsured." http://www.billingsgazette.com/index.php?id=1&display=rednews/2002/12/11/build/local/76-hood.inc
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Wednesday, December 11, 2002: Canada: Ontario: Put RNs where needed:"Sault Area Hospital and the Ontario Nurses Association are fighting a local battle that illustrates Canada's conundrum: when you have finite resources, where do you apply those resources to provide the best possible health care for the most people?
Effective April 1, the hospital is scheduling two health care aides in place of one registered nurse during the surgical bedside day shift. For the afternoon shift, one health care aide will replace the RN."
http://www.saultstar.com/webapp/sitepages/content.asp?contentid=16482&catname=Editorials
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December 10, 2002: California: Los Angeles: Molina Cuba trip for trade:"It's an initial tour to see what kind of collaboration can be established,' Molina spokesman Miguel Santana said. "Cuba has a surplus of health-care professionals, and we obviously are in desperate need of nurses."
http://www.presstelegram.com/Stories/0,1413,204%257E21474%257E1045392,00.html
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Tuesday, December 10, 2002: D.C. (Washington): General Downgrade Strains Hospitals
Other Facilities Tell Mayor of Overwhelming Patient Load, Rejected Claims:"District hospital executives told city officials yesterday that their institutions are suffering because of changes Mayor Anthony A. Williams (D) brought to the city's indigent health care system 18 months ago.
The downgrade of D.C. General's emergency room to an urgent-care facility and the failure of Greater Southeast Community Hospital to build up its emergency services as promised combined to reroute low-income patients to private hospital ERs, they said. That has led to an increase in uninsured patients at their facilities, who compete with insured patients for medical attention."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=article&node=&contentId=A33003-2002Dec9¬Found=true
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December 10, 2002: Georgia: High school students battle nursing shortage:"There's a shortage of workers to take your blood pressure, make hospital beds and immunize you against disease. Nurses are in high demand, so why not give students an early start to a future career?
Georgia has a severe nursing shortage. Decatur County District Health Director, Charles Taylor, says, "Not only Georgia, but I think all states are experiencing a great shortage of nursing."
http://www.walb.com/Global/story.asp?S=1044408&nav=5kZQCpZL
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December 10, 2002: Nebraska: Few beds available to replace care center's:"Care center's closing has 150 seeking new homes
Sons and daughters scrambled Monday to find new homes for their elderly parents after learning that Mercy Care Center will be closing.
What they found was a nursing home community in Omaha that has little available space.
"Any time you lose a nursing home the size of Mercy Care Center, that is just so hard for the rest of the community," said Carol Johnson, administrator of St. Joseph Villa Nursing Center.
The 155-bed Mercy Care Center is being closed over the next two months because of extensive water damage, including potentially unhealthy levels of mold between its walls."
http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_np=0&u_pg=36&u_sid=589359
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December 10, 2002: New Hampshire: Shortage strands infant in hospital:"Becca Rose Wenzel has come a long way since her birth Aug. 5. Weighing just 1 pound 14 ounces when she was born almost three months early at Elliot Hospital in Manchester, Becca Rose now weighs an impressive 9 pounds, 9 ounces.
But the baby daughter of Christine and Paul Wenzel of Barnstead is still in the Newborn Intensive Care Unit at the Elliot, hostage to a nursing shortage.
Her parents and 6½-year-old sister, Zoe, want her home. And the hospital was ready to release her Dec. 3, but her parents and the Interim Health Care agency couldn't find registered nurses or licensed practical nurses to help care for her at home."
http://www.unionleader.com/articles_show.html?article=16482
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Tuesday, December 10, 2002: Canada: Ontario: SAH nursing changes irresponsible: union, Nurses say replacing RNs with health care aides will put patients at risk:"Sault Area Hospital's recent decision to cut registered nurses' bedside time in its surgical department and use health care aides instead is not getting a clean bill of health from local nurses.
Starting April 1 a 7.5-hour bedside care day shift now administered by one registered nurse will be carried out by two health care aides, and a 7.5-hour RN evening shift (3-11 p.m.) will be replaced by one health care aid.
This decision by the hospital is irresponsible and extremely dangerous to patients, many of whom are in such a condition that they should be closely monitored by a trained professional, charges Glenda Hubley, president of Local 46, Ontario Nurses Association."
http://www.saultstar.com/webapp/sitepages/content.asp?contentid=16260&catname=Local+News
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December 9, 2002: Bush Confronts a Gathering Crisis in Health Care:"Despite uncertain economic conditions, the distraction of terrorism and the prospect of war with Iraq, Bush and GOP congressional leaders say they are committed to providing prescription drug benefits for elderly Medicare beneficiaries and the disabled, as well as to helping obtain coverage for the growing numbers of Americans without private health insurance.
But the combination of drug benefits and aid to the uninsured won't be easy, and may not be enough to avert a gathering crisis."
http://www.newhousenews.com/archive/story1b120902.html
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Monday, December 9, 2002: Massachusetts: Desperate solution to the
country's health nightmare:"Any LPN working at HealthAlliance's Burbank or Leominster hospitals can now take courses at Mount Wachusett Community College in Gardner free of charge, courtesy of HealthAlliance.
The program is a response to the national nursing shortage, said HealthAlliance director of human resources Robert Lagasse. Recent statistics show that there are 126,000 openings this year for registered nurse positions across the country."
http://www.sentinelandenterprise.com/Stories/0,1413,106%257E4994%257E1041855,00.html
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December 9, 2002: Georgia: Nursing Shortage:"The US economy lost 40,000 jobs last month as the unemployment rate surged six percent. But as hard as this might be to believe, there are still lots of jobs that need to be filled in the community. There is such a need in the nursing field, that if you ever thought of making career switch, now would be a good time. Out of the 75 nursing students that graduated from Armstrong Atlantic State University, all 75 have found jobs.
"As baby boomers hit the retirement age and as they retire and move into elderly status, it will put an increased burden on the healthcare system," said Camille Stern, a registered nurse and PhD at Armstrong Atlantic University."
http://www.wtoctv.com/Global/story.asp?S=1042174&nav=0qq5CnhP
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December 09, 2002: Michigan: Striking nurses file 'unfair labor' charges against MMC:"Three weeks into a strike which has pitted striking registered nurses against hospital administrators at Northern Michigan Hospital (NMH) in Petoskey there have arose allegations the administration has conspired with Munson Medical Center to prevent striking NMH registered nurses from working at the Traverse City hospital.
Sharon Norton, business agent for the Teamsters Local 406 from Traverse City, who is representing the striking registered nurses in Petoskey said unfair labor practice charges have been filed with the National Labor Relations Board against both NMH and Munson."
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?BRD=2030&dept_id=337742&newsid=6326716&PAG=461&rfi=9
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December 9, 2002: New Mexico: Las Cruces hospital funds faculty position at NMSU:"Las Cruces-based MountainView Regional Medical Center has pledged $125,000 to support a faculty position in the New Mexico State University's (NMSU) department of nursing education over the next five semesters.
"This unique program provides an incentive for nursing students to remain in the Las Cruces community, which helps dampen the effect of the nursing shortage in our area," said Mike McDonald, development officer of the College of Health and Social Services at NMSU."
http://albuquerque.bizjournals.com/albuquerque/stories/2002/12/09/daily2.html
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Dec 09, 2002: North Carolina: Nursing shortage forges partnerships:"Brew Boyden could have gone anywhere after graduating from nursing school at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington last spring. Hospitals are in bidding wars over nurses and the future promises a deepening shortage.
But Boyden stayed in Wilmington rather than going home to Asheville, on the other side of the state, or to another state entirely. UNCW and the local New Hanover Regional Medical Center joined schools and hospitals across the country in forging partnerships meant to steer graduates like Boyden to local nursing jobs."
http://www.heraldtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?Site=SH&Date=20021209&Category=NEWS&ArtNo=212090458&Ref=AR&Profile=1060
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December 9, 2002: Wisconsin: RN training to be in River Falls, CVTC expands its programs:"Prospective nurses in the River Falls area soon can become registered nurses through Chippewa Valley Technical College's River Falls campus.
The college, which started a licensed practical nursing program in River Falls in January, will start the registered nursing program in August for an associate degree.
The River Falls Area Hospital will be used as the clinical site for students."
http://www.leadertelegram.com/story.asp?id=19497
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12/08/02: Florida: Traveling nurses help medical community:"Imagine a job that pays you to travel almost anywhere you might want to go. When you arrive, an apartment selected to your preference and furnished to your specifications is waiting for you, rent paid, utilities turned on.
In addition to great pay, the job offers excellent benefits and a professional working environment. And if you don't like the assignment, in 13 weeks you can leave and try again with no penalty."
http://www.sun-herald.com/NewsArchive2/120802/tp5np4.htm?date=120802&story=tp5np4.htm
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Sunday, December 8, 2002: Indiana: Where the jobs are
Health industry replaces factories in high-paying jobs:"A dental hygienist position currently available in Marion, for example, pays from $25 to $35 an hour, Work One's job postings show. Registered nursing positions available pay from $14 to $20 an hour, and licensed practical nurses can earn from $13 to $15 an hour.
"There's a critical shortage of nurses, so it's a field where there's high demand and relatively high pay," said Jerry Whitton, principal at Tucker Career and Technology Center, where a capacity 39 students enrolled in the yearlong LPN program last fall. Thirty-seven remain enrolled. "The demand will increase dramatically in the years ahead."
http://www.chronicle-tribune.com/news/stories/20021208/localnews/530340.html
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December 8, 2002: Montana: Guest Opinion: Devising solutions to nursing shortage:"There has been a significant amount of information presented recently on the current and future shortage of registered nurses in the Billings and Eastern Montana health-care system. Several meetings have been held to pull together accurate information about the needs and begin to identify possible solutions. We met last week with senior health-care administrators in Billings. We felt it was a most productive discussion of the concerns, obligations and opportunities before us and that we developed a solid foundation to work together in crafting solutions. We believe this is an appropriate time to present to the Billings community a summary of our efforts to address this growing need."
http://www.billingsgazette.com/index.php?id=1&display=rednews/2002/12/08/build/opinion/guestopinion.inc
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Sunday, December 8, 2002: Washington State: EvCC planning health care center:The goal is ambitious: Everett Community College wants to build an Education Center for Health Professions that would more than double the number of students studying health care within 10 years.
The means to get there are sketchy.
EvCC will need the help of area health care providers to make it work. The college will be measuring community support over the next few months.
"I think it's a very ambitious business proposal, and that is played off against a very serious shortage of health care professionals," said Stu Barger, the EvCC dean of instruction, who floated the idea by the college's board of trustees."
http://www.heraldnet.com/Stories/02/12/8/16185282.cfm
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Saturday, December 7, 2002: California: Local hospitals try to combat nurse shortage, Recruitment efforts include area colleges, nationwide searches:"The nursing shortage that threatens California will not spare Monterey County, Salinas-area hospital officials said this week.
"I don't see an end to it," said Raye Burkhardt, director of nursing at George L. Mee Memorial Hospital in King City. The state Employment Development Department estimates an additional 30,000 registered nurses will be needed in the next four years, far more than can be obtained through nursing schools and the hiring of nurses from other states and countries.
By 2010, there will be a demand for 109,600 additional registered nurses."
http://www.californianonline.com/news/stories/20021207/localnews/528043.html
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Saturday, December 07, 2002: Pennsylvania: Home-based nursing agency takes off for local LPN:"It all started four years ago with a simple idea. With the nursing shortage becoming a greater issue, Maggie Fortna decided to start her own business and run a nursing agency out of her home. After investing a lot of time and hard work, Hands-On Nursing has prospered beyond Fortna's wildest dreams. An addition to her 2035 Weavertown Road home that will serve as an office was recently completed. The office also serves as a measuring stick for how far the business has come: as many as 40 active nurses are referred out of the agency, and last year, a full-time human resources manager, Nicole Shifflett, was hired. Fortna celebrated her good fortune two weeks ago with a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new office. "It's really flourishing," said Fortna, who worked as an LPN before starting the business."< br> http://www.ldnews.com/Stories/0,1413,139%257E10140%257E1036538,00.html
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December 6, 2002: Hawaii: St. Francis seeks nurses, Hospital says dialysis care will be
jeopardized if nurses won't return:"St. Francis Medical Center charged yesterday that if the Hawaii Nurses Association does not release striking nurses to go back to work in the hospital's kidney dialysis and organ transplant areas, patient care may be compromised in the next few days.
"The health of the patients is now being placed in jeopardy," said Dr. Jared Sugihara, St. Francis medical director and also a specialist in the treatment of kidney diseases.
Dialysis patients at St. Francis are now being cared for by management nurses and dialysis technicians.
Even prior to the strike, there was a shortage of nurses trained in the field, Sugihara said. It also takes six weeks to train a dialysis nurse, he said."
http://starbulletin.com/2002/12/06/business/story1.html
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December 6, 2002: New Hampshire: Nursing Shortage Due To Inefficiency?
Report: New Supply Of Nurses Counterproductive:"Nurses don't spend enough time actually practicing nursing -- and that may be the reason behind the perceived nursing shortage, according to an article in this week's British Medical Journal.
Professor Steven Lewis said that evidence from the United States, Canada, and Germany found that nurses spend time performing functions not related to their professional skills, such as cleaning rooms or moving food trays.
Nurses also reported more pressure to take up management responsibility, taking them away from the direct care of patients, Lewis wrote."
http://www.thewmurchannel.com/health/1823842/detail.html
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December 6, 2002: Oregon: 1st contract eludes Milwaukie nurses:"Frustrated at what they perceive as the slow pace of contract negotiations, nurses at Providence Milwaukie Hospital took their case public Tuesday night at a forum convened by the Workers' Rights Board, an offshoot of Portland Jobs With Justice."
http://www.oregonlive.com/metrosouth/oregonian/index.ssf?/xml/story.ssf/html_standard.xsl?/base/metro_south_news/1039179402248065.xml
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December 6, 2002: South Africa:"Government Mulls Hiring Foreigners to Cover Shortage of Nurses:"NAMIBIA is negotiating with other governments in southern Africa about recruiting foreign nurses to fill vacancies created by increasing HIV-AIDS deaths and the resignation of staff, a senior administrator in the Ministry said this week.
