Recently in Health Care Workers Category

Source: Patricia A. Parmelee, Mary C. Laszlo, and Jo A. Taylor, Journal of the American Medical Directors Association, Vol. 10 no. 8, October 2009
(subscription required)

From the PHI summary:
This study identifies the most significant barriers to effective job performance -- and, therefore, job satisfaction -- as perceived by a survey group of 188 certified nursing assistants (CNAs). Among the work-related factors that CNAs believe lead to diminished job performance are: exclusion from communication processes, an unreasonably high workload, and a lack of teamwork among CNAs. The study concludes that further research should explore a possible relationship between those factors and CNA turnover.
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abstract

Source: Eili Klein, David L. Smith, and Ramanan Laxminarayan, Emerging Infectious Diseases, Vol. 15, No. 12, December 2009

From the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation summary:
Community-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (CA-MRSA) has become a major problem in U.S. hospitals already dealing with high levels of hospital-associated MRSA (HA-MRSA). Using antimicrobial drug susceptibility data for 1999-2006 from The Surveillance Network, the authors characterized the relationship between outpatient and inpatient levels of CA-MRSA nationally. In outpatients, the frequency of CA-MRSA isolates has increased more than seven times during 1999-2006, which suggests that outpatients have become a major reservoir for CA-MRSA. However, contrary to results in other reports, although CA-MRSA increases are associated with decreases in the frequency of HA-MRSA in hospitals, the decreases are only modest. This finding suggests that instead of replacing HA-MRSA in the hospital, CA-MRSA is adding to the overall presence of MRSA already found within the hospital population.

Source: Susan Praeger, Barbara Zimmerman, Journal of School Nursing, Vol. 25 no. 6, 2009
(subscription required)

From the abstract:
The purpose of this article is to present a state-by-state summary of rules and regulations governing school nursing practice in the United States. Official government and agency sites were reviewed to determine providers of services in schools, criteria for becoming a school nurse, protection of titling, mandates for school nursing, and the requirements for continuing to practice as a school nurse. Trends were identified after verifying regulatory information. The majority of states credential school nurses for practice, with Departments of Education being the most frequent authorizing agency. Almost half (n = 23, 45%) of the states refer to the role of licensed practical nurses in the school setting. Requirements for becoming a school nurse range from licensed practical or vocational nurse (LPN) to registered nurse-bachelor of science degree in nursing with additional education and experience. Limitations related to data collection issues and implications for practice, education, and leadership are discussed.

Source: Mischa Gaus, Labor Notes, no. 369, December 2009
(subscription reqiured)

A national "superunion" bringing together 150,000 bedside nurses looks all but certain to form in December. Fights inside two of the three unions that are coming together make it clear that how unions make major decisions sometimes matters to members as much as the end product.

Source: Paraprofessional Healthcare Institute, 2009

PHI's analysis of the 2009 Current Population Survey data on health insurance coverage shows that an alarming number of direct-care workers lack health insurance.

Overall, more than one in four direct-care workers (26.1 percent) -- over 800,000 individuals in total -- reported no health coverage in 2008, according to the analysis (pdf). This compares to an uninsurance rate of 17.3 percent for the general U.S. population under age 65.

Source: Joe Carlson, Modern Healthcare, November 16, 2009
(subscription required)

With hospital administrators working to address the myriad biological considerations swirling around the H1N1 flu pandemic, they might have overlooked one big social effect of the virus: the leverage it can lend to labor unions.

Source: Joe Carlson, Modern Healthcare, November 16, 2009
(subscription required)

After years of feuding and raiding each other's ranks, more healthcare unions are joining hands so they can work together on a common pro-labor agenda.

Imagine a time when healthcare unions were endlessly fractured, when labor leaders spent as much time launching public relations attacks and raiding parties against one another as they did trying to organize new workers.

It shouldn't be too hard to imagine--that was the reality only a year ago.
See also:
Largest healthcare unions: 2009
A list of the nation's largest healthcare unions, ranked by national membership with the healthcare industry.
Source: Modern Healthcare reporting, published Nov. 9, 2009
(subscription required)

Source: Tyler Gibb, Michigan State University Journal of Medicine and Law, November 5, 2009

From the abstract:
On September 29, 2006 the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) issued a trio of important decisions. These decisions, called the Oakwood Trilogy, represented the latest attempt by the NLRB to clearly define what it means to be a supervisor under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). Supervisors are outside the protection of the NLRA and are unable to unionize or participate in collective bargaining units. The Oakwood trilogy was widely criticized by labor and management advocates. Some critics foresaw dire consequences resulting from these decisions. However, management advocates praised the trilogy. One author declared that it had saved the NLRA.

More than three years after the Oakwood trilogy was published, there is still uncertainty regarding what its impact has actually been. This article uses content analysis, a novel methodology in legal scholarship, to show how the trilogy is actually being applied. This analysis yields a clear picture of the quantifiable impact of the trilogy.

Oakwood was a dispute regarding the supervisor status of nurses within a hospital. The impact of the trilogy in the healthcare industry is very important. By understanding how the NLRB is applying the Oakwood trilogy in the healthcare setting, employers may be able to use job descriptions and job responsibilities to exclude large numbers of nurses from collective bargaining units. On the other hand, nursing unionization efforts may also use the information to shield their members from exclusion under the trilogy.

Source: Suzanne N. DeVandry, Jennifer Cooper, Journal of Nursing Administration, Volume 39 Issue 11, November 2009
(subscription required)

From the abstract:
Current federal and state legislation for mandated nurse staffing falls short of the ideal plan. Hospital nurse-staffing ratios are inadequate to maintain patient safety and quality nursing care. Mandating fixed nurse-to-patient ratios does not accommodate changes in patients' needs, evolving technology, and experience of nursing staff and will be immediately obsolete. Ideal measurement of nurse staffing incorporates nurse skill level and patient acuity. The Pennsylvania State Nurses Association supports legislation to establish patient acuity-based nurse staffing.

Source: Gerontologist, Volume 49, Number 5, October 2009
(subscription required)

Articles include:

Intrinsic Job Satisfaction, Overall Satisfaction, and Intention to Leave the Job Among Nursing Assistants in Nursing Homes by Frederic H. Decker, Lauren D. Harris-Kojetin, and Anita Bercovitz

Nursing Home Work Practices and Nursing Assistants' Job Satisfaction by Christine E. Bishop, Marie R. Squillace, Jennifer Meagher, Wayne L. Anderson, and Joshua M. Wiener

A Dual-Driver Model of Retention and Turnover in the Direct Care Workforce by Vikas Mittal, Jules Rosen, and Carrie Leana

Quits and Job Changes Among Home Care Workers in Maine: The Role of Wages, Hours, and Benefits by Lisa Morris