Washington Hospital Center fires 11 nurses, 5 staffers – Failed to Make It To Work During Snow Storm

This really sounds very tough if you ask me and again I am just reading information in this article, but gee even TSA even reversed their decision on considering employees AWOL during the storm.  On woman had trouble getting there and was late, so she spent the night to make her next shift the next day and still was fired!

Since this happens to be a Union shop, it’s time to find a way to cut cost and by firing the employees and if it sticks, then they will be replaced with part time “casual” workers who work less than 30 hours a week and do not get healthcare benefits as a full time employee does.  Some offer some benefits to casuals and some contracts they get nothing.  This is a moral decision here and should be be used as a method to cut costs with employees who have worked at the hospital for most of their lives for many years.  Hopefully a grievance procedure will help out here for those who should have not been fired.  

In a past life in another industry where I worked in administration, it was very common practice at times, depending on the managers to start looking for was to “fire” people and replace them with casual workers, not nice, but it happens all over and right now with economic conditions as they are, I might guess some of this could be elevated in places where union employees work.  BD 

The District's largest private hospital has fired 11 nurses and five support staff members who failed to make it to work during the back-to-back snowstorms that paralyzed the region earlier this month.

Dozens of staff members at Washington Hospital Center face internal investigations, union representatives say, and it is unclear how many employees will lose their jobs. On Friday, the nurses union, Nurses United of the National Capital Region, filed a class-action grievance with the hospital.

"I see it as so unfair and uncaring," said Shirley Ricks, a 57-year-old nurse who has spent her entire career at the hospital. "That's it. You call in one day in the biggest snowstorm in history and you're out. No ifs, ands or buts about it. . . . You go from getting a salary every two weeks to nothing. It's scary.

In a letter sent to the staff on Friday, hospital President Harry J. Rider sought to quell rumors that hundreds of people had been fired. He said he expects fewer than 20 people will be dismissed.

Union representatives said about 250 of the hospital's 1,600 nurses did not make their shifts at some point during the storms that pummeled the area between Feb. 5 and Feb 11. Pak could not confirm that number but said on the Monday after the first blizzard, 759 employees who were scheduled to work did not show up. On a typical weekday, the hospital has between 3,100 and 3,350 employees working. The nurses earn an average of $40 an hour.

Officials at other local hospitals and unions that represent critical personnel, such as emergency responders, said they had not heard of staffing problems elsewhere or of disciplinary action against employees who were unable to make their shifts. The Transportation Security Administration last week reversed an initial decision to consider Dulles International Airport security screeners AWOL if they had not made it to work during the snow emergency.

Pak said the hospital provided transportation for employees during the storm, but union representatives said it was not available at all times. In any case, they said, the vehicles could not reach every street. Stephen Frum, chief shop steward for Nurses United, said some nurses have photos that show their streets were impassable.

D.C. hospital fires 11 nurses, 5 staffers for snowstorm absences - washingtonpost.com

Uses for Leftover Tiles

I always seem to have just a few tiles left over from whatever project I was working on. I can just return them to the store if I didn’t buy them by the case or if I didn’t shop at an auction, but if I’ve got a few tiles left over from a case of tiles, I’m often stuck with them. Over the years, I’ve discovered a few projects I can do that uses up some of those leftover tiles. Here are a few of my favorite uses for leftover tiles:

• Work surfaces for craft projects – I use a small tile as a base for my glue gun holder and use a few bigger tiles as easy wipe off craft project boards. They are pretty easy to pick up and move around.
• Tile topper for a piece of furniture with a ruined top – Perfect for a desk that lost the veneer on top. Screw on a piece of tile board and add a tile top for a great potting bench, kitchen island, or craft room desk.
• Mosaic supplies – A great way to use damaged tiles. While I personally have only done a few basic projects and have discovered that mosaic may not be for me, other people do amazing things with broken tiles. I am particularly fond of a mosaic car in Florida. I would imagine you’d go through a lot of gas driving it around, but it looks like it is meant to be a stationary work of art.
• Art “canvas” for a small project – I have a few really nice tiles other artists have done. They can be a focal point for a backsplash, a way to cover up a problem spot on the wall like the old woodstove hole, or just wall art.
• Drink coasters – Put some chair felt pads on the bottom of some pretty leftover bath and kitchen backsplash tiles and you have some great drink coasters.

How do you use leftover tiles?

Photo: SXC

Post from: Blisstree

Uses for Leftover Tiles

NHS Hospital Finds Patients Neglected – Managers Preoccupied with Meeting Targets and Cutting Costs

I think the same sort of phenomenon might be happening here in the US too.  When you stop and think about how busy healthcare facilities and hospitals are today it can happen.  Most of our leaders don’t understand how technology is impacting our lives today as they are non participants. That’s why we have 34 members stating they are ready to retire. 

Distraction and Disruption – A Way of Life Today with Technology - Do Our Leaders Understand What Is Happening?

We are trying to reform healthcare, but I can’t even see enough of the group stay on one subject.

Is Distraction Getting in the Way of HealthCare Reform?

I said this over a year ago, we need a digital format for laws as you can see by the last few months how long the antiquated process takes and we are to the point now where new technology need to be referenced in the laws they make, so how can this be done with a non participant knowledge level.  We see a lot of CEOs too leaving their posts and other top management people. 