Many nurses have resigned this year to take up better paying posts, mainly in the United Kingdom (UK), putting pressure on a health system already under strain.
Dr Norbert Forster, Under Secretary in the Ministry of Health and Social Services, told The Namibian that in some hospitals up to 30 per cent of posts in the category of enrolled nurses were vacant."
http://allafrica.com/stories/200212060221.html
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Friday, 6 December, 2002: United Kingdom: Nurses 'as good as trainee doctors':"Nurses are as good as trainee doctors when it comes to deciding whether patients should undergo surgery, a study suggests.
Researchers at the University of Southampton also found that suitably trained nurses were less likely to order unnecessary tests.
They said nurses should be given a greater role in assessing patients prior to operations."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/2546375.stm
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Dec 6 2002: United Kingdom, Wales: Red tape blamed for nurse shortages:"THE chronic shortage of nurses in Wales was last night blamed on the over-burdening mountain of red tape.
And the nation spends £15m a year - the cost of a community hospital - on agency nurses to fill in for professionals.
As the National Assembly launched a high-profile recruitment strategy yesterday to attract an extra 6,000 nurses by 2010, a professor claimed there were enough nurses but they spent too much time filling out forms.
The claim comes as some hospital managers admit that the cost of hiring temporary nursing staff is "crippling" them."
http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/0600uk/page.cfm?objectid=12430692&method=full&siteid=50082
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December 5, 2002: No End To Errors:"Three Years After a Landmark Report Found Pervasive Medical Mistakes in American Hospitals, Little has Been Done to Reduce Death and Injury
Instead, the report's conclusion that as many as 98,000 hospitalized Americans die every year and 1 million more are injured as a result of preventable medical errors that cost the nation an estimated $29 billion commanded attention in a way Leape and his co-authors never imagined...
As a result, experts contend, it's doubtful that patients checking into most of America's 5,200 hospitals today are any less likely to be killed or injured than they were on November 29, 1999, when the report was issued..."
http://talk.hoosiertimes.com/viewtopic.php?topic=4423&forum=7
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Dec. 05, 2002: DM Effort Helps Ailing Nursing Industry:"Nursing placement firm Onward Healthcare got better-than-expected results from a direct marketing campaign to sign up nurses for work assignments throughout the United States and Canada.
"There is a critical nursing shortage in the United States right now that currently totals 100,000 nurse openings that are not being filled," said Kevin Clark, Onward Healthcare's founder, chairman and CEO. His company "helps the hospital keep its beds open by finding qualified candidates that are willing to travel to one part of the country or another to work."
http://www.dmnews.com/cgi-bin/artprevbot.cgi?article_id=22345
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December 5, 2002: Hawaii: Kapiolani Nurses Approve Contract, Agreement Includes 22 Percent Raise Over Three Years:"Nurses at Kapiolani Medical Center for Women and Children ratified a proposed contract Wednesday night.
About 480 nurses who work at Kapiolani accepted the new contract.
Nurses said negotiations were difficult and some important issues have not been resolved."
http://www.thehawaiichannel.com/news/1821974/detail.html
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Thursday December 5, 2002: Canada: Ontario: Virus closes 2nd hospital ward:"A suspected outbreak of Norwalk virus continued to spread misery through the halls of Cambridge Memorial Hospital yesterday, forcing officials to close the general medical ward.
"We decided that we should not be admitting anybody else to the medical ward, so it is effectively closed to new admissions and new transfers," said Dr. Verne Glavin, an infectious disease specialist at the hospital.
http://www.therecord.com/news/news_02120583559.html
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December 5, 2002: United Kingdom: Nursing shortage might not exist:"Evidence from the United States, Canada, and Germany has found that nurses spend time performing functions not related to their professional skills, such as cleaning rooms or moving food trays. Nurses also reported more pressure to take up management responsibility, taking them away from the direct care of patients.
This means that, although a shortage of professional nursing may exist, a shortage of nurses might not. Nurses spend much of their time doing things that should be delegated to others and not enough of their time doing what they are educated to do. This is inefficient and demoralising and accounts for at least some of the widespread job dissatisfaction in the profession, says the author."
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2002-12/bmj-nsm120402.php
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December 4, 2002: Hospitals had 105,000 drug errors in 2001:"The nationwide nursing shortage clearly is impacting medication errors. Nearly half of the errors were caused at least in part by staffing issues, including increased workload and inexperience.
Unique problems were seen in emergency and pediatric departments. In the emergency rooms, more errors were not caught and caused harm to patients than in other hospital departments. This is likely due to a lack of pharmacy oversight that could catch some prescribing errors, Cousins said, noting emergency rooms also had higher numbers of prescribing and administrative errors."
http://www.upi.com/view.cfm?StoryID=20021204-025549-3827r
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December 4, 2002: California: Sutter hospital workers OK deal, The Roseville employees turn aside their union's plea to reject the pact:"Unionized workers at Sutter Roseville Medical Center voted Tuesday to ratify a new three-year contract. By approving the deal, they rejected their union's recommendation to go on strike Dec. 23 in a push for better wages and benefits and more input on hospital staffing decisions.
The Service Employees International Union, which represents 450 service and technical workers at the hospital, had recommended that its members reject the contract and approve a strike, which would have been the second walkout at Sutter since bargaining began in October."
http://www.sacbee.com/content/business/story/5460249p-6444687c.html
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December 4, 2002: Hawaii: State Nurses Eye Raises For Private Hospitals, Nurses Scheduled For Arbitration In January:"Hawaii's 1300 state nurses are watching closely to see what the outcome is of the private nurses' strikes at three Oahu hospitals.
More than 800 state nurses work at the state's 12 community hospitals. The rest are employed by the state mental hospital in Kaneohe or at public schools.
State nurses are scheduled to go arbitration in January for a new contract to begin in July."
http://www.thehawaiichannel.com/news/1820472/detail.html
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December 4, 2002: Hawaii: St. Francis Asks Some Nurses To Return, Nurses Say Hospital Can Do More:"St. Francis Medical Center Wednesday asked some of its striking nurses to go back to work because of an agreement reached with the Hawaii Nurses Association last month.
St. Francis is looking for nurses from certain departments.
"We need these nurses for our transplant and our renal dialysis patients," St. Francis spokeswoman Maggie Jarrett said."
http://www.thehawaiichannel.com/news/1820490/detail.html
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December 4, 2002: Hawaii: Queen's Nurses Report Run-Ins, Striking Nurses Say Staffing, PTO Major Issues:"Striking nurses at Queen's Medical Center said they've had run-ins with the replacement nurses flown in from the Mainland.
"They bus all of these replacement nurses in and what they're doing is making obscene gestures to our nurses on the line," striking nurse Lewis Hippach said."
http://www.thehawaiichannel.com/news/1820581/detail.html
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Wednesday, December 04, 2002: Massachusetts:"Nurses association pushes 'safe-staffing' law:"Registered nurses are asking the Legislature to set strict limits on the number of patients they are asked to care for at a time, in an effort to improve the quality of care in hospitals and to help recruit and retain nurses amid a critical statewide shortage.
The Massachusetts Nurses Association, which represents 18,000 of the state's registered nurses -- including nurses at HealthAlliance Hospital -- is lobbying for the so-called "safe staffing" legislation that would set specific nurse-to-patient ratios for all hospitals to follow."
http://www.sentinelandenterprise.com/Stories/0,1413,106%257E4994%257E1029176,00.html
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Wednesday, December 04, 2002: New Jersey: Bleak outlook for hospitals:"For the $13 billion industry, the cumulative effect of years of struggles means little can be invested in safety features such as computerized prescription ordering for patients, new technology, or building improvements.
"You begin to wonder what the impact will be on the quality of care,'' Carter said.
Meanwhile, costs are going up. The shortage of nurses and other health-care professionals has compelled hospitals to put more money into salaries and bonuses. And escalating premiums for malpractice insurance affect hospitals, because hospitals pay the premiums for their doctors and institutions."
http://www.bergen.com/page.php?level_3_id=7&page=5862976
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December 4, 2002: United Kingdom: MP shocked by cost of agency nurses:"Government health officials have been taken to task over the staggering cost of agency nurses at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital.
Last month an Evening News investigation revealed the Colney hospital spent more than £1m hiring agency nurses to plug gaps caused by staff shortages last year.
Norman Lamb, Liberal Democrat MP for North Norfolk, yesterday told Health Secretary Alan Milburn his NHS Professionals project to provide an affordable bank of nurses had failed."
http://www.eveningnews24.co.uk/content/News/story.asp?datetime=04+Dec+2002+12%3A02&tbrand=ENOnline&tCategory=NEWS&category=News&brand=ENOnline&itemid=NOED04+Dec+2002+12%3A03%3A27%3A600
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Tuesday, December 03, 2002: California: Hospital hopes job fair will help will nursing positions:"Arrowhead Regional Medical Center expects to fill at least 20 nursing positions today during a recruiting fair here.
The recruitment effort, the first of its kind being held at the county hospital, is in response to area growth and hospital expansion, said spokesman Jorge Valencia.
"This is a result of a large number of openings here,' he said. "We are hoping to fill more than 20 (nursing) positions."
http://www.sbsun.com/Stories/0,1413,208%257E12588%257E1028136,00.html
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December 03, 2002: Hawaiian Nurses in Labor Disputes:"Nurses at two Honolulu hospitals went on strike, while nurses at the state's largest hospital rejected the latest contract offer and were set to join their colleagues on picket lines Tuesday.
Nurses at The Queen's Medical Center rejected the latest offer "by an overwhelming margin," the Hawaii Nurses Association said in a news release.
http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/thrive/2002/dec/03/120305703.html
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December 3, 2002: Hawaii: Queen's Nurses Join Strike, 1,400 Nurses Walk Off Job:"Nurses at the state's largest hospital began striking Tuesday morning, making The Queen's Medical Center the third hospital where nurses are walking picket lines.
Queen's nurses Monday night rejected management's latest contract offer and began walking the picket line at 7 a.m.
They join nurses from St. Francis and Kuakini medical centers, who began picketing Monday morning.
An estimated 1,400 nurses are now on strike, and a union spokesman said he expects they'll be there for at least a few days."
http://www.thehawaiichannel.com/news/1817150/detail.html
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December 3, 2002: Australia: Aged-care crisis looms:"I AM a registered nurse with 10 years' experience in public hospitals who has recently begun working in a nursing home in this area.
Although we often hear of our ailing public hospital system, I am dismayed to discover the conditions in the aged-care sector are considerably worse.
Nursing staff in aged-care facilities receive 3 per cent less pay than public-sector colleagues. This, in turn, causes an ever greater shortage of nursing staff."
http://www.stgeorgesutherlandleader.com.au/read.asp?article=3071355.txt&s=news
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December 02, 2002: California: Eden township aids nursing shortage:"In an attempt to stave off a public health crisis, the Eden Township Healthcare District is boosting Cal State Hayward's efforts to educate future nurses.
The district, which helps govern Castro Valley's Eden Medical Center and oversees a $30 million endowment for local health and wellness programs, gave Cal State Hayward a $133,510 grant to expand its undergraduate nursing program.
That pays for recruitment, an additional teacher and 10 more students to complete the university's three-year program, which has about 200 students. The grant covers the costs, such as labs and tutoring, associated with the program's expansion. Those students still pay tuition."
http://www.theargusonline.com/Stories/0,1413,83%257E1971%257E1025009,00.html
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December 2, 2002: Hawaii: St. Francis, Kuakini Nurses Strike, St. Francis Lays Off 100 Workers:"Nurses at St. Francis and Kuakini medical centers hit the picket line at 7 a.m. Monday.
Last-minute contract negotiations continued late Sunday night, but did not keep nurses on the job.
Kuakini nurses said they rejected the latest offer from management. Kuakini's 212 nurses decided to strike after management offered them a take it or leave it proposal, union officials said.
The nurses said the proposal fell short on a medical benefits package for retirees and on the issue of staffing. They've heard management has flown in 100 nurses to care for patients, nurses said."
http://www.thehawaiichannel.com/news/1814340/detail.html
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December 2, 2002: Indiana: Server readies reform bill, Violence in nursing homes a growing concern:"Other factors noted in the report include inadequate training in the proper use of medications to control behavior, insufficient early assessment and treatment of mental health conditions before people are admitted to a nursing facility and a shortage of geriatric mental health professionals in nursing homes.
The report said aggressive behavior is a problem among a "large pool" of nursing home residents with diagnosed mental illness, dementia, health problems and those with a history of violence or criminal behavior. The problem is expected to increase as the state population ages and more people suffer from dementia."
http://www.myinky.com/ecp/news/article/0,1626,ECP_734_1581923,00.html
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Monday, December 2, 2002: Washington State: Lacking faculty, nursing students turned away:"The call light is on at Washington's acute-care hospitals, but hundreds of would-be nurses are stuck at the front doors of schools, waiting to begin their training.
It's an unexpected plot twist in the story of the severe nursing shortage in Washington state and across the country: Thousands of students are clamoring to enter the nursing profession, but schools are forced to turn many of them away because of a dearth of qualified faculty."
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/98060_nursing02.shtml
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December 2, 2002: Washington State: Looking for a new career? Health-care jobs plentiful:"The nursing shortage is known. State hospitals report it is difficult to recruit experienced registered nurses, while the population of Washington is aging and growing. At this point, a nurse in every family might not be enough.
