Lost for many observers in last month's end-of-the-year hullabaloo was the annual Gallup Honesty and Ethics Survey which by a wide margin again ranked nursing as the most honest and ethical profession.

By Michele Ross, RN and Elsa Matos-Leal, RN - While most people are decorating trees and planning holiday parties, Sutter's registered nurses have been sitting at bargaining tables around the Bay Area. Despite the pull of the holiday season, we are fighting for health care -- both protecting the health of our patients by holding the line on patient-care protections Sutter wants to eradicate, and stopping unwarranted cuts to health care coverage for our families.

Instead of the inflatable rat that has become ho-hum at union protests in New York, a giant three-headed dog with fangs was the effigy on display as about 250 unionized nurses rallied outside the Midtown headquarters of the private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management.

Medicare is preparing to penalize hospitals with frequent potentially avoidable readmissions, which by one estimate costs the government $12 billion a year.