1. Are Hospitals Conspiring to Fix Nurses’ Wages?

    Class action lawsuits allege anticompetitive activity.

    It seems counterintuitive that, in the midst of a nursing shortage, employers would lowball nurses’ wages. But recent antitrust litigation in U.S. courts alleges that some are doing just that. In May the U.S. Department


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  2. Needlestick: Adding Insult to Injury

    Nurses struggle to cope with the aftermath of injury.

    It began as just another day at the Bellevue Hospital Center ED for 36-year veteran Helen Ornstein, NP, RN, who worked perdiem in the 10-bed shock–trauma unit. But it turned out to be her last day there, a day that Ornstein says “put her life on hold” and ended her career in the ED. It also was the beginning of six years of litigation with the New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation to receive compensation for injuries and losses related to a needlestick.


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  3. To Err Is Human—But for Some Nurses, a Crime

    Recent cases may turn errors into criminal charges.

    In two cases, errors made in caring for patients are being evaluated for criminal conduct, and one case has already resulted in criminal charges. In Waukegan, Illinois, the jury at a coroner’s inquest ruled a woman’s heart attack death a homicide because, they concluded, she was made to wait too long for treatment at Vista Medical Center East. According to reports, 49-year-old Beatrice Vance presented at the ED with classic heart attack symptoms; she was registered and triaged within 15 minutes but was then left to wait—until she was found dead, approximately two hours later.


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  4. The Campaign for a National Nurse

    A whirlwind grassroots campaign gains momentum on Capitol Hill.

    Was the 19th century’s Clara Barton the last nationally recognized American nurse? Or was it her near-contemporary, Lillian Wald? Teri Mills has been trying to figure it out. She and a team of dedicated supporters are working


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  5. Between a Rock and a Court Case

    A teenager’s refusal of chemotherapy engenders court action and ethical question

    It’s hard to find anyone who doesn’t have an opinion about the Starchild Abraham Cherrix case, which was settled in August. The 16-year-old won his fight against the Accomack County, Virginia, Department of


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