Exacerbating the nursing crisis is an across-the-board shortage of health-care workers. For every nurse needed, even more support positions in the industry are in demand -- from nursing assistants to medical office workers. Health care employers can't find qualified people to fill the positions that most directly affect your health-care experience, from the way you are greeted to settling your bill, at the doctor's and dentist's office, at the hospital and pharmacy."
http://heraldnet.com/Stories/02/12/2/16044167.cfm?cityid=24
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Dec. 02, 2002: Wisconsin State: Colleges establish waiting lists for nursing students:"Interest in field grows with news of shortage, poor economy:"Wisconsin's technical colleges are failing to meet the demand of thousands of students trying to enter nursing programs causing some to establish waiting lists.
With about 6,000 seats available in nursing classes on the 16 technical college campuses in the Wisconsin Technical College System, demand for those classes is running three or four times greater, said Richard Carpenter, president of the system.
Interest in nursing has surged in recent years because of reports of a nursing shortage in health care and because of the promise of good-paying jobs in an otherwise sagging economy."
http://www.wisinfo.com/heraldtimes/news/archive/local_7373558.shtml
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December 1, 2002: California State: Hospital takes big step forward
Ground to be broken for Simi tower:"As the neighborhood around Simi Valley Hospital gears up for its expansion, so does hospital staff, particularly when it comes to staffing and employee morale. Peterson, who arrived at Simi Hospital in July 2000, is dealing with a nursing shortage that has spread nationwide and is overhauling practices and procedures to attract nurses and find ways to get them to stay. She began her career as a nurse and believes money is not the only incentive for nurses to stay.
Strong leadership, a challenging workplace and procedures that will allow nurses to "work smarter, not harder" are as important as a paycheck, Peterson said. She also believes in recognition for nurses and all of the medical staff for the work they do, seven days a week, 24 hours a day. As a measure of appreciation on Thanksgiving, Peterson and Cheryl Nance, newly appointed hospital vice president and chief nurse executive, returned to work at 11:30 p.m. on the eve of Thanksgiving to serve a holiday dinner to hospital staff on the night shift."
http://www.insidevc.com/vcs/sv/article/0,1375,VCS_239_1580844,00.html
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Sun, Dec. 01, 2002: Florida: Foreign physicians take up nursing as they resettle in U.S.:"Edwin Vides was a doctor in his native Colombia. Next year he will become a registered nurse, helping to ease the nursing shortage in South Florida.
Vides, 30, practiced in Yopal, a city of 90,000 in the shadow of the Andes, before political turmoil and guerrilla activity drove him to Miami in 2000.
He is among 40 foreign physicians - chosen out of 500 applicants from Cuba, Haiti, Romania, Central America, the Caribbean and Africa - accepted into the first accelerated physician-to-nursing program in the nation at Florida International University School of Nursing."
http://www.centredaily.com/mld/centredaily/news/4642809.htm
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December 1, 2002: Mariana Islands: Agency gets CHC extension contract:"Paras Enterprises president Juan Guerrero said he obtained a copy of the contract signed by Gov. Juan N. Babauta last Friday.
He said, though, that the government has not paid him its debt, which now totals to nearly $600,000.
Since Sept. 30, the Department of Public Health has not settled its accounts with its staffing agencies. The department has other contracts with SEAS Inc. for 70 nursing personnel, and Marianas Health Services for about 10 staff."
http://www.tribune.co.mp/index.cfm?Display=yes&ID=24412
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Sat, Nov. 30, 2002: California grapples with critical nursing shortage:"Lark Galloway-Gilliam is convinced that California's nursing shortage contributed to her father's death.
Although he was 89, the Los Angeles health care advocate believes the stress of poor care during a hospital stay about a month earlier caused his heart failure in August. At one point, Galloway-Gilliam said she went to find a nurse and found no one at the nursing station.
``You'd hear the little machines beeping, beeping, beeping, the alarms, and nobody was watching,'' she said."
http://www.bayarea.com/mld/bayarea/news/4637680.htm
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Sat, Nov. 30, 2002: South Carolina: University puts program under knife:"South Carolina State University is overhauling its troubled nursing program, half of whose graduates failed the state nursing exam last spring.
"We have revised the curriculum, we have restructured the courses, we have changed the clinical experience, we have hired faculty," said Leola Adams, dean of the School of Applied Professional Sciences.
"I'm looking for a sustained, high level of success on the exam, and we're doing everything we can to make sure that happens."
The school's nursing department is struggling amid a statewide nursing shortage that is expected to worsen as the population ages and many nurses retire. The majority-black Orangeburg campus also is a potential source of black nurses at a time when their numbers lag behind the state's minority population.
Nationwide from 1998 through 2000, about 89 percent of recent nursing graduates passed the National Council Licensing Examination the first time they took it. It's the test that lets them put "R.N." after their names, for "registered nurse."
http://www.thestate.com/mld/thestate/news/local/4634852.htm
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November 30, 2002: Washington State: Education seen as key in health care worker shortage:"While Washington residents struggle with the highest unemployment rate in the nation, health care jobs are going unfilled.
And many who would like those jobs cannot get the education needed to qualify for them, according to a legislative task force appointed to find solutions to the state's severe shortage of health care workers.
The task force plans to recommend the state invest in more health care education offerings at colleges and universities despite the high cost of such programs, said William Gray, dean of Washington State University Spokane and vice chairman of the Health Care Personnel Shortage Task Force."
http://www.tri-cityherald.com/news/2002/1130/story2.html
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November 29, 2002: Ohio: Dozens of new recruits are flocking to Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, filling gaps in nursing, anesthesiology and radiology:"We're hiring like crazy," CEO James Anderson said.
In the past four months, Children's has hired 136 nurses — 60 percent more than the entire number of nurses hired in fiscal 2002."
http://cincinnati.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/stories/2002/12/02/story6.html
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November 27, 2002: Florida, Jacksonville: JU teams with hospital to teach nurses:"Jacksonville University and Flagler Hospital recently formed a partnership to help address Florida's critical shortage of nurses. JU's School of Nursing began offering a BSN-to-MSN program at the hospital this semester, and will begin an RN-to-BSN program in January."
http://jacksonville.bizjournals.com/jacksonville/stories/2002/11/25/daily17.html
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November 27, 2002: Hawaii: Hospitals Prepare For Nurses' Walkout, Kapiolani, Kaiser Plan To Hire Nurses From Mainland:"Three of Oahu's five largest hospitals released plans Wednesday to scale back services in case nurses walk off the job on Monday.
Hospital plans breakdown:
Kapiolani plans to hire some nurses from the Mainland to help during a strike.
Kapiolani officials said they plan to continue full services for high-risk pregnancies and neonatal and pediatric intensive care units."
http://www.thehawaiichannel.com/news/1811190/detail.html
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November 27, 2002: Michigan Attorney General to Investigate Scabs' Credentials:"On November 21, The State of
Michigan's Department of the Attorney General requested a list of names of all
replacement nurses at Northern Michigan Hospital in Petoskey, Michigan.
Members of the Petoskey community are concerned that they, or members of their
families, might be receiving nursing care from staff that is not licensed."
http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/11-27-2002/0001849230&EDATE=
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Wednesday, November 27, 2002: Australia: Concern over aged care in NT:"We certainly are very, very short of nurses in aged care at the moment for a number of reasons," he said.
"The two main ones that nurses are telling us is the pay inequity with aged care nurses at least about $100 behind the basic registered nurse wage and the other thing is as a reflection of the shortage is the fact that workloads are huge at the moment."
http://abc.net.au/news/newsitems/s736142.htm
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Tuesday, November 26, 2002: Alaska State: Fund-raiser aims to help nurses:"Nurse numbers on the Kenai Peninsula could get a boost as funds were raised to support nursing education, and a new class of nurses may be set to start as early as January.
About $15,000 was raised to start a fund to benefit prospective nursing students on the peninsula. An assortment of peninsula health care organizations that depend on nurses hosted a fund-raising event Nov. 15 at the Kenai Senior Citizens Center. The goal was to create either grants or loan programs to assist with schooling.
"There is a critical nursing shortage on the peninsula," said Linda Flowers, director of the Forget-Me-Not Care Center. "We are trying to raise (these) funds so that it becomes a self-supporting fund."
http://www.peninsulaclarion.com/stories/112602/new_1126020007.shtml
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Tuesday, November 26, 2002: Georgia: Nursing shortage becoming serious:"The nursing shortage is becoming serious, according to reports from both Decatur County and District Health officials at the Tuesday Board of Health meeting.
"It looks like we're facing another nursing shortage in Georgia," said Dr. Paul Newell, District Health Director for Southwest Georgia. "Hospitals are starting to experience the crunch. We are in the process of recruiting, with difficulty, for about 15 nurses. Our pay scales are not at the level of the hospitals, so we don't compete well on pay, and that makes recruitment rather difficult."
In the county, Decatur County Health Director Charles Taylor said he has several positions left vacant."
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=6198337&BRD=2068&PAG=461&dept_id=387472&rfi=6
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November 26, 2002: Hawaii: Kapiolani Nurses Consider Final Offer, St. Francis Dialysis Patients Could Face Changes To Schedules:"Kapiolani Medical Center nurses began voting Tuesday night on whether to reject or accept what is described as management's last offer of a new working contract.
The nurses at Kapiolani will complete their vote Wednesday.
The talks are entering a critical stage with the Nov. 30 deadline.
That deadline is cause for some concern for patients who depend on specialized care.
At Kapiolani its high risk mothers and infants are a concern, while across town at St. Francis Hospital kidney dialysis is critical for some 1,100 patients statewide."
http://www.thehawaiichannel.com/news/1808822/detail.html
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Nov. 26, 2002: Wisconsin: Nurses from India help relieve shortage:"Covenant Healthcare System has recruited 108 nurses from India in response to a severe nursing shortage in Wisconsin and around the country.
The nurses are expected to arrive within a year, according to Bob Scott, director of human resources for Cov-enant's Brookfield hospital, Elmbrook Memorial.
The hospital group is now spending $17 million a year hiring temporary nurses to fill the vacancies.
The effort marks the first time an area hospital has sought out such a large group of foreign nurses to help fill the critical need for bedside care. The nurses have agreed to work for three years."
http://www.wisinfo.com/heraldtimes/news/archive/local_7272840.shtml
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Nov 26 2002: West Indies: Barbados: Rice-Bowen calls on Govt to rectify nursing shortage:
Speaking during Sunday's DLP Independence Rally, Rice-Bowen suggested that bringing workers from overseas was an ill-advised solution, explaining that a number of other alternatives should have been considered first.
Wouldn't it have made more sense," she said, "to upgrade the salary structure for nursing, improve the working conditions and keep our nurses at home?"
She further intimated that these measures would serve a dual purpose: not only would they encourage greater interest in the field, she said, but there would also be a subsequent increase the training capacity of the Barbados Community College (BCC). "
http://www.barbadosadvocate.com/NewViewNewsleft.cfm?Record=10885
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Tuesday, 26 November 2002: Australia: Pink power in Bega:"PINK Power was displayed in Bega on Thursday in Ayres Walkway as local aged care nurses joined the state-wide day of action to highlight their concerns to the public, families, employers and governments.
Over 1,600 people signed the petition at the Ayres Walkway stall.
They were told that there is inadequate funding to enable very caring staff who love the work they are doing to provide the level of care that aged people deserve.
Ms Jo Dixon, one of the Bega nurses, said that "these people have worked hard all their lives and deserve to have appropriately qualified and experienced staff to look after the sicker residents in care."
http://bega.yourguide.com.au/detail.asp?class=news&subclass=local&category=general%20news&story_id=194125&y=2002&m=11
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November 26, 2002: South Africa: Johannesburg: Rocketing Operating Costs to Blame for Hospital Rates Increase:"There is an increasing shortage of professional nurses who are emigrating to earn dollar or sterling-based salaries.
"To retain them, we offer education and training at the Afrox College of Nursing and ensure salaries remain at acceptable rates."
Fleming says that salaries account for 60% of the company's hospital overheads, or 32% of revenue."
http://allafrica.com/stories/200211260098.html
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November 26, 2002: United Kingdom: News Analysis: Why foreign nurses hold the nation's health in their hands:"They are of all colours, all backgrounds and from all points of the globe. Some come for love, some for money, some for a better life but they are all here for one purpose – to keep our hospitals, surgeries and care homes going.
They are the overseas nurses on whom the National Health Service now depends and, though they might not realise it, they hold the future of the Labour Government and the Prime Minister in their hands.
Tony Blair has staked his political future on the survival of the NHS. He has invested huge sums to maintain and improve it, sums so large that they are close to the limit of what can be spent. His biggest problem in keeping promises to cut waiting lists, increase the number of patients treated and improve the quality of care is not, any longer, money. It is people."
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/health/story.jsp?story=355917
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Monday, November 25, 2002: Arkansas: WRMC's nursing staff head steps up recruiting efforts:"A many pronged approach should keep Washington Regional Medical Center ahead of the field in its efforts to retain and recruit nurses, the center's new chief executive nurse said last week.
Penelope Smith came to WRMC in September after serving in a similar capacity at St. Mary's Hospital in Russellville for 10 years. During her 28 years as a nurse, she has come to specialize in nurse recruitment and retention and has won several awards for her efforts. "I believe in staying current and thinking 'out of the box.' I'm not afraid to try new things," Smith said.
Her skills are in demand because of a nationwide nursing shortage which Smith said is caused by a shrinking number of people going into nursing coupled with a much wider array of places that nurses can work."
http://nwanews.com/times/story_news.php?storyid=101399
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Monday, November 25, 2002: Illinois: Sauk Valley: Ambulance firm nears two decades of service:"Last year Advance EMS started specialty care transport, which enables a paramedic to administer nitroglycerin, heprain and other emergency cardiac care drugs to patients while on the way to a hospital.
"It's an answer to the nursing shortage many of the hospitals have been having," Rogers said.
Many times Advance EMS would have to pull a nurse away from KSB to go along for the ride and administer the drugs."
http://www.saukvalley.com/300016224509386.bsp
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November 25, 2002: New York State: Senate Considers Nursing Doctorate, Columbia's institution of the degree would be the first such program in the U.S.:"The best-trained nurses in the country may soon have a new title--doctor.
