http://www.nursesforchange.org One Nurse's Perspectives on Poverty, Healthcare, Inequality, and the Need for Systemic Change Mon, 10 Nov 2008 15:40:19 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en As the Obama administrations develops strategies to strengthen the economy, create jobs, and provide relief to middle-class Americans, it is imperative that health care reform be considered as an essential part of fixing the economy.  There are several key reasons why economic strengthening and health care reform go hand in hand, including ... http://www.nursesforchange.org/fixing-health-care-helps-fix-the-economy/ In an article published this week in the New York Times titled "Women Buying Health Policies Pay a Penalty," notes that recent data suggests that women buying individual insurance plans pay significantly more than men.  The research showed that women paid hundreds of dollars more per year for insurance coverage ... http://www.nursesforchange.org/another-major-problem-with-mccains-health-plan/ If you are working as a nurse and you are a mother, you have unique challenges: finding day care to cover a 12-hour shift, taking time to pump breastmilk for your baby while at work, dealing with the emotional stress of your job in a healthy way, and working ... http://www.nursesforchange.org/recent-political-discussion-of-feminism-and-working-mothers/ One of my first jobs out of nursing school was in Louisiana in a busy pediatric Emergency Room. We had very few resources and were very busy. For our whole 36-bed unit, we had two monitors and they were at least 42 inches square. They were so ... http://www.nursesforchange.org/change-is-possible/   I was surprised when I returned to graduate school in nursing after 6 years at the bedside to find that my classmates were often fresh out of undergraduate nursing school with no work experience. Aside from feeling like an old lady, I wondered how they would define the ... http://www.nursesforchange.org/nursing-experience-if-you-want-to-move-up-you-need-street-credibility/ Which Comes First, Health Care Cost Containment or Access: Comparing the Health Plan Policies of John McCain and Barack Obama Either John McCain or Barack Obama will become the next president of the United States in January 2009. According to a recent poll by the Kaiser Family Foundation, “one in four ... http://www.nursesforchange.org/comparing-the-health-plan-policies-of-john-mccain-and-barack-obama/ I'm worried about what will happen when one aspect pay for performance in Medicare and Medicaid is implemented this fall. The need for effective cost containment strategies in health care is evident. Neither hospitals, providers, consumers or public and private insurers can afford to continue shifting costs around ... http://www.nursesforchange.org/pay-for-performance-in-medicare-and-medicaid/ Sometimes when I am caught up in the political arena at work or frustrated about something we need to do, something happens that takes me right back to why I am here in this job. That something is often in the form of a 5 year-old boy, who I ... http://www.nursesforchange.org/when-your-patient-fixes-you/ Have you ever heard the saying by Ghandi, "Be the change you want to see in the world"? If we apply this idea to the need for change in our country's healthcare system as it relates to how people who work in the healthcare industry are insured, we ... http://www.nursesforchange.org/how-are-healthcare-workers-insured/ If you haven't seen this movie by Michael Moore yet, I highly recommend it. This movie does an excellent job of showing the state of healthcare today in human terms. I mentioned that I had watched the movie to some fellow nurses. Many people commented that "socialized" ... http://www.nursesforchange.org/see-sicko/