Are We Ever Going to Get Some Algorithm Centric Law In Place for Healthcare

If we don’t stop and take a look at what is happening and bring some human elements back, and stop writing everything off as a business decision, life is going to get pretty ugly with nobody caring and the rest just giving up as the failure of living with technology will advance those monetarily who do, whether they deserve it or not, and whether they use algorithms for gain or for the use of improving life and sometimes those lines even get grey. 

I like technology and what it can do, but I also see what it does when it is misused for greed and gain.  I also projected 2 years ago that we would be close to having riots in the US over healthcare and we are almost there.  I guess my time in writing code and aggregating data years back must do something for me to see the next bend or 2 in the road.  If you have worked with computer code and understand the basics of how it all comes together coupled along with the way the business world works today, it’s really not that hard to see as it is one process building on another and figuring out who’s going to partner and/or team with who, for money.  BD 

A government inquiry into the working of a National Health Service (NHS) hospital found that patients were routinely neglected or left 'sobbing and humiliated' by staff who stopped providing safe care as managers were preoccupied with meeting targets and cutting costs.

Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust, where at least 400 to 1,200 patients died in a three-year period because of appalling care, had lost sight of its responsibility, the inquiry report released on Wednesday stated.

Its chairman Robert Francis QC made 18 recommendations for both the Trust and the government after hearing evidence from more than 900 patients and their relatives, and more than 80 staff, The Times of London reported.

'This was an appalling failure at every level of the hospital to ensure patients received the care and compassion they deserved,' said British Health Secretary Andy Burnham.

'There can be no excuses for this. I am accepting all of the recommendations in full.'

British hospital of horrors

Quinine May Work, But Has Side Effects

Quinine, used to treat muscle cramps, was once sold over the counter, but now is only available with a prescription in the US. It’s also included in small amounts in tonic water. However, the amount isn’t enough for a therapeutic dose. Quinine, made from the bark of the cinchona tree, has been in use for a long time, but concerns over side effects are growing.

Stanford University recently performed a review of medical literature on treatments for muscle cramps. They found that there are few sure-fire methods of getting rid of muscle cramps. There’s no solid evidence that stretching, or drinking tonic or plain water helps. Researchers noted the lack of studies on other treatments for muscle cramps like vitamin B complex, anti-epileptic drugs and calcium-channel blocking agents.

Quinine, however, does seem to work against muscle cramps. There’s a drawback though. In 2006, the FDA warned against the use of quinine due to adverse effects.

After their review, the Stanford researchers issued guidelines regarding quinine, and they recommended that exploring other options would be preferred.

“Our recommendation is that quinine should be avoided for general use in treating muscle cramps,” said the study’s first author, Hans Katzberg, MD.

Katzberg noted that available data suggests quinine can reduce muscle cramps by one-third to one-half. However, serious adverse effects like blood irregularities may arise in one in 25 cases.

Even with the possible serious effects, quinine may still be prescribed in cases where muscle cramps are disabling and other therapies fail, but the patient’s condition would be actively monitored.

(Image via flickr.lululemon)

Post from: Blisstree

Quinine May Work, But Has Side Effects

Shrink Your Way to Prosperity – Is This the New Business Model Even Outside of Healthcare Insurance

In healthcare insurance we all certainly know what this is all about and the fact that it came to head the way it has had a lot to do with attitudes and running algorithmic codes with automation and leaving out this one little element called “communication”, not data, human.  We still need this.

Now it looks as though the TV networks are looking at doing the same thing due to loss in advertising and other areas.  We can only cherry pick so far at times until we reach the point where’s nothing at the top to pick from any longer.  Just as clinical staff does, according to this article we will now have multi taking news people too.  NBC was wise by comparison when it began it’s MSNBC station, on cable and on the internet.  So will be start to see some real mergers here such as working with CNN?  

Technology is touching every industry in one form or another.  I had some correspondence the other day from an individual from the Philippines who worked for an “American owned” company asking me to see if I could work with them to find opportunities here in the US with companies to use an outsourced “virtual assistant”.  Sure we see a lot of that but you know what the going rate was?  It was under $6.00 an hour!  The contracted assistant of course would not make that as the company would need their portion of the fee, and remember too, this company said they were American based and had around 500 employees already.  I decided to throw this out there to make a point here on what is happening with the employment markets. 

We are not only shrinking payroll, but also compensation at rocket speeds, every where except on Wall Street.  If this is the business model of today and it is extending past healthcare now, we need to all stop and globally take a look at what we have created here and what we support.  We may have mistakenly deregulated a little too far and if there’s not a profit to be made, the business eventually goes away.  BD 

ABC News is making no secret about what is behind the sweeping staff cuts it now faces: raw survival instinct.  ABC employees were reviewing buyout packages last weekend. Eligible staff members have until March 26 to decide whether to leave. If ABC cannot meet its goal, layoffs will follow.

Mr. Westin said high-priced and purely cosmetic talent would become an increasingly endangered species. “There have been people in television news — very successful people — who do not write,” he said. “We are going to definitely require more of our journalists.”

So far, Web revenue is a rather small part of the broadcast networks’ bottom lines, although Mr. Westin said ABC’s digital income was “up substantially.”

News Units at ABC and CBS Try to Navigate Uncertain Times - NYTimes.com