Nursing Solutions, Inc.

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2055 East State Street East Petersburg, PA 17520 717 560 3863   phone 717 560 9111   fax

Your Permanent Nurses, Permanent Solutions!

HEALTHCARE STAFFING and LEGISLATIVE TRENDS

1. SCHWARTZEnegger signs bills creating hospital privacy oversight office. Hospitals and other health facilities will face harsh new penalties if their employees snoop in the medical records of patients, under legislation signed by California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. The governor approved two bills creating a state office to police patient privacy and to allow the state to issue fines as high as $250,000 for multiple violations. Schwarzenegger rejected most other major healthcare legislation aimed at protecting average Californians who face significant medical bills or inadequate insurance. (Source: Los Angeles Times, Oct. 1, 2008) Article

2. Pennsylvania nurses gain victory in long drive to ban forced overtime. A Pennsylvania bill, which took seven years to pass, ensures that nurses and other caregivers will not be forced to work double shifts, a common practice at hospitals and other facilities that can be dangerous for nurses and patients alike. According to a 2004 University of Pennsylvania study, the risk of medical error was as much as three times higher when a nurse worked a shift of 12 1/2 hours or longer. In 2005, a report published by the Pennsylvania Department of Health showed that 13.6% of the state's registered nurses had experienced mandatory overtime in the two weeks prior to taking the department's survey. (Source: Philadelphia Inquirer, Oct. 13, 2008) Article

3. Lack of medical workers plagues developing countries. In developing countries, a scarcity of doctors and trained nurses means there is often no helping hand in times of healthcare need. The health crisis in developing countries is being exacerbated by the West as countries relax stringent immigration regulations to attract doctors and nurses from less developed countries to boost their own flagging health systems while saving money on expensive training, some experts say. This "brain drain" leaves gaping holes in the healthcare systems of developing countries where diseases such as AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria run rampant and children die daily from diarrhea. (Source: Reuters/Yahoo News, Oct. 1, 2008) Article

4. Union workers strike at St. Francis Medical Center in Lynwood, CA. Service Employees International Union members struck today at St. Francis Medical Center in Lynwood, CA, where temporary workers had been hired in anticipation of the one-day action. Patient care at the nonprofit hospital was unaffected, said a hospital spokeswoman. Strikers included respiratory therapists, nursing assistants and licensed vocational nurses, as well as housekeepers, food workers, and registration clerks. Neither the union nor the hospital had complete figures on how many people went on strike. (Source: Los Angeles Times, Oct. 30,2008) Article

5. HEY C-SUITE! YOUR NURSES AREN’T HAPPY. ARE YOU LISTENING? Press Ganey Associates has come out with its 2008 survey of job satisfaction among 200,000 healthcare professionals at 423 healthcare organizations nationwide—including 45,000 nurses—and the news is neither good nor surprising. (Source: John Commins for HealthLeaders Media, Oct. 15, 2008) Article

6. North Carolina hospitals quietly tempt South Florida's nurses. While South Florida hospitals suffer from extreme shortages in nurses, recruiters from a North Carolina hospital group slipped into the region to try to lure away the highly desired workers. Two recruiters from the the Greensboro, NC-based Moses Cone Health System system were in The Westin hotel in Fort Lauderdale, but they refused to say anything, referring a reporter to the hospital system's director of nurse recruitment. (Source: Miami Herald, Oct. 30, 2008) Article

REMEMBER, NSI CLIENTS HAVE NO NURSING SHORTAGE!

YOUR PERMANENT NURSES and PERMANENT SOLUTIONS

“HEALTHCARE & LEGISLATIVE STAFF TRENDS eNEWS”® is a free Publication to the Industry. For information or assistance contact Brian Colosi at 717-575-3948 or Bcolosi@nsinursingsolutions.com