Category: Workplace Issues

  One of the most important lessons nurses can take from the Lindsay Clancy case is the extraordinary importance of documentation. As nurses, we sometimes think of documentation as the part of the job that comes after the “real” nursing is finished. But documentation is part of patient care. The medical record may eventually become the only way someone who was not […]

  For years, nurse practitioners practicing in collaborative practice states have questioned whether mandatory physician collaboration agreements truly exist to protect patients or whether they have become an expensive barrier to providing care. A recently filed lawsuit in Texas has brought that question into the national spotlight. Supported by the Pacific Legal Foundation, the lawsuit challenges Texas laws that require […]

Nurses hear the same explanation year after year: there just isn’t enough money. Hospital leaders point to shrinking reimbursements, rising operating costs, and tight budgets as reasons they cannot increase nurses’ salaries. Yet many of these same hospital systems pay their CEOs and executive leadership teams millions of dollars in salaries, bonuses, and other compensation. It raises a simple but […]

  The American Nurses Association (ANA) recently made a historic decision to open its national membership to licensed practical nurses (LPNs) and licensed vocational nurses (LVNs). For the first time in its 130-year history, LPNs will be eligible to join the nation’s largest nursing organization. According to the ANA, the goal is to create a more unified nursing profession and […]

  Nurses expect many risks when they come to work. They know they may encounter infectious diseases, combative patients, emotionally charged families, and long, exhausting shifts. What they should never have to fear is being murdered while walking to their car after caring for patients all day. That is why the recent ruling in the wrongful death lawsuit involving nurse […]

Most nurses did not enter the profession because they wanted to fight about staffing ratios, budgets, or hospital policies. They became nurses because they wanted to care for patients. Yet every day, nurses across the country find themselves in an impossible position. They are asked to care for more patients than is safe, work with inadequate support, skip breaks, stay […]

A recent article from Nurse.org highlighted updated Bureau of Labor Statistics data showing something many nurses already feel in their bones every payday: where you work as a nurse can dramatically impact what you earn. (Nurse.org) According to the latest BLS numbers, the median annual wage for registered nurses is now approximately $93,600 nationally. (Bureau of Labor Statistics) But that […]

There are certain stories that stay with you long after you read them. This was one of them. A 31-year-old emergency room nurse finished her overnight shift and began the drive home. Somewhere along that drive, exhaustion appears to have caught up with her. Three sheriff’s deputies lost their lives. A nurse now faces criminal charges. Multiple families woke up […]

A nurse walks into work to care for people at some of the most vulnerable moments of their lives. She expects stress. She expects pressure. She expects difficult conversations. What she should never expect is to be punched, kicked, spit on, threatened, stalked, or sexually assaulted. And yet, that has become the reality for far too many nurses across this […]

The proposed Michigan Nurse Overtime Prevention Act, reflected in Senate Bills 296 and 297, addresses a long-standing gap in workplace protections for nurses by placing limits on mandatory overtime. For years, many hospitals have relied on extending nurses’ shifts beyond their scheduled hours to fill staffing gaps. In Michigan, there has been no meaningful statutory ceiling on how long a […]