Daily Archives: December 12, 2014

12.12.14
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We must fight for clean energy the same way we fight for healthcare for all

Scenes from Peru

While government officials across the world are participating in United Nations climate treaty talks in Lima, people from all walks of life are taking part in an alternative People’s Climate Summit.

These people represent international trade unions, NGOs from around the world and indigenous groups from here in Peru, as well as across Latin America. We’re here as nurses to represent the public health issues the world faces.

Nurses talk about the health impact and the dangers of fracking.

We presented on a fracking forum, stressing not just the environmental impacts of fracking, but the health impacts of fracking on the human body, on developing children, on unborn babies. The US has the largest fracking industry in the world. The methods being employed to extract natural gas from miles below the surface of the earth have never been tested for their environmental impacts, but more importantly for their health impacts. Many studies are preliminary, but they are showing direct relationships between fracking and cancer, infertility, premature births, low APGAR scores, birth defects and learning disabilities. We shouldn’t wait for definitive data to do what we know is right. We must follow the precautionary principle, not the profit principle.

One of the many banners seen during a climate march

We were part of a panel of international union leaders for energy democracy. Again, we presented the health care perspective. We have to return our energy to public control. We have seen the effects of the private energy industry – environmental degradation and the complete disregard for human health and the health of the planet. Clean energy is a necessity for life just like clean air, water, food and health care. We have seen the mess that privatized healthcare is in the United States.

RNs with Dante Alvaro, a leader of Peruvian water workers union in Lima that has led the way in fighting against the privatization of public water

We must fight to take make clean energy a public good in the same way that we fight for healthcare for all.

During all of these forums, it was apparent that people respond to our message. You could see faces lighting up and heads nodding when we spoke. People who didn’t understand the climate crisis in terms of carbon emissions or acidification of the oceans were completely on board with the health message.

I cannot tell you how many people have approached me to say thank you. They are grateful that the US nurses are here and speaking on the behalf of the health of people everywhere.

12.12.14
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How Baby Boomers Will Impact the Nursing Shortage

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aging baby boomers

There’s a lot of great data out there about how Baby Boomers will impact the nursing shortage.

Most folks know about the nursing shortage, which Travel Nursing helps to ease in part. The United States is in need of more nurses, nurse leaders, and nurse educators, in order to satisfy the healthcare needs of the population. While most people know that the Affordable Care Act has increased the demand on the healthcare industry, due to more patients seeking care, many don’t know about another key factor: How Baby Boomers will impact the nursing shortage.

As the Baby Boomers age, they are in need of more healthcare resources. Concurrently, as the Baby Boomer population ages, many nurses are reaching retirement age, which further worsens the nursing shortage.

This new infographic from Maryville University breaks down exactly how Baby Boomers will impact the nursing shortage in the coming years. One thing is clear: We need more nurses!

In the meantime, Travel Nursing is an excellent way to help address the nursing shortage, by taking your important skills as a nurse to locations and hospitals where your help is need the most.

Check out Maryville’s infographic below to learn more, and click here to start looking for your next adventure in Travel Nursing.


Maryville University’s Nursing Program

12.12.14
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“If the energy source requires a smoke stack, then it isn’t clean.” Scenes from Peru

NNU Co-president Jean Ross with unionized
Peruvian healthcare professionals

LIMA, Peru – During the UN Climate Change Summit, we’ve been meeting regularly with other activists from the Trade Unions for Energy Democracy, the International Transportation Union and the Peruvian Federation of Nurses.

By our presence and our action, we are trying to demonstrate that nurses care, and that National Nurses United will support other unions trying to do the right thing in transitioning away from combustion sources of energy and supporting “just transition” principles to help make that transition easier. We also are working to make sure that concerns over the public health impacts of pollution (cancer, asthma, pulmonary disease, etc) and changing climate patterns (hunger, disease) are addressed in discussions around potential courses of action to combat further dumping of carbon into the atmosphere.

From left to right Lara Norkus-Crampton, RN,
NNU Co-President Jean Ross,
RN and Erin Carerra, RN

As our statement makes clear:

NNU emphasizes the health impacts of climate disruption. Already, more than 8 million deaths worldwide are directly attributable to air pollution, primarily due to the use of “combustion energy” derived from the burning of oil, gas, coal, biomass, and waste, and lack of access to clean energy. Warming temperatures have accelerated the spread of vector-born diseases such as Ebola, malaria, dengue, yellow fever, and Lymes disease that spike as temperatures increase.

If the energy source requires a smoke stack then it isn’t clean. If it emits toxic substances that affect those unlucky enough to live downwind or downstream then it isn’t just. If it adds carbon to the atmosphere then it is part of the problem in the emerging global climate crisis.

You can see more pictures from the UN Climate Summit here.

12.12.14
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Many Obamacare Plans Set Out-Of-Pocket Spending Limits Below The Cap

Consumers shopping on the health insurance marketplaces will find many plans with out-of-pocket spending limits that are lower than the maximums allowed under the health law, according to an analysis by Avalere Health.

