03.07.13
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NURSE TALK RADIO: Holding Insurance Companies Accountable and Healthcare Colorado

Nurse Talk Radio

Coming Up on Nurse Talk Radio

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Listen and share the NNU segment:

Donna Smith’s Healthcare for All Segment

Catch The Full Show here >>

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By Pattie Lockard
Executive Producer
Nurse Talk Radio

This week one of our good friends returns to Nurse Talk to talk about her new project, Healthcare for All Colorado. None other than Donna Smith is with. Donna as most of our listeners know, worked for five years as National Nurses United Legislative Advocate based in D.C. She just returned to her home state of Colorado and now serves as the Executive Director of Healthcare for All Colorado.

Having (successfully) gone through two bouts of cancer, Donna has great advice on how to make your insurance company accountable–at least to some degree. In her new role she will do what she has done for many years, advocate and educate people about what can be done to access healthcare and to eventually change the current system to a nationwide universal healthcare system.

For more information about Healthcare for All Colorado and National Nurses United visit: http://healthcareforallcolorado.org and http://www.medicareforall.org

And—it’s time to get HIP about the issue of “low bone density.” That’s right it’s time to talk about your “bones.” And no one is more qualified than Dr. Kenneth C. Howayeck. He is an author, lecturer and osteoporosis educator.

Dr. Howayeck is an author of books on self-care, including Bone Health Made Easy.. Here’s a jaw dropper–”If you break a hip and you are over 50, 1/4 will die in the first 12 months primarily from that injury!” Not good! Only three in ten osteoporosis sufferers actually know they have this “silent killer” affliction. For great information from Dr. Howayeck check out http://bonehealthmadeeasy.webs.com.

And from our Scrubs Magazine Top Ten, Interesting Hospital Fashion

Moments: top of scrub pants rolled down complete with pink thong and muffin top hanging out…give me a break! Unroll the tops…it’s a hospital, not a nightclub!

Last but not least-we want to give a big shout out to all of you who are listening to Nurse Talk on Progressive Voices, on the Tune In app, live streaming from the San Francisco Bay Area’s KNEW 960 AM, the iHeart Radio app, iTunes, Nursetalksite.com and everywhere in between.

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03.04.13
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ANA Responds to Sequester

PSNA joined the American Nurses Association (ANA) today in issuing the following statement attributable to ANA President Karen A. Daley, PhD, RN, FAAN:

“The ANA and PSNA are extremely disappointed that the nation’s elected leaders have failed to find common ground to avert the so-called “sequester.” Consequently, painful cuts in health care spending will hurt vulnerable Americans seeking care and lead to widespread job losses.

Reducing the nation’s deficit on the backs of seniors who need care and professionals who dedicate their lives to providing health care services and conducting research is reckless and should be unacceptable to anyone. Although the sequester was meant to spur action to address fiscal issues in a thoughtful way, we are now facing a situation where cuts in Medicare funding will result in the elimination of hundreds of thousands of health care jobs. Allowing these cuts to go forward is the equivalent of malpractice. The nation’s lawmakers have chosen inaction with a full understanding of the painful consequences for their constituents.

We call upon our nation’s elected leaders to do the right thing and formulate a balanced solution that strengthens the nation’s health care system and the economy instead of weakening it.”

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In September 2012, ANA, along with the American Hospital Association (AHA) and the American Medical Association (AMA), warned that the 2 percent sequester of Medicare spending is projected to cause a loss of 766,000 nursing and other health care jobs and a corresponding decline in quality of care for patients.

ANA represents the interests of the nation’s 3.1 million registered nurses.

 

03.04.13
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Real Nurse Photo Contest!

 

A collage of some of the photos that have been submitted to the Real Nurse Photo Contest. See all the photos at RealNursePhotos.com

A collage of some of the photos that have been submitted to the Real Nurse Photo Contest. See all the photos at RealNursePhotos.com

NursingJobs.us recently announced its Real Nurse Photo Contest:

Are you a nurse? We are offering $100 in our nurse photo contest!