The University Senate on Friday debated a proposal to create a new doctorate of nursing practice, a degree that would prepare nurses to be primary care providers. Nurses can already earn research doctorates, the rough equivalents of Ph.D degrees, but the proposed degree would be the first doctorate aimed at practicing nurses offered anywhere in the country.
Continuing a recent trend, the often docile Senate debated the proposal at length, spending most of an unusually long meeting on the topic. For the second straight month, the Senate debated the resolution but did not vote on it, making the proposed degree the most fully debated topic since the Sexual Misconduct Policy three years ago."
http://www.columbiaspectator.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2002/11/25/3de1df38bd3d8
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Nov. 25, 2002: Wisconsin: Would-be nurses overwhelm colleges, Long waiting list prompts WCTC to halt admissions:"Despite a nursing shortage that has health care providers desperate for workers, Wisconsin's technical colleges are faltering in meeting the demand of thousands of students trying to enter the profession. Inadequate classroom space and insufficient numbers of teachers have forced several colleges to establish waiting lists that are idling students - in some cases for two to three years - before letting them into the classroom.
The situation threatens to aggravate a statewide nursing shortage that already has some Wisconsin hospitals taking drastic action to recruit nurses - with some hospitals hiring nurses from India to fill shortages.
"
http://www.jsonline.com/news/state/nov02/98887.asp
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November 24, 2002: California, Eden helps CSUH fund its program:"In an attempt to stave off a public health crisis, the Eden Township Healthcare District is boosting Cal State Hayward's efforts to educate future nurses. The district, which helps govern Castro Valley's Eden Medical Center and oversees a $30 million endowment for local health and wellness programs, gave Cal State Hayward a $133,510 grant to expand its undergraduate nursing program. That pays for recruitment, an additional teacher and 10 more students to complete the university's three-year program, which has about 200 students. The grant covers the costs, such as labs and tutoring, associated with the program's expansion. Those students still pay tuition. http://www.trivalleyherald.com/Stories/0,1413,86%257E10669%257E1010998,00.html
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November 24, 2002: Florida: Nursing, anyone? In desperation, many local hospitals are making the training practically free:"Facing a shortage of nurses, six hospitals in Pasco and Hernando took dramatic action. In 2000, they offered a free nursing education at Pasco-Hernando Community College to up to 150 students who would, in return, commit to work at one of their facilities after graduation.
Only 24 people initially enrolled.
"When you're turning down more than $3,000 in fees and books, even if you've got the money to pay for the course work, that doesn't make a lot of sense to me," said PHCC president Bob Judson.
But it speaks volumes about why there are not enough nurses to meet demand. For many nurses, the quality of professional life is low; they work odd hours; many complain of getting little respect; they're frequently overworked because of chronic understaffing; they have to deal with blood, body fluids and the pressure of having someone's health in their hands."
http://www.sptimes.com/2002/11/24/Pasco/Nursing__anyone.shtml
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November 24, 2002: Oklahoma: Spread pretty thin:"Previously thought of as a dignified profession or medical field secondary area, nursing is a major industry today, seeking to meet America's current and future health demands.
To get an idea of nursing opportunities, look in the classifieds' Help Wanted section of Sunday newspapers throughout the country.
In a Sunday edition of the News & Eagle earlier this month, for example, approximately 25 nursing positions, ranging from the city's two major hospitals to opportunities in neighboring states, were available to be filled immediately."
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?BRD=175&dept_id=414652&newsid=6169384&PAG=461&rfi=9
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November 24, 2002: New York, Rochester: Curing the Nursing Shortage:"On a Sunday afternoon, you wouldn't expect to find University of Rochester Nursing School staff working on recruitment issues. But with today's nursing shortage, that's one of the things they have to do. Some of the new programs at the school target those with bachelor's degrees in other fields. Many of those candidates work full-time so weekends are one of the only times they can effectively recruit.
Nationwide the nursing shortage is extreme. In 1995 96,438 people took the exam to become an RN. But six years later in 2001 that number had dropped to 68,759."
http://www.wroctv.com/news/story.asp?id=7236&r=l
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November 24, 2002: Texas, Amarillo: In high demand, Nurses needed but duties, salaries not appealing:"Bickerstaff worked for 21 years as an Amarillo hospital staff nurse and then as a certified lactation consultant. During that time, she saw the health-care industry become more competitive. She saw her duties change as layoffs led to what she saw as a nursing shortage.
She found herself performing patient care more and more because the staff had less and less help, she said.
Now the only thing she misses about being a nurse is the babies she took care of, she said."
http://www.amarillonet.com/stories/112402/new_inhighdemand.shtml
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November 24, 2002: Texas, Del Rio: Physician responds to 'rape kit' article:"As a physician speaking on behalf of those serving you here in Del Rio, I have no second thoughts about sending a sexual abuse victim to a facility who has the proper personnel to treat their injuries-just as I have no second thoughts about air-lifting a critical patient to a more sophisticated and specialized facility. Sexual assault victims need to be treated as critical patients, because they are. That is why we get them to a center that can provide them with the highest caliber of care.
So, how do we address this issue? It all boils down to funding for staffing and basic economics. As a regional hospital, we need help filling our nursing shortage. My statement today is how I hope to help; I ask you to do the same. Encourage your elected officials, locally and statewide, to get rural hospitals such as Val Verde Regional Medical Center the needed nursing and medical personnel through the implementation of effective legislation and policy."
http://news.delrionewsherald.com/report.lasso?wcd=3299
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November 24, 2002: Wisconsin, Milwaukee: Covenant hires India nurses, Recruiting effort responds to its 15% vacancy rate:"The Covenant Healthcare System has recruited 108 nurses from India to help overcome a 15% vacancy rate among its registered nurse ranks. The nurses are expected to arrive in nine months to a year, according to Bob Scott, director of human resources for Covenant's Brookfield hospital, Elmbrook Memorial. The India effort marks the first time an area hospital has sought out such a large group of foreign nurses to help fill the critical need for bedside care. The Indian nurses have agreed to work here for three years."
http://www.jsonline.com/bym/news/nov02/98493.asp
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November 24, 2002: Wyoming: State faces severe nursing shortage:"Wyoming is on the verge of a severe nursing shortage unless the state starts paying them better, the head of the American Nurses Association said.
"Wyoming pays nurses the lowest salary in the nation," Barbara Blakeney told attendees Friday at the Wyoming Heritage Foundation's annual public forum in Casper. "They are paid less than nurses in Puerto Rico and Guam." By 2005, Wyoming will have 1,200 fewer nurses than providers need, or a 30 percent shortage, Blakeney said. By 2010, that shortage could worsen to 45 percent and balloon to 63 percent by 2020.
Only 134 graduates took the registered nurse's licensing exam in Wyoming last year. The top reason graduates gave for leaving the state was poor pay, Blakeney said."
http://www.billingsgazette.com/index.php?id=1&display=rednews/2002/11/24/build/wyoming/50-nursing.inc
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November 24 2002: Australia, Melbourne: Surgery on Tuesday, room service by Thursday:"On a Tuesday morning Tim Jones had brain surgery - a delicate three-and-a-half-hour microsurgical procedure to remove a tumour from his pituitary gland, located just behind the nose, at the base of the brain.
Two days later, Royal Melbourne Hospital staff gave the 28-year-old patient a Cabcharge docket and sent him to Rydges Hotel, nearby in Flemington Road."
http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2002/11/23/1037697934131.html
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Saturday, November 23, 2002: Connecticut: Nursing shortage erodes patient care quality:"A lack of training facilities and poor working conditions within the profession are contributing to the serious nursing shortage in the country and in the region, a nursing specialist told a symposium on the problem Friday.
Rebecca Rice, National Deputy Director of Colleagues in Caring in Washington, told a group of 80 professionals at the University of Connecticut at Avery Point that a national study done in 2000 showed there will be a 55 percent gap between supply and demand in the nursing profession by 2020."
http://www.norwichbulletin.com/news/stories/20021123/localnews/430343.html
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November 22, 2002: Alabama: Jackson hospital OKs $1M in salary raises, Employees can expect hikes averaging 5.5% in December, January:"If we expect to retain our loyal employees and recruit new ones . . . we have to compensate (them) as close as we can to the level of our competitors,'' said Doyle Robertson of Hollytree, chairman of the county Health Care Authority.
Chief Executive Officer Tom Lackey said the decision was difficult but necessary. ''There is a nationwide shortage of nurses that is expected to last several more years.'' Lackey said there is also a shortage of workers in other health care fields."
http://www.al.com/news/huntsvilletimes/index.ssf?/xml/story.ssf/html_standard.xsl?/base/news/1038046678203610.xml
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November 22, 2002: Arizona: High school-hospital connection helps students stay in school:"When she was a freshman at Maryvale High School, Griselda Herrera was failing.
"I would never come to school, and I was cutting all my classes," said the 17-year-old junior. Some of her friends told her about an after-school nursing program where they were having fun as volunteers at Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center in Phoenix."
http://phoenix.bizjournals.com/phoenix/stories/2002/11/25/story4.html
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November 22, 2002: California: Nurse ratio may rise at Good Samaritan:"A decrease in patient volume at Good Samaritan Hospital has caused a reorganization in staff that could result in the elimination of nursing positions.
Overall patient volume at the San Jose hospital has decreased about 20 percent this year compared with last year, and women's health services patient volume has decreased about 33 percent, says Julie Clayton, chief nursing officer for Good Samaritan.
"We are trying to better match our staff with our patient volume," she says."
http://sanjose.bizjournals.com/sanjose/stories/2002/11/25/story2.html
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November 22, 2002: Californians Weigh In On Nurse Staffing Plan:"The scene outside the Los Angeles building where the California Department of Health Services (DHS) held a public hearing recently typified a labor dispute. Unionized registered nurses wearing red shirts held picket signs that read, "All-RN ratios save lives" as TV crews searched for sound bites.
The mood inside was decidedly different. People -- some of them nurses who had held a daylong strike the previous day in Long Beach -- took turns at the podium, offering their thoughts about landmark California legislation proposing a one-to-five nurse-to-patient ratio on acute-care hospitals' general medical floors."
http://www.stateline.org/story.do?storyId=273142
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November 22, 2002: California: Teachers now vital in curing nursing gap:"No one's ready to declare they've solved the escalating nursing shortage just yet. But some East Bay nursing programs say the number of qualified applicants is growing and has begun to surpass the spaces available. Adding classrooms won't solve the problem, though. A nursing instructor shortage that has nagged the industry for years is worsening, leaving educators wondering: Who will teach the students and where will colleges find the money to expand programs?"
http://eastbay.bizjournals.com/eastbay/stories/2002/11/25/story1.html
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Friday, November 22, 2002: New Jersey: Easton Hospital reveals major expansion plan,
Community Health Systems to invest $70 million:"The emergency room is sometimes closed to ambulance traffic because the hospital can't "get patients upstairs," Catena said. A nursing shortage has the hospital aggressively recruiting nurses, and hospital officials are hoping to create more single-bed rooms.
Patients are requesting single-occupancy rooms, Wildrick said. About 25 percent of the hospital's beds are single-occupancy, but officials would like to get that up to 60 percent single-occupancy, he said."
http://www.nj.com/news/expresstimes/pa/index.ssf?/base/news-3/1037959552139340.xml
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Nov. 22, 2002: Ohio: Nursing near crisis, dean warns:"Capers blamed the shortage on:
An inaccurate image of nurses that doesn't recognize their training and important role in patient care.
An increase in career options for women.
Declining enrollment in nursing schools. It's dropped 36 percent in Ohio since 1995.
The ``graying'' of the nursing work force as many registered nurses near retirement age.
A lack of men considering nursing as a profession.
Inadequate salaries to compensate for the level of training required to become a nurse.
Dissatisfaction among nurses because of inadequate staffing, heavy workloads and increased overtime."
http://www.ohio.com/mld/ohio/news/local/4579350.htm
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November 22, 2002: Wisconsin: Nursing shortage may be ending soon:"The shortage of nurses at Cadillac's Mercy Hospital, which led the hospital to contract nurses, may soon be coming to an end.
Several years ago, the hospital began experiencing the impact of a nationwide shortage of trained nurses. Approximately two years ago, permanent replacements for nurses became increasingly hard to come by, so the hospital began contracting additional staff.
The number of contracted nurses on duty depends on the day; nine were working at the hospital Wednesday.
Mary L. Neff, vice president for patient care services at the hospital, said the hospital hopes to have a full nursing staff in the spring."
http://cadillacnews.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=6152415&BRD=2061&PAG=461&dept_id=376393&rfi=6
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November 22, 2002: Australia: Nurses' test case before court:"The case, before the NSW Industrial Relations Commission, will put to the test plans by the area health service to replace qualified nursing managers with bureaucrats.
The nurses will argue that at a time when NSW faces a critical shortage of trained nurses it makes no sense to further erode nursing career structures by allowing managers with no nursing experience to take the clinical leadership role in hospitals."
http://www.illawarramercury.com.au/articles/2002/11/22/1037697852930.html
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November 21, 2002: Hawaii: Three Oahu Hospitals Face Nurses' Strike Notice, Nurses' Contract Expires Nov. 30:"The Hawaii Nurses Association intends to deliver a 10-day strike notices to three hospitals: Kapiolani Medical Center for Women and Children, Kuakini Hospital and St. Francis Medical Center.
Negotiators for the nurses union and St. Francis went back to the bargaining table Thursday afternoon.
HNA represents 409 nurses within the St. Francis system.
Nurses at five major hospitals have given the union the authorization to call a strike if talks break down."
http://www.thehawaiichannel.com/news/1800831/detail.html
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Thursday, November 21, 2002: Michigan, Port Huron: College's health-career fair draws record numbers:"The four-hour job fair for prospective nurses and medical support staff attracted about 175 job seekers and 29 employers -- a record turnout, college officials said.
