Arizona cuts in transplant coverage spark outrage
Two people have already died in Arizona and another 96 are waiting for a life-saving transplant they may no longer be able to afford after the state slashed money reserved for the procedures. One lawmaker said Arizona is now home to "death panels." And those whose names were on the list, those who will surely die without a transplant, found themselves in a state of disbelief. "It's a shock to me," said Randall Shepherd, who thought he would receive Medicaid funding for the heart transplant he needs.
CNN
Let’s stop pretending it was a government takeover of healthcare
If the Obama healthcare bill is just a "government takeover," why are healthcare industry CEOs being rewarded with so much money? The alleged expropriation of healthcare by big government is, of course, a major story line of the right and the new leadership of the House which is planning the useless exercise of a vote to repeal the law. But if the private companies who actually do control our health are hurting so badly, why are they shelling out so much to their top executives? By Deborah Burger, RN, NNU Co-president
National Nurse Blog
The Shameful Attack on Public Employees
In 1968, 1,300 sanitation workers in Memphis went on strike. The Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. came to support them. That was where he lost his life. Eventually Memphis heard the grievances of its sanitation workers. And in subsequent years millions of public employees across the nation have benefited from the job protections they've earned.
Huffington Post
Healthcare CEOs doing just fine without healthcare law repeal
If the Obama health care bill is just a "government takeover," why are healthcare industry CEOs being rewarded with so much money?
National Nurses Movement
Healthcare reform pays big dividends
Health care reform was a big job in 2009, and it paid very well for some executives: Nine of 12 CEOs of health care trade associations made $1 million or more.
Lobbyists at the associations received compensation ranging from $250,000 to more than $1 million.
Politico
RNRN Helped in Haiti
“The whole place is a hill of rubble,†he said. “It’s really difficult to get your brain around that level of catastrophe. Where in the world have 200,000 people died in one spot at one time?â€
RNRN Blog
Nurses Ask: Does New Orleans Suffer from PTSD?
Citing the development of a number of worrying and long-term trends among the patient and caregiver population of post-Katrina New Orleans, registered nurses from a wide variety of clinical settings will report on the severe challenges they face delivering care in their communities. The RNs will be sounding this public health alert as part of a day-long seminar sponsored by the Registered Nurse Response Network, (RNRN), a national organization with 4,000 members which was born in the aftermath of the Gulf region devastation.
Press Release
Jan 1, 2011
Three Years Post-Katrina, New Orleans in Healthcare Crisis and Bracing for Gustav
As America turns its attention toward New Orleans on the third anniversary of the Katrina disaster, the Registered Nurse Response Network (RNRN) is releasing a video that conveys the impact of a second disaster facing the city – the collapse of its healthcare system. On the eve of the anniversary, as tropical storm Gustav gathers strength cities in Mississippi and Louisiana are placed on high alert, and residents express grave concerns that their basic healthcare needs will be ignored again.
Press Release
Jan 1, 2011
Reflections of a Katrina nurse
Hurricane Katrina was a natural disaster. What we did to the residents of the Gulf Coast affected by Hurricane Katrina was a man-made disaster.
The Courier-Journal
Nurses tell of tattered health system - Access to care is still inadequate, they say
Six local nurses said Monday that mental distress is omnipresent in New Orleans these days as residents feel helpless to secure rebuilding grants, find doctors and schools and otherwise navigate life in a fragile city.
Times Picayune