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State Money Key to Fixing Nursing Crisis: Experts
What are states to do? In California, new legislation that will mandate specific nurse-to-patient ratios is getting a lot of attention. Stateline.org asked several nursing experts to suggest other actions states could take to help them address the shortage. Among their recommendations: increasing state funds for nursing faculty at state colleges and universities, creating new […]
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 […]
Public Hearings Set on Landmark Nursing Plan
California, the only state that has agreed to mandate nurse-to-patient ratios in its hospitals, is about to get an earful from its citizens — feedback that could alter its plan and influence healthcare policy in other states where similar legislation is being considered. The state Department of Health Services is holding the first of three […]
Oregon Health Plan Defeated
Everyone seemed to agree that the universal healthcare concept is important,” said Mark Lindgren, president of Health Care for All Oregon. But what critics called flawed and vague language in the proposal turned many people off, he said. Lindgren expected the final count of votes to show that 21 percent of the voters said yes […]
States’ Political Balance Rides on Balloting
Today’s mid-term elections will give a lot of new faces the title “Governor,” readjust the political balance in all but four state legislatures and resolve some touchy policy issues. There’s much at stake, but political experts predict a low turnout. Voters in 36 of the 50 states will chose governors, and 20 of those races […]
Oregon to Vote on Health Insurance Reform
Picture this: 41 million naked people. That’s how many people in the United States do not have health insurance, a vulnerability that experts call “going naked.” While the uninsured crisis is not a new problem, it is spurring political action in several states. In the face of widespread un-insurance and soaring annual premium increases for […]