health care policy Archives - Page 15 of 25

And You Thought PE Was Another Name for Gym Class

By Jacob Molyneux, senior editor

The template goes something like this: Start with a legitimate quality-of-life issue — like fitful sleep or shyness — that does not yet have its own prescription medication and is debilitating to a few people a lot of the time. Next, position the quality-of-life issue as a medical condition with symptoms so common it covers vast numbers of people who had previously not identified themselves as having a health problem, or who thought they were just experiencing an occasional and normal annoyance.

According to the rest of this article in the NY Times, the latest disorder about to enter our dictionary of accepted medical conditions is premature ejaculation (PE). Several companies are developing treatments in the form of pills or aerosol sprays. The net of nonspecific symptoms seems to have been cast fairly wide—a representative of one drug company is quoted as saying that one in three men have this condition.

Celebrities may soon be confessing that the anxiety occasioned by PE has led to ruined marriages, depression, drug use, and even the use of prostitutes. The ironies of the media campaign to push the term PE into our medical lexicon are worth considering as our legislators debate health care reform provisions and the crisis of rising costs. Medical bankruptcy is on the rise. Many cannot afford medications they need for serious conditions like heart disease and diabetes.

It may be premature to suggest it, but it seems likely the pharmaceutical companies expect health care reform legislation […]

Jacob Molyneux, senior editor/blog editor2016-11-21T13:20:37-05:00December 14th, 2009|health care policy|0 Comments

What We Heard from the Leaders of the New National Nursing Union

By Shawn Kennedy, MA, RN, interim editor-in-chief

As we noted earlier this week, several major nursing unions have united to form a “superunion.” The National Nurses United (NNU) brings over 150,000 nurses together by combining the California Nurses Association (CNA)/National Nurses Organizing Committee (NNOC) with the Massachusetts Nursing Association (MNA) and some members of the United American Nurses (UAN).

There are three co-presidents: Karen Higgins (from the MNA), Jean Ross (from the UAN), and Deborah Burger (from the CNA/NNOC).

Ross told me this:

The CNA/NNOC will cease behaving as a national union and, like the MNA, be a state union; both will be affiliates of the new NNU.
The UAN will cease to exist as a national union; those state associations that were members will automatically be members of NNU, unless they decide not to.
NNU will focus on health care reform, will advocate for a single-payer system, and will seek to organize all non-union staff nurses in the country

Ross had this to say as well: “People in this country have been waiting for a long time for nurses to come forward to make true health care reform a reality.”

Co-President Deborah Burger told me that NNU will pursue the main objectives of a “massive organizing campaign to organize all nurses nationally” and an aggressive “social justice” agenda focused on advocating for a single-payer health care system. They will also work for passage of federal staffing ratios legislation introduced by Senator Barbara Boxer.

Said Burger, […]

Jacob Molyneux, senior editor/blog editor2016-11-21T13:20:40-05:00December 10th, 2009|career, health care policy|0 Comments

New National Nurses Union Forms — But What’s It Mean to You?

By Peggy McDaniel, BSN, RN

Yesterday a new and powerful union was formed. The National Nurses United brings over 150,000 nurses together by combining the California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee with the Massachusetts Nursing Association and some members of the United American Nurses. The new “superunion” intends to focus both on influencing health care reform and on improving quality of care through such efforts as extending California’s patient ratio law into other states.

I have never worked in a union-supported hospital, nor have I ever belonged to a union. My father was an electrical engineer and although he was a union member, he always talked about the “union guys” who worked as little as possible. I remember his frustration at members who took advantage of the positive conditions promoted by unions. When I was a newly employed nursing graduate, one of my friends was a card-carrying pipefitter. He bragged about not doing any work for days on end because there were no laborers around to carry his materials!

As a hardworking staff nurse, I was angered by his complacency. I couldn’t imagine not clearing away a patient tray if the nurse’s aide hadn’t had time. I approached my nursing role as a team member focused on taking care of the patients—sometimes to my own detriment, since I was one of “those” nurses who often skipped breaks to complete tasks or charting. That said, I have seen the good that unions have done for nursing, especially around working conditions and benefits.

Given the current push to reform health care, […]

Jacob Molyneux, senior editor/blog editor2016-11-21T13:20:42-05:00December 8th, 2009|career, health care policy, nursing perspective|5 Comments

ANA Chart Compares Key Nursing Provisions in House and Senate Bills

By Judith Leavitt, MEd, RN, FAAN

There’s a tremendous amount of information available about the different congressional proposals on health reform. But it’s difficult to know how the proposed legislation might affect nurses and the profession. The American Nurses Association has just released an excellent chart offering side-by-side comparison of key provisions related to nursing in the two current bills, the House bill (H.R. 3962) and the Senate bill (H.R. 3590). These provisions include:

increased financial support for nursing recruitment and advanced education
increased funding for graduate education for nursing faculty
increased funding for education for students who will practice in underserved areas
establishment of a Public Health Workforce Corps
increased Medicare reimbursement rates for advanced practice nurses, including nurse–midwives
pilot programs to provide reimbursement under Medicare for nurse practitioners to create or lead “medical homes”
increased reimbursement to school-based health clinics under Medicaid

There’s much more to be gleaned here, and the chart format makes scanning for particular points of interest easy. Have a look!