The Port Huron college, which has had an annual fall health-career fair since the early 1990s, for the second year in a row opened the event to the public.
A similar career day aimed at jobs outside the health-care field will be in April, officials said."
http://www.thetimesherald.com/news/stories/20021121/localnews/416862.html
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November 21, 2002: Minnesota: Volunteen joins students, hospital in health care:"She attends each patient on her watch, gently knocking on doors to get patients their water or stopping in to just talk with someone who hasn't had a visitor. Delivering meals to patients is one of Harper's duties, but she also has to keep track of how much each patient eats and report that information to the nurses.
"I know some of the patients are lonely, so they appreciate it when I visit with them," Harper said."
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=6141442&BRD=2175&PAG=461&dept_id=457555&rfi=6
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November 21, 2002: New York (Western) WATERS OF AURORA PARK BEGINS NEW NURSE TRAINING WITH BOCES:"The facility, which was corporate headquarters for The Waters, offers a large classroom and kitchen. The students will be able to continue studies and become CNA's as well as LPN's.
"There's such a need for this type of program for us and the students," said Rhoneda Maury, director of Nursing. "With the shortage of nurses in the field of nursing homes and health care in general, this will be a great help to us if the students want to work for us."
The Waters of Aurora Park is the second largest nursing home in Western New York with 320 residents."
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?BRD=984&dept_id=141131&newsid=6145437&PAG=461&rfi=9
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Nov. 21, 2002: Texas, Houston: Study: Clogged trauma care leads to deaths:"It showed that between July 1999 and June 2001, about 25 percent of the patients with severe injuries who required transfer to a major trauma center died on days when both Ben Taub and Memorial Hermann diverted ambulances to other facilities.
On days when diversion was not as large a factor, Begley said, only 14.4 percent of severely injured transfer patients died.
Ben Taub and Memorial Hermann are the city's only two Level 1 trauma centers -- the places best equipped to handle patients involved in auto and industrial accidents, shootings, and stabbings."
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/story.hts/metropolitan/1671238
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November 20, 2002: California: Nurses: Toughen up new state law:"Charging that staffing shortages are hurting the nursing profession and shortchanging patients, hundreds of nurses rallied Tuesday for a new law requiring hospitals to boost the ratio of registered nurses to patients.
The rally was held outside the State Building, where the Department of Health Services held hearings on a new law requiring minimum ratios of licensed nurses in California."
http://www.examiner.com/news/default.jsp?story=n.nurses.1120w
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November 20, 2002: California, San Francisco: Nurses get tough Hospitals ask for a break on staffing ratios:"Testifying before a largely hostile audience, hospital administrators told state officials at a hearing Tuesday that California's nursing shortage may undercut efforts to implement the state's proposed nurse-to-patient ratios.
"Our biggest concern is the fact that we have in California the biggest shortage of nurses in the country. Only Nevada has fewer nurses" in proportion to its total population, Jan Emerson, a spokeswoman for the California Healthcare Association, said in an interview after the hearing."
http://www.sacbee.com/content/politics/story/5272341p-6277895c.html
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November 20, 2002: Hawaii: Queen's Nurses Authorize Strike, Three Hospitals Face Strike Votes Wednesday:"Nurses at Queen's Medical Center authorized a strike vote Tuesday night, meaning they could walk off the job as early as Dec. 1.
Nurses at Kaiser hospital systems and Queen's overwhelmingly approved to strike.
Their contracts expire at the end of the month.
Nurses at Queen's said pay, mandatory overtime and staffing concerns are major issues."
http://www.thehawaiichannel.com/news/1797361/detail.html
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November 20, 2002: Ohio: High-tech: Kent-Tusc dedicates new building:"Bill Harding, president and CEO of Union Hospital at Dover, is a member of the advisory group for the nursing program and was pleased with the leap in technology.
"We're most interested in the nursing program," Harding said. "That's our largest single category of employees, and there's a national nursing shortage. We're the largest clinical affiliate for students here. We have more nurses from Kent State-Tuscarawas than any other nursing program in the country, so it's critically important to us."
http://www.timesreporter.com/left.php?ID=13967&r=0
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Tuesday, 19th November 2002: Prescription, Quite Simply, Was a Nurse:"Mr. M. was in his 70's, a retiree incapacitated by depression and chronic pain. Every few weeks, he would totter into his doctor's office and beg for something, anything, to ease his intractable headaches. Every month, he would plead with his psychiatrist for something to lift his spirits.
Over time, he accumulated quite a few amber bottles whose potent contents should not have been combined, but he was desperate for relief. He landed in the emergency room, comatose from an accidental prescription-drug overdose."
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/11/19/health/policy/19CASE.html
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November 19, 2002: Hawaii: Kaiser Nurses Vote To Strike:"The Hawaii Nurses' Association announced Tuesday that the nurses at Kaiser Medical Centers voted to authorize a strike.
HNA will next issue a 10-day strike notice to the hospitals.
The two sides are scheduled to resume negotiations on Wednesday and the following week with a federal mediator.
The nurses' current contract that expires on Nov. 30 has a no-strike clause. By issuing the 10-day strike notice to the hospital, the nurses could possibly strike on Dec. 1."
http://www.thehawaiichannel.com/news/1795592/detail.html
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November 19, 2002: Oregon: LPNs could help relieve shortage:"For years I have been trying to bolster the profession of the licensed practical nurse (LPN). LPNs are being discriminated against by the dominant registered nurses. With the "critical nursing shortage," one would think that the hospital and care centers would be doing everything they could to encourage and support nurses (both LPNs and RNs); however, that is not the case."
http://www.oregonlive.com/letters/oregonian/index.ssf?/xml/story.ssf/html_standard.xsl?/base/editorial/1037710577104190.xml
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November 19, 2002: Oregon, Salem: Local man takes part in campaign for nurses:"The nursing profession is looking for a few good men to fill its ranks, and it's using a local man to help in the search.
Yuri Chavez is one of several male nurses featured on posters throughout the United States in a campaign to encourage men to consider nursing as a career.
The caption on the poster reads: "Are you man enough to be a nurse?"
Chavez, a nurse anesthetist at Silverton Hospital, has been in the field for 12 years. The 39-year-old said he never really considered it would lead to a stint in modeling.
His co-workers, friends and family have been positive about the poster, he said, and he hopes it helps the campaign.
"No. 1, it will raise awareness for men that this is a viable career and they can still have all the characteristics of being a man and still be a nurse," he said."
http://news.statesmanjournal.com/article.cfm?i=52052
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November 19, 2002: Pennsylvania, Harrisburg: Nurses' publicity stunt backs minimum-staffing legislation:"A group of registered nurses packed an ambulance bound for Harrisburg yesterday with 10,000 post cards signed by their peers calling for mandatory minimum staffing levels in Pennsylvania's hospitals. The goal of the publicity stunt conducted at the Pittsburgh Hilton and Towers, Downtown, was to persuade state legislators to pass separate bills that would establish minimum hospital staffing levels and ban mandatory overtime for health-care workers except in declared emergencies."
http://www.post-gazette.com/businessnews/20021120nurses1120p3.asp
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November 19, 2002: Saipan: Mariana Islands, Agency: Govt 'too broke' to afford direct hiring of nurses:"Let's be realistic. Where would the government get its funding to recruit, hire, and house CHC staff?" Paras Enterprises president Juan T. Guerrero said in an interview.
This, as the agency confirmed that the Department of Public Health has not paid his company since the start of the current fiscal year. The DPH owes him some $400,000.
The public health department also has existing contracts with two other staffing agencies, SEAS Inc., and Marianas Health Services."
http://www.tribune.co.mp/Local.cfm?Display=yes&ID=24094
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November 19, 2002: Canada, Saskatechwan: Herbert-Morse Hospital could close in December:"There is a chance that the Herbert-Morse Hospital could be closed in the middle of December due to a lack of nursing staff. CEO of the Cypress Hills Health District, Andrew Will stated that in order to run a hospital there must be a registered nurse on duty 24 hours a day. One of the nurses now on staff will be leaving in December and this will cause the shortage."
http://www.sasknews.com/papers/story-herbert.shtml?dfl=stories.db&tfl=just-story.ptml&ro1=recno&rf1=265&rt1=265&efl=just-error.ptml&usebrs=true
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Tuesday, 19th November 2002: United Kingdom: Scotland: NHS 24 provides health care direct:"MORE than a million potential patients across the west of Scotland have been given access to the UK's largest NHS direct telephone service.
The NHS 24 scheme, manned by qualified nurses, who will be on hand to give out advice, direct patients to doctors' surgeries, handle emergency out-of-hours GP calls and assess patients who may require urgent hospital treatment.
However, nursing leaders last night warned that many of the 400 staff diverted to the service, based in the former HCI Hospital in Clydebank, had been poached from already over-stretched Scottish hospitals."
http://www.news.scotsman.com/scotland.cfm?id=1286072002
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November 18, 2002: Florida, Tampa Bay: Incentives attracting students to nursing profession:"Efforts to recruit and keep nurses in the Tampa Bay area and statewide seem to be producing results. A recent survey by the Florida Hospital Association showed that despite the shortage of nurses, the statewide nursing vacancy rate dropped from 15.6 percent in 2001 to 12.5 percent this year."
http://tampabay.bizjournals.com/tampabay/stories/2002/11/18/story4.html
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November 18, 2002: Hawaii nurses begin taking strike vote:"Nurses at Kaiser Permanente, Kuakini and St. Francis Medical Center, Queen's and Kapiolani Medical Center began taking a strike vote Sunday as they negotiate for higher hourly rates.
Their contract expires Nov. 30 and the strike authorization vote, which would allow their union leaders to call a walkout at any time after that, is intended to strengthen the union bargaining team's hand."
http://pacific.bizjournals.com/pacific/stories/2002/11/18/daily3.html
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November 18, 2002: South Dakota, Sioux Falls, Sisseton-Wahpeton College told to end R.N. program:"The two-year nursing program at Sisseton-Wahpeton College must end in May but could resume later, the South Dakota Board of Nursing has ruled.
The board said a revived program could admit students in 2004 or later, pending a reorganization.
"I think, in the end, it's a very positive move," said Gloria Damgaard, the nursing board's executive secretary. "We are not closing the door on them providing health care education."
The community college offers one- and two-year degrees and plans big changes that officials say will help the nursing program. Its graduates, on average, have consistently scored low on the state's licensing exams."
http://www.aberdeennews.com/mld/aberdeennews/news/4547578.htm
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November 18, 2002: Canada, Ontario: Avoid emergency rooms if possible: officials:"Health officials with the Quinte Healthcare Corporation are warning the public about a critical shortage of beds at its four hospitals in Eastern Ontario.
Hospital official expects things to get even worse during flu season
They're asking people to consider alternative forms of care during the busy flu season.
If you have to be admitted to hospital after arriving at emergency, head nurse Beverly Townsend says you could "find yourself spending 12 hours, or even 24 hours, on a stretcher in our emergency waiting to access a bed."
http://ottawa.cbc.ca/template/servlet/View?filename=beds021118
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November 18, 2002: Canada, Toronto: Ipsos-Reid Public Opinion Poll: Increase Hiring Budgets, Wages to Resolve Nursing Shortage:"Increasing facility hiring budgets and nurses'
salaries are the best options for resolving the nursing shortage, according to
an Ipsos-Reid poll presented at the Ontario Nurses' Association (ONA) Biennial
Convention today.
"The public understands there is a nursing shortage and that the health
care system is in crisis. As well, 93 per cent believe increasing hospital
hiring budgets would help resolve the nursing shortage by retaining and
attracting nurses, and 89 per cent believe paying nurses more would also
be effective."
http://www.newswire.ca/releases/November2002/18/c3070.html
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November 18, 2002: United Kingdom, Scotland: NHS 24 provides health care direct:"MORE than a million potential patients across the west of Scotland have been given access to the UK's largest NHS direct telephone service.
The NHS 24 scheme, manned by qualified nurses, who will be on hand to give out advice, direct patients to doctors' surgeries, handle emergency out-of-hours GP calls and assess patients who may require urgent hospital treatment."
http://www.news.scotsman.com/scotland.cfm?id=1286072002
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November 18, 2002: United Kingdom: IRAQ: THE MARCH TO WAR: ARMY'S MISSING NURSES:"THE British Army is short of a third of the number of nurses it needs - which could spell disaster if the war with Iraq goes ahead.
New figures show the Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps has been severely hit by a recruitment crisis, leaving it without 38 per cent of staff - around 800 nurses."
http://www.sundaymirror.co.uk/homepage/news/page.cfm?objectid=12399210&method=sm_full&siteid=81959
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Sunday, November 17, 2002: Michigan: Hospitals shut lobbying group:"Some health systems could no longer afford the dues:"Hospitals in southeast Michigan -- in a move that symbolizes the financial ills facing the industry -- have decided to close the doors of their 20-year-old trade association by year-end.
Some of the region's hospitals no longer wanted to pay for their membership to the Southeast Michigan Health & Hospital Council, a private advocacy organization that lobbied on issues such as the nursing shortage and low reimbursement levels."
http://www.detnews.com/2002/business/0211/17/d01-12237.htm
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November 17, 2002: Oregon: Medicine adapts to minorities: When the nurse explained in Spanish that she was merely experiencing Braxton Hicks contractions, a common and benign symptom experienced by some pregnant women, she was relieved.
"I feel very comfortable having someone attend to me in Spanish," Hernandez said. "I ask more questions."
Hiring bilingual nurses is one way hospitals, doctors and clinics are responding to the growing number of minority residents in Marion and Polk counties."
http://news.statesmanjournal.com/article.cfm?i=51949
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November 17, 2002: Pennsylvania: Nurse no one?:"The solutions are simple: Find more nurses for the future and keep the ones in practice now, experts said.
