NY Nurse December 2013/January 2014

Sometimes 25 babies can be assigned to just three nurses in the nursery where Jennifer Gunderman works. Often many of them are NICU babies requiring two-on-one attention.

Jennifer is a NICU nurse at Bellevue Woman’s Center near Schenectady. “That’s not the kind of care we’re used to giving,” she says.

“Some nurses used to shrug their shoulders and say ‘What can we do about it?’” recalls Jennifer. “We realized we if we were going to be heard, we needed to join NYSNA. We needed to speak with one voice.”

The world lost one of its great leaders with Nelson Mandela’s death. Around the globe, people have mourned the loss and celebrated the inspiration that, as President Obama put it, “one of the most influential, courageous, and profoundly good human beings that any of us will share time with on this earth” gave to all of humanity.

Typhoon Haiyan, called Yolanda in the Philippines, tore through the country on November 8, leaving a swath of destruction. As we go to press, the death toll stands at more than 5,700, with about 1,800 people still missing. The typhoon displaced more than four million people and destroyed more than one million houses. The massive agricultural and infrastructure damage is still being tallied.  

Proposed regulations threaten to put profit before quality

Ambulatory care can seem like a practical way to deliver healthcare, but the rapid expanse of for-profit ambulatory care may well undermine primary care networks and the financial viability of safety-net hospitals and systems.