This week on Nurse Talk: Lynn Ruth Miller

What’s it like to be a stand up comedian traveling the world? Oh..did we mention…an 80 year old stand up comedian traveling the world? Our resident comedian, Lynn Ruth Miller, is with us to talk about what keeps her young at her ripe age and how laughter saved her life.

 

Safe Lift Bill

We’ll also visit with Marti Smith, RN Government Relations Lead for the California Nurses Association. Marti will talk about why hospitals are not complying with California’s Safe Lift Bill (AB 1136) passed in January of 2012. Is this something we non-medical people should be concerned about? YES! Trust us when we say you do not want to be dropped on your next hospital visit! Is this possible? Yes, indeed, so stick around and find out why you should know about your neighborhood hospital’s “safe lift” policy. Read more...

Listen to our guest this week RN Jeff Breslin of the Michigan Nurses Association on The Safe Patient Care Act “Every Michigan resident deserves to receive safe care at every hospital, every time. Michigan’s nurses are simply asking for our leaders’ support to make that happen.” Jeff will talk with us about this important initiative that is sweeping the country. Read more...

A fierce leader, and one of our favorite guests, Healthcare and Human Rights Advocate Donna Smith, will join us. As some of you know, Donna has been leading the charge for the past 8 years for a universal healthcare system in our country. Donna was featured in Michael Moore’s film “Sicko.” For the past 5 years she worked as the Legislative Coordinator for National Nurses United. She is now the Executive Director of Healthcare for All Colorado. We’ll talk with Donna about all things healthcare, a little politics, the effects of the sequester – particularly the ones you don’t hear about — and more. For more information about Healthcare for All Colorado, visit healthcareforallcolorado.org. Read more...

Nursing Without Borders

This week we take on a controversial issue, and in doing so we learn ALOT (as if that never happens!). Healthcare Journalist Heather Boerner joins us to talk about an article she recently wrote for National Nurses United Magazine. The article, “Nursing Without Borders,” provides an in-depth look at the unique factors at play in providing the best care for undocumented patients. Ms. Boerner interviews undocumented families who do their best to stay off the radar for fear of being deported and therefore do not often seek medical treatment.

AND here is a statistic that will surprise most of us: Contrary to what the politicians and others tell us, according to the Institute for Taxation and Economic Policy, undocumented workers (in 2010) paid about $11.2 billion in state, local, and sales taxes, yet they do not qualify for healthcare services. How do nurses and other healthcare workers deal with this issue? Read more...

Safe Lift Bill

We’ll also visit with Marti Smith, RN Government Relations Lead for the California Nurses Association. Marti will talk about why hospitals are not complying with California’s Safe Lift Bill (AB 1136) passed in January of 2012. Is this something we non-medical people should be concerned about? YES! Trust us when we say you do not want to be dropped on your next hospital visit! Is this possible? Yes, indeed, so stick around and find out why you should know about your neighborhood hospital’s “safe lift” policy. Read more...

A look at the concerns about The Affordable Care Act from those who work for hospital corps.

This week Michael Lighty, Director of Public Policy for California Nurses Association,  joins us to talk about why he thinks the Affordable Care Act is “Bad Medicine” for nurses. The article, “Bad Medicine” recently appeared in the National Nurse Magazine and states, “…the biggest health reform of our lifetime does little to rein in healthcare corporations and insurers. Instead, it shifts even more in costs onto workers who can’t afford it and, at the same time, threatens the practice of registered nursing.”

Professor Shayne! Nurses, we may send you mixed messages from time to time but now is (honestly) a great time to consider getting a master’s degree.

And we have the best program in the nation (maybe we are prejudice since our co-host Shayne Mason just happens to be an instructor) to share with you. Read more...

In my day, honey was the most used product in my mothers medicine cabinet besides vinegar and the rectal thermometer. If I had muscle cramps, she made me take two teaspoons of honey with my meals and told me to stop complaining. If I had a sore throat, she gave me tea with lemon and honey, fever or not, and she told me to stop complaining.

My mother used honey instead of alcohol to sterilize cuts and open wounds because it didn’t sting. If her skin felt dry, she made up a poultice of eggs, flour and honey and used it as a hand lotion. I can still remember her shaking my teacher’s hand and both of them had to teach the rest of the class.

In the late 40′s, I had to deal with acne and momma rubbed honey on my face and covered the pimples with Band-Aids overnight and told me to quit complaining. Read more...

California Nurses Association’ s Government Relations Lead Marti Smith talks about enforcement of the California Safe Lift Bill. The bill, AB 1136, was passed into law in January of 2012 yet some California hospitals are still not in compliance.

Read more...

In my day no matter what ailed me, my father fixed it up with blackberry brandy. If I ate too much for dinner, and I swore I would explode, Daddy would give me a hefty shot of blackberry brandy. If  I suffered from the trots, out came the bottle of  brandy and I downed it in one gulp. If I complained of a sore throat, he insisted I gargle with it and the best part was I got to swallow. In moments I was singing like a canary, or so I thought.

He also used the brandy as a preventative. If we were all going out caroling or to a community sing we would all drink a Warsaw cocktail before we left the house: vodka, vermouth, blackberry brandy and lemon juice. You can’t beat that for numbing the throat, or the whole body for that matter. Now you’d never do that because you’d be charged with child abuse. Read more...

Nursing Without Borders

This week we take on a controversial issue, and in doing so we learn ALOT (as if that never happens!). Healthcare Journalist Heather Boerner joins us to talk about an article she recently wrote for National Nurses United Magazine. The article, “Nursing Without Borders,” provides an in-depth look at the unique factors at play in providing the best care for undocumented patients. Ms. Boerner interviews undocumented families who do their best to stay off the radar for fear of being deported and therefore do not often seek medical treatment.

AND here is a statistic that will surprise most of us: Contrary to what the politicians and others tell us, according to the Institute for Taxation and Economic Policy, undocumented workers (in 2010) paid about $11.2 billion in state, local, and sales taxes, yet they do not qualify for healthcare services. How do nurses and other healthcare workers deal with this issue? Read more...