Seventy-four percent of 2015 silver level plans’ out-of-pocket spending caps are below the $6,600 spending limit allowed for individual plans and $13,200 maximum for family plans, according to Avalere, a consulting firm. The average out-of-pocket maximum for 2015 individual silver plans will be $5,853, says Caroline Pearson, a vice president at Avalere. Silver was the most popular plan type this year, selected by about two-thirds of enrollees.

After a policyholder reaches the out-of-pocket spending limit during the year, the insurer pays all the bills, unless, for example, they involve doctors and hospitals not in the health plan’s network.

The vast majority of other plans also feature lower limits on out-of-pocket spending—which includes deductibles, copayments and co-insurance, but not premiums. Seventy-one percent of bronze plan spending limits were below the allowed maximum (with an average spending limit for single coverage of $6,381), as were 94 percent of gold plans (average limit, $4,458) and 98 percent of platinum plans (average limit, $2,145).

Avalere said the average spending limits for single coverage were in most cases close to those for 2014 plans: bronze ($6,330); silver ($5,877); gold ($4,443) and platinum, $2,795.

Avalere’s analysis included plans sold on the federal marketplace that serves 37 states, as well as data from the California and New York state marketplaces. Consumers have until Feb. 15 to enroll.

The tradeoff for lower out-of-pocket spending maximums may be a higher deductible, says Pearson. The average deductible for silver plans will increase 7 percent in 2015, to $2,658. Other metal-level average plan deductibles are increasing as well.

Higher deductibles are likely helping keep premiums low, and low premiums are what consumers are looking for, Pearson says.

For people who are generally healthy, a lower premium may be more attractive than a lower deductible. They’re never going to meet their deductible anyway, so they’d prefer to save on monthly premiums.

But for people with chronic conditions, “the lower out-of-pocket maximum helps you because you’re going to exceed your deductible no matter what,” says Pearson.

Please contact Kaiser Health News to send comments or ideas for future topics for the Insuring Your Health column.

Kaiser Health News (KHN) is a national health policy news service. It is an editorially independent program of the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation.

12.12.14
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Scenes from Climate Change Summit in Peru

NNU Co-President Jean Ross participating in
a public healthcare panel at COP20

Nurses landed in Lima, Peru this week at the start of the United Nations Climate Change Summit – #COP20. We’re here to emphasize the health impact of our climate crisis and to let people know we want to be part of the solution. We’re joining thousands of other activists and meeting allies who are gathering for forums, discussions and protests during this historic environmental justice moment.

We met some indigenous people from Cusco, a World Heritage Site and the historic capitol of the Inca Empire. They described how the mining activities are making them sick and contaminating the water they need to sustain their crops and themselves. They traveled 21 hours by bus to reach Lima in hopes of sharing their story and getting help. Their mayor told us that he was recently imprisoned for fighting the mining interests that are threatening their water, health and potentially their very existence.

As nurses, we know it is important to listen to people’s stories and concerns. It is also important to use the analytical tools of our practice, the Nursing Process, to seek and advance evidence based best practices that protect the public health and sustain communities and our planet as a whole.

Peruvian Bank Protests earlier this week

For instance, the World Health Organization recently declared that air pollution and particulate pollution are carcinogens and need to be managed much more aggressively. We also know that dirty emissions containing carbon are contributing to the global climate crisis we are facing today and need to be addressed immediately.

I believe that we also need to apply the advocacy skills that we use in our profession to promote the health and safety of all people BEFORE they require hospitalization from exposure to toxic air, water and disease.

We had the privilege of meeting the President of the Peruvian Federation of Nurses, Zoila Cotrina Diaz. She discussed the problems with Peru’s underfunded public health care system. A panel of union leaders representing nurses, doctors, oral surgeons, pharmacists, support staff, as well as two panelists representing the disabled and those who are HIV positive were all part of the discussion.

The consensus was that there’re simply not enough health professionals to serve everyone. Panelists stated that there are 30 private/public hospitals for approximately 30 million people. In the more remote areas, patients have no access to hospitals and health care workers have training that’s equivalent to nursing assistants. The patient representatives complained that they could not get appointments or access to needed medications or adaptive equipment.

Jean Ross with Peruvian Federation of Nurses
President Zoila Cortina Diaz

Diaz said that Nurses need to reclaim their humanity in caring for people. Nurses need to be much more than functionaries doing our tasks. Some might call that caring for the whole patient with genuine empathy. But she also said that we need to carry this attitude of caring into the community. This means caring for people where they are and also helping them to address the causes of preventable disease and death. This includes sources of local pollution and polluters that contribute to climate changes that can impact health and food security for vulnerable communities.

We’re attending various panel discussions led by environmental advocates. Each one is calling for fundamental changes to how we produce and use energy.

Carbon emissions must be severely curtailed immediately. This means keeping coal, gas and oil in the ground as much as possible and switching to clean, non-combustion renewable energy sources like solar and wind. This also means emphasizing conservation of energy and resources.

The signs are clear. We are observing a global climate crisis unfold. We need to do much more than watch. We need to urgently seize the opportunities we have to avert further ecological and health disaster.