Ideas so simple in theory, but difficult in execution as legislatures, schools and hospitals are all combining efforts to tackle the nationwide nursing shortage."
http://www.dailylocal.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=6092185&BRD=1671&PAG=461&dept_id=17782&rfi=6
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Nov. 17, 2002: South Carolina: DHEC Seeks more money, $19 million raise likely won't come:"Hunter said his agency's top priority is retaining employees, particularly nurses who work in DHEC health clinics. That will cost $2.3 million. "We face a tremendous nursing shortage in this state," he said."
http://www.myrtlebeachonline.com/mld/sunnews/news/local/4539926.htm
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Sat, Nov. 16, 2002: South Carolina: DHEC to ask for $19 million:"South Carolina's health and environmental agency needs $19 million next year to retain nurses, prepare for terrorist attacks, clean up toxic waste, protect water quality and provide other services, officials said this week.
But Department of Health and Environmental Control officials acknowledged that their chances of getting that money are slim."
http://www.thestate.com/mld/thestate/news/local/4533757.htm
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Sunday, November 17, 2002: Australia, South: SA addressing nursing shortages with UK recruitment drive:"A nursing recruitment drive is underway in the United Kingdom and Ireland as part of the South Australian Government's effort to address the shortage of nursing staff in public hospitals.
Premier Mike Rann, who is in Britain at the moment, says another 400 nurses are needed.
He says the shortage has prompted the Royal Adelaide Hospital to hold interviews for nurses in Dublin last week."
http://abc.net.au/news/newsitems/s728733.htm
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Nov. 16, 2002: Wisconsin: East High to add nursing program:"Through the partnership, several NWTC health-care courses will be offered at East. For 2003-04, general and advanced anatomy and physiology will be available. Talks are under way to add a complete practical nursing program at East for 2004-05. All credits earned in those courses will be transferable to NWTC, and to other schools in the Wisconsin Technical College System and the University of Wisconsin System. http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/news/archive/local_7042113.shtml
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Nov. 16, 2002: Wisconsion: Demand for nurses continues to soar:""The personal satisfaction that you get working in the health field is unparalleled," Marsch said. "I'm very passionate about that."
Lori Weyers, vice president for learning at Northeast Wisconsin Technical College, said the average age of nurses is 49. The average age of surgical and critical-care nurses is 53.
NWTC boasts a high job placement rate in its nursing program. "In the nursing field, it's 100 percent, and they get bonuses to sign. They get four or five offers," Weyers said.
National estimates put the shortage of nurses at 400,000 by 2010. Projections show the problem continuing to grow through 2020, Weyers said."
http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/news/archive/local_7078628.shtml
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November 16, 2002: Scotland: SCOTS NURSES LURED TO US BY £ 50000 A YEAR OFFERS:"SCOTS nurses are being lured to work in America with offers of salaries of up to £50,000 a year.
A recruitment agency is in Scotland to poach nurses to fill posts in New York hospitals.
They are being tempted by salaries of between £28,000 to £50,000 compared to the average NHS wage for an experienced nurse of £19,000."
http://www.sundaymail.co.uk/news/page.cfm?objectid=12369303&method=full&siteid=86024
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November 16, 2002: United Kingdom: CARE HOME SCANDAL: INSPECTORS FOUND CATALOGUE OF FAULTS:"George Fairlie, 74, was rushed to hospital suffering from malnutrition after losing two stone in 10 days.
The Sunday Mail can reveal that Alexandra Care Home in Paisley is so understaffed nurses cannot provide basic care for their 80 patients.
Relatives will be horrified by the catalogue of faults uncovered during an inspection of the home, run by Four Seasons Health Care."
http://www.sundaymail.co.uk/news/page.cfm?objectid=12369413&method=full&siteid=86024
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November 15, 2002: Study: Hospital chiefs fear financial failure:"Most chief executive officers across the nation say their hospitals are on the way to higher profit in the next five years.
Yet, rising insurance and equipment costs, growing nursing shortages and lower managed care reimbursements could derail that confidence. One in three hospital CEOs fears their hospital will fail financially in the next five years, according to a recent survey by professional services firm Deloitte & Touche."
http://dayton.bizjournals.com/dayton/stories/2002/11/18/story7.html
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November 15, 2002: Ohio, Dayton: Heart Hospital doles out bonuses:"A big part of Dayton Heart's success is in an area causing major headaches for other hospitals — nurse retention.
Pat Ashe, vice president of clinical services, said upon joining Dayton Heart in January 2001, her plan was simple: To fill the hospital's empty nursing slots and keep them filled. The results are obvious: Dayton Heart once had a 30 percent nursing vacancy rate but now has a waiting list for registered nurses, bucking the nationwide nursing shortage trend.
"It wasn't a program, but a personal philosophy: Treat nurses as I want to be treated," said Ashe, a nurse for 30 years."
http://dayton.bizjournals.com/dayton/stories/2002/11/18/story3.html
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November 15, 2002: Oklahoma: Hospital To Close Southside Emergency Room
Decision Results In Patient Crush At Other Facilities:"Dr. Kersey Winfree of St. Michael Hospital said the hospital reduced bed capacity due to the nursing shortage.
"As a result of the nursing labor shortage, we've had to reduce our capacity bed capacity within the hospital to a point where our resources are no longer sustainable in the are of a full service community hospital," Winfree said.
St. Michael's decision to close its emergency room operations is causing problems at other metro hospital facilities, including Southeast Area Health Center, which handles everything from primary care to dental problems for some of south Oklahoma City's unprivileged."
http://www.channeloklahoma.com/news/1788391/detail.html
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November 14, 2002: California: Sutter Roseville hospital workers on strike:"Hundreds of hospital employees at Sutter Roseville Medical Center went on strike Thursday over an unresolved contract. Top negotiating issues are higher wages and better benefits.
The Service Employees International Union Local 250 represents roughly 450 employees at Sutter Roseville who hold positions ranging from food service jobs to X-ray lab technicians."
http://www.sacbee.com/content/business/story/5192775p-6201520c.html
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November 14, 2002: Illinois: CNA shortages continue at nursing home:"Even with a sluggish economy, people are still not willing to take low-paying jobs that mean hard work.
Officials believe that's what is causing a shortage of certified nurses assistants at the La Salle County Nursing Home.
At the Nursing Home Committee meeting Wednesday, Nursing Home Administrator Elizabeth Ramsey told committee members that staffing is still an ongoing problem."
http://www.ottawadailytimes.com/news/story.php?storyid=8150
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November 18, 2002: Kentucky: ECC program helps Hardin Memorial Hospital keep its nursing staffing up:"Hardin Memorial staffing efforts that focus on practicing nurses include bonuses for employees who recommend a new nurse, bonuses for voluntary overtime and tuition reimbursement that lower-level employees often use to become registered nurses. The incentives have paid off. The hospital usually only has about eight openings among 258 registered nurse positions.
"There was a time when we were told people weren't as interested in the profession, but that seems to be changing," Griffen said.
A shortage in the field seems to have recharged interest in nursing as it offers hard-to-match job security no matter the economy's condition."
http://www.thenewsenterprise.com/articles/2002/11/18/news/news02.txt
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November 18, 2002: Montana: At tech: Enhanced nursing program proposed:"Montana Tech hopes to expand its popular nursing program by offering a bachelor's of science degree in nursing in the fall.
Tech's proposal goes before the state Board of Regents Thursday and has already gained approval from the other state campuses.
Barring any last-minute regent concerns, the program should be approved as part of the regents' consent agenda and classes could begin in the fall, said Susan Patton, Tech's vice chancellor of academic affairs and research."
http://www.montanaforum.com/rednews/2002/11/18/build/education/technurses.php?nnn=3
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Monday 18 November 2002: USA: Mariana Islands: Babauta to work as nurse today:"Gov. Juan N. Babauta and other top government officials are expected to visit the Commonwealth Health Center today to do some nursing activities as part of the16th CNMI Nurses Week celebration.
The Governor, who is a son of a long-serving nurse, the late Carmen N. Babauta, promised during a proclamation signing Thursday that he would be reporting to CHC today to do some patient care."
http://www.tribune.co.mp/index.cfm?Display=yes&ID=24044
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November 14, 2002: Maine: Wanted: professional, qualified nurses:"When the state's nursing crisis will peak is a matter of conjecture, but there seems to be little doubt area hospitals will need to address staffing concerns before they reach crisis proportions.
Chris Owen, director human resources for Mount Desert Island Hospital and Health Centers in Bar Harbor, said he wouldn't dispute there is an increasing need for more trained nursing staff.
"There aren't enough nurses to fill the staffing needs of state hospitals now, and it will become worse in the next few years," he said."
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=6066740&BRD=1468&PAG=461&dept_id=369602&rfi=6
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November 14, 2002: Oregon: Hey, fellas: Operation tries to get guys into nursing:The headline reads like a tough-guy taunt: "Are you man enough . . . to be a nurse?"Underneath the banner stand nine macho men -- Harley rider, black belt, combat medic -- who ply the profession of Florence Nightingale. They are, literally, the new poster boys for Oregon nursing.
The campaign, unveiled Wednesday in Portland, takes aim at nursing's sissified stereotype. The goal: attract more men to a field starved for recruits. A Northwest Health Foundation report released last year found that one in five Oregon nursing jobs will go unfilled by 2010. By 2020, nearly half will go empty -- just when aging baby boomers will need more medical care."
http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/index.ssf?/xml/story.ssf/html_standard.xsl?/base/news/103727862676021.xml
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November 14, 2002: Oregon: MHCC sees source of needed nurses:"Re-entry programs are more efficient, but many such programs died in the mid-1990s when hospitals were laying off nurses. When the Oregon Nurse Leadership Council brought in groups to brainstorm better solutions, Mt. Hood offered to pilot a nursing re-entry program, even though there was no money to do so.
"We've got a pool of people who used to be nurses, but whose licenses expired" for reasons including burnout, work-related injuries or young families, Saito said. "We'll never know until we try. Let's see if we can get them back into a workforce."
More students needed The pilot program launched this fall with four nurses -- the college needs 18 for the class to survive. The students take only one class on campus, at Mt. Hood or another college that offers a pharmacology class. The other 80 hours of work happens online, with the nurse setting the pace. Afterward, the nurse gets a temporary limited license to perform either 160 or 320 hours of clinical work, depending on how long ago the license expired."
http://www.oregonlive.com/metroeast/oregonian/index.ssf?/xml/story.ssf/html_standard.xsl?/base/metro_east_news/103710579599510.xml
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November 13, 2002: Hawaii: Kaiser Nurses Schedule Strike Vote Nurses' Contract Ends Nov. 30:"A labor contract covering nurses at five major hospitals expires at the end of the month.
The nurse's union has scheduled a strike authorization vote for nurses at Kaiser Permanente this weekend.
Contract talks are taking place at the Employers Council.
As of midday, negotiators for Kaiser nurses had yet to receive a wage proposal from management. However, nurses said a strike authorization vote is scheduled for Sunday and Monday of next week.
The union said the move is out of frustration that the talks are dragging compared to the other hospitals."
http://www.thehawaiichannel.com/news/1785144/detail.html
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Wednesday, November 13, 2002: Guam: More newly-minted registered nurses dedicate themselves to providing care at GMH:"A decades-long nursing shortage at the Guam Memorial Hospital may be well on the way to an end. Consistently high vacancy rates lead to an emergency declaration by Governor Carl Gutierrez several years ago, and nurses that were thereafter hired often left shortly after arriving at GMH, electing to work at local private clinics, or off-island."
http://www.kuam.com/news/story.asp?headline=4534
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November 8, 2002: Ohio: Nursing Solutions: Health systems attack shortage of workers:"Faced with such daunting trends, the Osteopathic Heritage Foundations began organizing the Central Ohio Healthcare Workforce Task Force in August 2001.
The group, which includes representatives of the four area hospital systems, area nursing colleges, Ohio Hospital Association and Greater Columbus Chamber of Commerce, has since created the Columbus Healthcare Workforce Center.
Staffed by the chamber, the center has compiled a stack of research findings on nurse recruitment, retention, education and marketing, said Cheryl Hay, the chamber's vice president for workforce development."
http://columbus.bizjournals.com/columbus/stories/2002/11/11/story5.html
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Monday, November 4, 2002: Indiana: Nursing shortage expected to worsen:"When Nancy Saulmon began working in nursing in 1981, hospitals were seeing shortages. But nothing like today. Across the nation, the supply of registered nursed was estimated at 1.89 million in 2000 while the demand was estimated at 2 million -- a shortage of 110,000 or 6 percent, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. With baby boomers aging and technology expanding and offering more and more options in nursing, the demand is projected to quadruple by 2015."
http://www.theheraldbulletin.com/cgi-bin/LiveIQue.acgi$rec=32474?hb_story
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Oct 31, 2002: Pennsylvania Unveils Plan To Enlist Nursing Students:"Facing a statewide nursing shortage, officials this week unveiled a plan to interest students in nursing careers by offering to forgive part of their student loans.
The Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency will forgive up to 25 percent, to a maximum of $12,500, of a nursing student's loan principal over three years, officials said."
http://kyw.com/Local%20News/local_story_304135655.html
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Oct 31 2002: England: Poor pay blamed as nurses think about quitting job:"HALF of all nurses have seriously considered leaving because of poor pay, according to a new survey out today.
The poll by Unison was commissioned as part of its evidence to the Pay Review Body for Nursing staff, Midwives and Health Visitors."
http://ichuddersfield.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/0100localnews/page.cfm?objectid=12327420&method=full&siteid=50060
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Oct 31 2002: Tennessee: WTH donation benefits hospital and community:"Once again, West Tennessee Healthcare has shown deep commitment to the community with the announcement Tuesday that it was donating $550,000 to the nursing school at Jackson State Community College.