Real portrayals of the nursing profession are few and far between and instead of settling for buying fake-looking models posing in Halloween nurse costumes for our stock photographs we at NursingJobs.us figured that we might as well try asking the many nurses who use our nursing job board to send us their own, real, photos and let us use them to better represent the face of nursing to the world.


You can see some of the photos that have been submitted at RealNursePhotos.com.  Want to see your image there and possibly win $100?  The contest doesn’t end until March 15, 2013 so there is still time for you to enter!  Find the contest rules and instructions for submitting photos at the Real Nurse Photo Contest announcement page.

Make sure you don’t miss out on the latest nursing news and important announcements: Follow us on Twitter  or like the Ultimate Nurse page on Facebook. 

03.04.13
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Living and Working as a Nurse in Houston

The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center (Photographer: Wikimedia Commons/Zereshk)

The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center (Photographer: Zereshk)

Home of NASA’s Mission Control Center, Houston is also home to some of the best hospitals in the country. Some of the best nursing jobs in Houston can be found at the Methodist Hospital, St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital, University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, Memorial-Hermann Texas Medical Center and TIRR Memorial Hermann, which are all well-rated by  US News and World Report, and all have high-ranking specialties.

Many Houston nursing jobs are in hospitals located on Portsmouth Street, including Bayou Medical Center, or Fannin Street, where the Women’s Hospital of Texas is located. The Shriners’ Hospital for Children and Kindred Hospital Medical Center are also located on Fannin.

Nurses working in the Houston area have salaries that are moderate as the cost of living is also somewhat middle of the road.  Staff RNs average about $66,000 per annum. Licensed practical nurses average just under $42,000 per year, with CNAs averaging just under $29,000 in annual pay. All figures are from Salary.Com for 2012.

For travel nurses visiting the city, there are all sorts of places of interest to see and experience, from the Johnson Space Center to the Houston Museum of Natural Science to the Theater District and the Aquarium. Plus, there’s the Mahatma Gandhi District, the Houston Zoo and the Houston Arboretum. Sports enthusiasts will surely enjoy watching the Astros, the Rockets, and the Texans, and a pilgrimage to the Astrodome is also in order. History buffs will have fun checking out the Clayton Library and the Sam Houston Hotel, or strolling around the Fifth Ward’s Frenchtown – or taking a trip west to see the San Jacinto Battleground in La Porte, which is about a half an hour away.

Houston night skyline (Photographer: eflon on Flickr)

Houston night skyline (Photographer: eflon)

Whether residing in Houston or visiting as a travel nurse, getting around is not too bad, as the center of the city is laid out in a grid. Interstate 45 (also known as the Gulf Freeway) cuts through and then skirts the city to the west, and then it arcs around to the north. Route 610 makes a ring around the city and then another ring, Route 8 (Beltway 8), goes around that. Route 59 proceeds from the southwest to the northeast. It eventually intersects with Interstate 10.

Houston travel nursing jobs are often in the Fannin Street area, which is to the southwest. That area is near Route 59 and Route 288.

Another popular transportation option in Houston is the comprehensive public transportation system. METRO (the Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County) consists of buses and regional rail. The Red Line travels from Fannin Street South to the University of Houston Downtown stop.

Housing is more expensive the closer you get to the center of things. Prices can be very high in affluent bedroom areas such as Washington Avenue and the Allen Parkway area. Prices are a bit lower outside of the city, in areas such as Tomball and Jersey Village. According to Trulia, the market is on the rise, but overall sales seem to be decreasing in early 2013. Apartment living can be in modern townhouses or developments.

Educational opportunities are plentiful, as Houston is home to a concentration of great colleges and universities. Nursing programs are available at (among others) the Houston Baptist University, Prairie View A & M and Texas Women’s University. All of these schools can improve the experience of nursing in Texas.

Houston – it’s an impressive global city. Got any more insights into living and working in Houston? Let us know in the comments section!

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