Nurses walk off the job Thursday morning at seven East Bay hospitals affiliated with Sutter Health

Health care in other countries is a social service. Here in the United States, it's big business. Your money or your life. No money? Die and get out of the way for someone with money.

Hedy Dumpel the founder and Director of this California group (along with my 165-pound Saintly Bernard), I hope and pray these striking nurses from the East Bay hospitals are successful. The statistics on the number of lives that will be saved is stunning. http://www.truthaboutnursing.org/news/2011/apr/02_florida.html

Go Nurses!!

And thank Paxton for bringing more attention to your efforts.

I know recently during my recovery from knee replacements the only times I had problems with my care were nights when the nursing staff was horribly overloaded - 10-12 patients per nurse and tech. At least twice I had to raise a stink to get my pain meds at all over three hours LATE. At least the lack of meds I almost didn't get did not threaten my health. For a facility (rehabilitation hospital) that charges over $1000 per day, it was outrageous that they were chronically understaffed. During my two stays (8-9 days for each knee replacement) the ratio of nurses to patients was never less than 1 nurse for eight patients - TWICE what is recommended in the article you linked - and some nights was THREE times as many as recommended.

csziggy, I hear what you're saying about your experience and your struggles just to get your pain meds because of understaffing of nurses. Scary things go on behind closed doors in healthcare facilities every single day. Sometimes beyond belief. That's why I wrote my novel about happenings inside a children's hospital -- to get information out about the corruption in some of America's hospitals, where patients die at the convenience of the 1% (like the-candidate-who-shall-not-be-named), while they line their pockets, get tax breaks, and stash their cash in faraway banks. Hopefully, the movie adaptation of the book goes to production soon so the public can see how their lives come and go with the toss of the dice like a game of Monopoly.

Barbara Kingsolver says that the message of social injustices is often more believable when put into a fiction context. I agree. My fiction comes from real life.

The dot connection between Romney and the horrifically tainted meds leading to 29 already dead is another example of how the rich are getting away with murder.

Good luck to the California nurses and their patients. We'll be watching this one closely.

Paxton (who is a Comfort Therapist for children of trauma) sends happy tail-wags to you and all patients who have suffered from at-risk care.

That sounds about right to me, maybe a bit low. $4.79 million for a hospital CEO who never prescribed a band aid? I don't think so.

that they deserve every cent and more. Nursing is difficult, skilled, and important work. I almost feel that it would be impossible to overpay them.

... have confirmed that even modest use of temporary staff results in significant increase in medical errors.


While you're thinking of it, make sure you have that heart attack during the Monday - Friday period. Quality of care also drops off on the weekends.