The donation represents a win-win situation for Jackson State, the hospital and West Tennesseans. It will allow JSCC to double its yearly number of nursing graduates, and help Jackson General be proactive in addressing the nation's and the area's nursing shortage."
http://miva.jacksonsun.com/miva/cgi-bin/miva?OPINION/opinion_story.mv+link=200210314312418
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October 31, 2001: South Africa: White River: Women to March Against Nurses Who Wear Civvies:"Women living near Mpumalanga's second biggest hospital, Themba Hospital, will stage a march on Friday in protest against nurses who refuse to wear uniforms to work.
Nurses at the hospital in KaBokweni outside White River have refused to wear their whites since June last year because of their own protest against a shortage of medicine and equipment at the hospital."
http://allafrica.com/stories/200211010545.html
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October 30, 2002: Minnesota: Area deals with nursing shortage:"After serving as an armament systems specialist in the U.S. Air Force and most recently a feed mill manager, Bob Jasmer is becoming a nurse.
"Even more than a secure field, it has been extremely enriching - almost like it has revitalized my life," Jasmer said.
Jasmer is relishing the idea of being a student and learning everything he can."
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=5890222&BRD=2175&PAG=461&dept_id=457555&rfi=6
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Wednesday, October 30, 2002: Pennsylvania: Area nurses believe staffing is adequate:"They question some findings of a study that found patient mortality higher after surgery when there are more patients to care for. Area hospitals say they consider how sick patients are when they determine the ratio of nurses to patients, and that ratio can vary from one nurse per patient to one nurse for seven patients.
Whether such ratios determine a post-surgical patient's chances of surviving was part of a recently released study, which looked at 168 hospitals across the state. The study by the Center for Health Outcomes and Policy Research at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing found patients have a greater risk of dying after surgery when nurses have more patients to care for. The study also found a heavier workload meant nurses were more likely to be burned out and unhappy with their jobs."
http://www.phillyburbs.com/intelligencerrecord/article1.asp?F_num=1730144
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October 30, 2002: Pa. Tries To Attract Nurses With Loan Forgiveness:"Most hospitals try to entice future nurses with signing bonuses, but Pinnacle Health Systems is trying a different approach. The idea is simple and seems to be working well. Robert Shipp's been a nurse at Harrisburg Hospital for four years now. Lately, his workdays have gotten a lot better.
Early on in his career, he said he'd be shuffled around from floor to floor because of the nursing shortage. That meant working in new areas, not knowing where things were and not knowing the patients."
http://www.thewgalchannel.com/health/1749510/detail.html
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October 29, 2002: Pennsylvania: Nursing shortage strains local hospitals:"Facing an unprecedented shortage of nurses, area hospital officials say the ratio of nurses to patients and the care that each patient receives is not impacted.
A recent study, though, shows that mortality rates escalate with fewer nurses on staff."
http://www.phillyburbs.com/couriertimes/news/news/1029nursingload.htm
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Friday, 25 October 2002: Australia, Tasmania: Conditions to blame:"The federation says nurses have for too long accepted understaffed wards and untenable workloads.
Nurses are regularly being required to work double shifts (15-17 hours straight), are missing meal breaks, are being called in on their days off and are feeling inadequate at the end of a shift because they could not give the care they wanted to."
http://www.examiner.com.au/story.asp?id=146615
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10/23/02: Illinois, Chicago, Increasing nurses' workloads raises death rate, study finds:"Chicago - Amid concerns about a nationwide nurse shortage, a new study found that how many patients a nurse has to care for can be a matter of life or death."
http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/xml/story.ssf/html_standard.xsl?/base/news/103536584015230.xml
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October 22, 2002: Alabama: New co-op program available for UA nursing students:"The University of Alabama and DCH Regional Medical Center are teaming up to offer nursing students a co-op program that will allow them to get practical experience while in school. The Cooperative Education Program, one of the few of its type in the nation, will start next summer."
http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?Site=TL&Date=20021022&Category=NEWS&ArtNo=210220320&Ref=AR&Profile=1001
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10/22/02: Oregon's hospitals see demand, profits increase:"A worsening nationwide shortage of nurses is one challenge. The shortage has sharply increased nursing labor costs, the largest operating expense for hospitals. After striking for 56 days, 1,500 nurses at Oregon Health & Science University hospital and clinics this year gained 7 percent annual pay raises for two years, more than doubling gains in several previous contracts. Nationwide, hourly wages in hospitals climbed 5.9 percent last year, up from 3.2 percent in 2000, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics."
http://www.oregonlive.com/business/oregonian/index.ssf?/xml/story.ssf/html_standard.xsl?/base/business/1035287729324411.xml
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Tuesday, 22 October 2002, Sri Lanka, Staff cadre at Trinco hospital inadequate:"There is a severe shortage of nursing officers. Though the cadre requirement is 180 only 89 are available which is less than 50%. As a result they were forced to work for 18 hours a day causing deterioration of nursing care to patients."
http://www.dailynews.lk/2002/10/22/new24.html
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10/21/02: Georgia, Atlanta: Welcome mat is out for male nurses:"Gentleman job seekers, take note: The supply is low and the demand is high for nurses. While men considering careers or
seeking to change jobs may not initially think of nursing, many men who work in the profession would likely advise them to think again.
"More men need to get into nursing. It's an excellent career," says Daryl Todd, a registered nurse who is the clinical manager for the General Medical Clinics of Grady Health System in Atlanta. "Men and women both, young and older, if they are looking for a second career they should really consider it."
http://www.accessatlanta.com/ajc/business/1002/21nurses.html
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October 18, 2002: Arizona: Iasis to get $20M infusion:"The hospital system has changed ownership four times over the past several years, a scenario that sent many nurses to other hospitals in search of stability. As a result, Iasis hospitals in the Valley are experiencing a nursing shortage. Additionally, Iasis hospitals aren't taking in enough patients."
http://phoenix.bizjournals.com/phoenix/stories/2002/10/21/story2.html
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Fri, Oct. 11, 2002: South Carolina, Federal funding reduces nursing shortages:Eight public school districts will receive $3.3 million in federal funds to hire 98 new school nurses, state health agency officials said Friday.
Medicaid will pay 70 percent of new nurses' salaries, with school districts putting up the remaining 30 percent, officials said.
"It'll bring new nurses to under-served schools," said Bill Prince, state Department of Health and Human Services director. "Having school nurses gives access to some kids that otherwise have difficulty doing that."
http://www.thestate.com/mld/thestate/news/local/4264741.htm
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September 30, 2002: New Hampshire: Government Creates 'Nurse Response Teams'
Teams In Place In Case Of Terrorist Attack:"The Bush administration has announced plans to create "nurse response teams," ready to rush in and provide emergency care in the event of a terrorist attack.
Health Secretary Tommy Thompson said the teams will be located at 10 sites around the country. He said hundreds of nurses already have volunteered."
http://www.thewmurchannel.com/sh/health/stories/health-169501520020930-160924.html
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June 24, 2002: New Hampshire: Foreign Professionals Ease Nurse Shortage
Hospitals Eye New Ways To Recruit Staff:"The situation has been called critical -- too many sick people, not enough nurses to care for them.
Many nurses are retiring, while others say the nursing shortage has increased the demands on those who are working -- making the job overwhelming.
Now some hospitals are examining new ways to recruit staff.
Marivic Tolete is a Filipino nurse, but she doesn't work in the Philippines. Since March, she has worked at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital in Boston.
"Nursing in the Philippines is not really as good," Tolete said. "We start off as a volunteer, we don't get a job, not unless we also pay for the volunteer work that we do."
In fact, Tolete can make as much money in one day at Spaulding as she can in one month back home. Part of the money helps to support her husband and two young children who still live in the Philippines."
http://www.thewmurchannel.com/sh/health/stories/health-152687120020624-080644.html
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May 29, 2002: Massachusetts: Study Shows Nursing Shortage Hurts Patients
Hospitals With Fewer Nurses May Have Sicker Patients:"Nurses will tell you that there are too few of them to care for too many patients. "You want to do everything you can possibly do for every one of your patients, but nurses today have to prioritize and they can't give everything they want to give because the ratios are too high," Brigham and Women's Hospital nurse Nancy Kruger said.
Wednesday's study by the Harvard School of Public Health looked at those ratios and how they influence bad outcomes for patients.
Comparing hospitals with the highest and lowest nursing levels, they found that patients in hospitals with the fewest nurses had 9.4 percent more shock or cardiac arrests, 9 percent more urinary tract infections and 6.4 percent more pneumonia cases."
http://www.thewmurchannel.com/sh/health/stories/health-148618420020529-160514.html
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May 8, 2002: Nurses Send 'Wake Up Call' To Congress,
Rally Supports Bill To Regulate Overtime:"Hundreds of members of the nation's largest health care union gathered on Capitol Hill Wednesday morning to tell Congress to ban mandatory overtime for nurses. They set off alarm clocks to send a "wake up call" to lawmakers about the dangers of overtime.
It's national nurses week, and the Service Employees Union is taking the opportunity to draw attention to 338 hours of overtime they say a nurse works each year.
The union says this overtime is likely to endanger patient care."
http://www.thewmurchannel.com/sh/health/stories/health-144535720020508-160532.html
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Nursing Shortage Nationwide: Details From Alaska to Wyoming
http://www.center4nursing.org/Shortage.html
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12 December 2001: Great Britain, More NHS Nurses and more NHS beds:"The number of nurses and midwives working in the NHS has increased by more than 10,000 in the last year alone.
This means that since 1997 there has been a gain of 27,000 nurses and midwives. The NHS Plan set out a targeted increase in NHS nurses of 20,000 between 1999 and 2004. This means there has already been an increase of 16,000.
The number of beds in NHS hospitals also continues to rise after decades of reductions. A snapshot survey of NHS beds carried out in November shows the number of general and acute beds in NHS hospitals rose by 1,225 compared to the same point in the previous year."
http://www.number-10.gov.uk/news.asp?NewsId=3267&SectionId=30
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December 6, 2001: Great Britain: Stuff socialism, nurses need a market wage:"The reason they "fail" is because patients can't gain admission. Patients can't gain admission because there aren't any "beds", which is a ridiculous locution. There are plenty of beds, with pillows, sheets, etc. There just aren't enough nurses to make those beds and keep those wards open. The trouble with such hospitals, say the managers, is "nurses, nurses, nurses". The Radcliffe has a new contingent of Filipinos on the way, another 200 or so; and yet it is still 280 nurses short. At any given time, it is about 10 per cent down on its requisite complement of 3,000, because it is so difficult to recruit nurses in Oxfordshire, and so difficult to retain them.
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June 24, 2002: New Hampshire: Foreign Professionals Ease Nurse Shortage
Hospitals Eye New Ways To Recruit Staff:"The situation has been called critical -- too many sick people, not enough nurses to care for them.
Many nurses are retiring, while others say the nursing shortage has increased the demands on those who are working -- making the job overwhelming.
Now some hospitals are examining new ways to recruit staff.
Marivic Tolete is a Filipino nurse, but she doesn't work in the Philippines. Since March, she has worked at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital in Boston.
"Nursing in the Philippines is not really as good," Tolete said. "We start off as a volunteer, we don't get a job, not unless we also pay for the volunteer work that we do."
In fact, Tolete can make as much money in one day at Spaulding as she can in one month back home. Part of the money helps to support her husband and two young children who still live in the Philippines."
http://www.thewmurchannel.com/sh/health/stories/health-152687120020624-080644.html
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May 1, 2002: Delaware: Nursing-home staff bill stalls in Senate, Measure cuts number of workers required by a law passed in 2000:"Efforts to rescind higher nursing home staffing requirements adopted in 2000 stalled Tuesday as lawmakers looked for a compromise that protects the elderly and gives nursing homes relief during a national nursing shortage." http://www.delawareonline.com/newsjournal/local/2002/05/01nursinghomestaf.html
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March 15, 2002, Delaware: Nursing shortage affects state, with 500 positions open:"A continuing nursing shortage in Delaware and across the nation has resulted in a lack of quality care, canceled medical procedures and overworked nursing staffs, the Delaware Health Care Commission reported last week.
Judith A. Chaconas, director of Planning and Policy for the Delaware Health Care Commission, said the statewide nursing shortage is part of a trend that has been developing for some time
"I think it's very serious in Delaware, the rest of the country, as well as worldwide," she said. "In Delaware, there are 500 vacant positions for registered nurses and 150 vacant licensed practical nurse positions, just in private hospitals."
http://www.review.udel.edu/archive/2002_Issues/03.15.02/index.php3?section=1&article=13
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Wednesday, December 5, 2001: Maine, Bangor: Nursing shortage prompts summit
Work conditions seen as problem:"Maine is facing a nursing shortage crisis, but the state is not alone. The growing shortage is causing emergency rooms to back up, increasing the risk of medical errors and forcing hospitals across the country to scramble to find new nurses. The shortage led to a statewide summit Tuesday in Augusta. "Maine cannot solve the problem on its own, but it can make a start and I think a start is being made today," said keynote speaker Russell Cole, national strategy adviser for Superior Consultants, a Texas-based group. "I think all the key players are in the room and talking and that has not happened in all states."
http://www.bangornews.com/editorialnews/article.html?ID=46671
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Dec. 3, 2001: A Nurse's Viewpoint: The nursing crisis: Searching for solutions:"Reports on the crises in nursing and their implications for patient care have essentially become daily fodder for the journalists in this country. Our local paper recently featured a two-day, multi-page series of articles that resulted in spreading fear among care-givers and care-recipients alike.
I receive frequent phone calls from family and friends, consumers of healthcare (e.g."patients") with sad tales about their encounters with the healthcare system. I also have been hearing, with increasing frequency, concerns expressed by patients, their families and friends, about potential encounters with the healthcare system.
http://www.healthleaders.com/news/feature1.php?contentid=29776&CE_Session=411cd3c85016e5d521ee48322f5993e4
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Thursday November 22nd, 2001: Nevada, Reno: 36 Washoe Med nurses strike for a day
Care not affected, hospital says:"Picketers carried signs while shouting and waving to motorists Wednesday on sidewalks around Washoe Medical Center during the second 24-hour nursing union strike at the hospital in five months."
http://www.rgj.com/news/stories/news/1006489662.php
Categories: Nursing News, Nursing Shortage, Nursing Unions
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November 16, 2001: Florida, Tampa: Shortage of nurses leading hospitals to policy changes:"At a time when hospitals complain they can't find enough nurses, the best-trained nurses say they have a hard time finding hospitals willing to pay for their special skills.
For years, hospitals have ignored the extra training and experience associated with nursing certifications."
http://tampabay.bcentral.com/tampabay/stories/2001/11/19/story1.html
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September 19, 2002: Missouri: On the job - Nurses delegating authority to unlicensed personnel:"Appropriate delegation of responsibilities among unlicensed staff members has been an issue in the nursing community for at least the last 30 years.
But, with the expanding nursing shortage, appropriate delegation of patient care responsibilities has become even more important, particularly as some facilities reduce the number of unlicensed personnel hired because they lack the versatility of licensed personnel. Many of these facilities would rather hire employees that have a license so they can perform a multitude of tasks."
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=5430670&BRD=1441&PAG=461&dept_id=155395&rfi=8
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Wednesday, 5 September, 2001: United Kingdom: 'My battle to find nurses':"The NHS's spends £810m on temporary nurses every year, says the Audit Commission, often because there are no regular staff available.
The commission said this is a waste of NHS money.
BBC News Online talked to Karen Parsley, director of nursing at Brighton Health Care Trust, to find out how she struggles day by day to find professional staff to look after patients."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/1527176.stm
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Facts About the Nursing Shortage, Honor Society Of Nursing, Sigma Theta Tau International:"Just as the legion of baby boomers is about to swell the need for quality health care, America's nursing population is aging and more nurses are moving into primary care settings. The result: America's hospitals and other institutions need more nurses, especially those who deliver specialized care.
Front-page newspaper stories paint a picture of a nursing shortage born of increased patient loads and escalating pressure to treat more people, more quickly, for less money. Second, highly visible patient and professional complaints about managed care in the early 1990s have discouraged young people from entering the nursing profession."
http://www.nursesource.org/facts_shortage.html#intro
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Engineering A Crisis, How Hospitals Created A Shortage Of Nurses:"The health care industry and its proponents, including investment banks and management consulting firms, have had much to say in recent years about the origins of RN shortages and solutions. However, nearly all of their analysis has focused on causes that leave the industry itself invisible and devoid of responsibility for its own role in causing the nursing shortage."
http://www.revolutionmag.com/engineering.html
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July, 2001: Recruitment And Retention Strategies For Nurses, Veterans Health Administration:"Registered nurses comprise the largest segment of health care workers within the Veterans Health Administration (VHA). Currently, VHA employs over 35,000 registered nurses and nurse anesthetists. VA nurse employment is stable at this time. VA enjoys a lower turnover rate (9.5 percent in 2000) than the national average of 15%. However, VA is experiencing difficulty in recruiting nurses with certain special qualifications such as intensive care, nurse practitioners or nurse anesthetists. While the difficulties are occurring nationwide, the types of nurses for which there are shortages vary by geographical region. Certain VA medical centers also report difficulties recruiting Licensed Practical Nurses (LPNs) and nursing assistants (NAs)."
http://www.va.gov/OCA/testimony/svac/14je01TG.asp
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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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Jun. 25, 2001: Canada, Nova Scotia: N.S. health-care workers walk off the job:"Day of protest takes aim at anti-strike bill. Some Nova Scotia health-care workers walked off the job this morning, affecting hospital services.
The Canadian Union of Public Employees said it was holding a day of protest against the province's anti-strike bill, which is currently before the legislature.
The union represents thousands of workers in all regions of the province except metro Halifax - everyone from licensed practical nurses to janitors.
The Cape Breton District Health Authority cancelled non-emergency services such as lab and X-ray work. The authority called the protest an illegal walkout."
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_PrintFriendly&c=Article&cid=993468379767
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Saturday, June 23, 2001: Maryland: A Shortage of Nurses: If the District's nursing shortage were caused by a lack of registered nurses, then the recruitment of nurses from other countries would make sense ["Hospitals Go Abroad to Fill Slots for Nurses," front page, June 11].
http://washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/opinion/A35882-2001Jun22.html
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June 21, 2001: Canada, Ottowa: Nursing crunch will soon tighten, report says:"Canada's nursing shortage will deepen dramatically in the next three years, Ontario research suggests.
Ontario is expected to lose 14,000 of its 81,000 nurses due to retirement alone by 2004, Linda O'Brien-Pallas of the University of Toronto nursing faculty said today.
But nursing resources are already stretched so thin that patient care is in jeopardy, O'Brien-Pallas told a forum sponsored by the Canadian Nurses Association.
Trends are similar across the country, with retirements far exceeding the inflow of new recruits.
Only 10 per cent of Canadian nurses are under the age of 30, while almost a third are over 50, data show."
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_PrintFriendly&c=Article&cid=993119119889
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June 21, 2001: Canada, Nova Scotia: N.S. nurses show support for walkouts:"Two unions representing Nova Scotia nurses were in conciliation talks in Halifax hotels on today, but a strike vote for one union showed strong support for a walkout.
Early strike vote results from the Nova Scotia Nurses Union, representing 4,400 registered and practical nurses, had seven of nine districts voting between 78 and 91 per cent in favour of a strike.
Final results were expected this evening."
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_PrintFriendly&c=Article&cid=993118974789
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June 21, 2001: Minnesota, Minneapolis: Striking nurses say replacements have it easier:"Striking registered nurses at two Fairview hospitals say their replacements are being treated to the sort of lighter workloads that Fairview has long denied them. Fairview officials, however, say they've made no change in staffing policies since 1,350 nurses went on strike June 3.
Fairview's Riverside hospital in Minneapolis and Southdale hospital in Edina have continued operating, using about 400 replacements from a nursing temporary agency."
http://www.pioneerplanet.com/news/mtc_docs/70769.htm
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Thursday, June 21, 2001: Washington State, Kenwick: Tri-City hospitals struggle with nurse shortage:"Tri-City hospitals in fierce competition for nurses during a nationwide shortage are looking closer to home to fill vacancies. Some beds remain empty at the hospitals, even as patients are sent to competing facilities because of a lack of nurses to care for them.
But at Columbia Basin College, a lack of money has the nursing program ready to turn away students because it cannot afford the faculty to teach them.
http://www.tri-cityherald.com/news/2001/0621/story1.html
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June 19, 2001: Arkansas: Commission Tackles Nursing Shortage:"It could prove to be one of the most important acts passed in this year's legislative session. Act 1465 created the Arkansas Legislative Nursing Commission. It will meet for the first time in July, to look for way to combat the state's nursing shortage.
In most hospitals, the supply of nurses is running extremely short. "Used to, you could expect to have a nurse there at any time," Registered Nurse Michelle Dehan tells KARK News 4. "But now, we find ourselves asking families to stay with their loved ones while they're in the hospital."
http://www.kark.com/karktv/news/story_tmp.asp?cmd=view&Storyid=1367
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06/06/2001: Working conditions send the nurses walking:"Nurse Jodi Bewell pickets Fairview-University Hospital in Minneapolis. Nurses around the nation object to long hours and large work loads. Nurses in several cities around the country have taken the debate over their working conditions to an extreme level: They've walked out.
Health policy experts and nursing advocates warn that the strikes will likely continue if administrators don't address the poor working conditions in many of the nation's hospitals. The administrators contend that they are doing the best they can to serve patients despite a severe nursing shortage as well as cuts in Medicare and other funding sources."
http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2001-06-07-nursing-shortage.htm
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Monday, June 4, 2001: Michigan, United, Mercy votes stand after recount:"A recount of 1,600 contract ballots at United and Mercy hospitals on Monday did not change results of the vote. The numbers are straight on, not one variation, said Elizabeth Shogren, a Minnesota Nursing Association staff person assigned to United in St. Paul and Mercy in Coon Rapids. United and Mercy nurses Saturday approved a contract featuring wage increases of 19 percent over three years and improvements in staffing, a major issue. Specifically, nurses won commitments for more staff in some areas and contract language boosting the decision-making power of some nurses over staffing flow, according to the union."
http://www.pioneerplanet.com/docs/0604recount.htm
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Monday, June 4, 2001: Nurses picket as replacements arrive What happened: Pay, benefits, staffing input were sticking points:"About 1,350 registered nurses at Fairview Hospitals in Minneapolis and Edina were walking the picket line Sunday after rejecting a contract they say shorted them on pay and benefits and failed to give them adequate input into staffing decisions.
Almost 3,200 nurses at four other hospitals owned by Allina Health System ratified contracts Saturday. That brought to nine the number of settlements reached in the past three days as a massive strike at 12 hospitals loomed. About 800 nurses at Methodist in St. Louis Park voted on a tentative settlement Sunday."
http://www.pioneerplanet.com/news/mtc_docs/60996.htm
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Monday, June 4, 2001: Nurses picket as replacements arrive What happened: Pay, benefits, staffing input were sticking points:"About 1,350 registered nurses at Fairview Hospitals in Minneapolis and Edina were walking the picket line Sunday after rejecting a contract they say shorted them on pay and benefits and failed to give them adequate input into staffing decisions.
Almost 3,200 nurses at four other hospitals owned by Allina Health System ratified contracts Saturday. That brought to nine the number of settlements reached in the past three days as a massive strike at 12 hospitals loomed. About 800 nurses at Methodist in St. Louis Park voted on a tentative settlement Sunday."
http://www.pioneerplanet.com/news/mtc_docs/60996.htm
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June 4, 2001, Florida hospitals send SOS to doctors to help keep nurses:"There's a disagreement on how responsible physicians are for nurses leaving, but everyone is pitching in to make sure they stay. Hospitals in the Miami area have asked physicians to help them in an effort to help retain hospital-based nurses, reflecting the struggle hospitals nationwide are having with a reported nursing shortage. The medical associations in Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties agreed to help their local hospital association with a task force to keep nurses on the job. But there's disagreement as to how much physician attitudes toward nurses are responsible for the turnover that's causing nursing shortages across the country. The hospital association says attitudes are a major factor, while physicians and even some nurses say they are less important than other issues."
http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2001/06/11/bisb0611.htm
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June 4, 2001: Washington, Bills aim to increase number of nation's nurses:"Legislation in Congress focuses on a growing nursing shortage, which some doctors say is threatening their ability to practice medicine. With the government predicting a need for 1.7 million nurses by 2020 -- outstripping the expected supply by more than 1 million -- Congress is scrambling for legislative initiatives that might alleviate the nation's nursing shortage.
One of these bills, the Nurse Reinvestment Act, introduced by Sens. John Kerry (D, Mass.) and Jim Jeffords (I, Vt.), would create what it calls the "National Nursing Service Corps," which would provide nursing school scholarships in exchange for a commitment to serve for two years in a health facility with a critical shortage of nurses. It also would establish incentives for young people to enter nursing as a career, provide recruitment grants and seek to strengthen the current nursing workforce."
http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2001/06/11/gvsb0611.htm
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May 7, 2001: Pennsyvlania: Local Nurses Are Not Happy, Mandatory Overtime Is Burning Out Susquehanna Valley Nurses:"A national study says many nurses are burnt out and ready to leave the profession.
The Susquehanna Valley is no different. Local nurses held a rally at the capital Monday to make their concerns known.
Tired of being forced to work overtime, the nurses say enough is enough.
"It is an issue of patient safety. (When) nurses are overworked and overtired, you are not safe," Patricia Eakin says.
For these nurses, it's no surprise that the nationwide survey found that 40 percent of nurses are unhappy with their job and one out of three nurses younger than 30 is planning to quit in the next year."
http://www.thewgalchannel.com/news/758529/detail.html
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January 31, 2001: NURSING SHORTAGE: Not a Simple Problem - No Easy Answers, Cheryl A. Peterson, MSN, RN, Online Journal of Issues in Nursing:"The article examines the issue of nursing workforce planning within the present health system environment and addresses ethical issues related to the shortage. Numerous factors are influencing both the supply of registered nurses as well as the demand for nursing services. Of particular concern is the negative impact that the current nursing practice environment is having on the retention of registered nurses as well as the ability of the profession to recruit students. http://www.nursingworld.org/ojin/topic14/tpc14_1.htm
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January 12, 2001: Some worry nursing shortage could put patients at risk:"Health care experts are worried that a national nursing shortage could become widespread later in the decade -- just as the aging U.S. population requires more care. A recent study by Vanderbilt University's School of Nursing in Nashville, Tennessee, found that the number of full-time registered nurses was projected to peak around 2007 and then decline steadily as more nurses retire along with the nation's Baby Boomers."
http://www.cnn.com/2001/HEALTH/01/12/nursing.shortage/
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Nurse Interrupted, By Suzanne Gordon:"It's May 13, the day after Florence Nightingale's birthday, and as part of the annual celebration of Nurses' Week--established in part to commemorate Nightingale's role in the development of professional nursing--members of the Massachusetts Nurses Association have asked me to speak to a group of registered nurses (RNs) at the University of Massachusetts Memorial Health Care Campus in Worcester. Usually, such events are upbeat--occasions for flowery praise of America's largest predominantly female profession, which is also the largest profession in the health care system. Not today. The 30 or so middle-aged nurses who straggle into a bare auditorium look like they're attending a wake"
http://www.prospect.org/archives/V11-7/gordon.html
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Hospital shortages Nomadic nurses fill staffing gaps, Wednesday, May 10, 2000, The Columbus Dispatch:"During the past two years, Kamilla Martin has worked as an emergency-room nurse in Denver, San Diego, Columbus and New Bedford, Mass. "This a great way to see the country and meet new people,'' said Martin, 35, who began working as a traveling nurse after her mother died in Morgantown, W.Va."
http://www.dispatch.com/news/newsfea00/may00/272492.html added 09/02/00
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