Most of our listeners know…we love our Donna Smith. Since the start of Nurse Talk Donna has been and is—a remarkable contributor and a tireless advocate for single payer healthcare. She is a legislative organizer for National Nurses United and no one knows healthcare/political issues like Donna. And at the heart of the matter—she doesn’t really believe healthcare—and access to it—should be a political issue. Donna says, “It’s a matter of heart and humanity. It just is.” Having just been diagnosed with cancer (for the second time) Donna now faces what so many sick AND INSURED do—her insurance company is denying medications and treatment. Donna talks about this and more …coming up. Check out some of her blog posts at MichaelMoore.com.

AND…listener Sharon B. gets some answers from Stanford nephrologist, Dr. Anjali Saxsena. Dr. Saxsena talks about Kidney disease—the symptoms, the treatments—and the National Kidney Foundation. Read more...

Well, Casey and Shayne share a few stories. Casey tells a story about an elderly woman’s escape from an assisted living facility. A World War II Vet–this sweet 89-year-old woman managed to slip by the door attendants, walk down a hill to the parking lot, HOTWIRE a car and drive it around town for 45 minutes–without incident by the way! A missing residents alert was issued and police were called. They found the woman cruising at 24 miles per hour–helmet hair and all–down the streets of a town that shall remain unnamed. Wow–how the hell do you HOTWIRE a car anyway?

This week we give a salute to the Massachusetts Nurses Association. We are joined by RN and President of Mass. Nurses Association, Donna Kelly Williams. Donna speaks about the recent victories the nurses have had with respect to keeping Taunton State Hospital opened and witnessing the signing of legislation to make mandatory overtime illegal. Read more...

This week we give a salute to the Massachusetts Nurses Association. We are joined by RN and President of Mass. Nurses Association, Donna Kelly Williams. Donna speaks about the recent victories the nurses have had with respect to keeping Taunton State Hospital opened and witnessing the signing of legislation to make mandatory overtime illegal. She also finds a way to slip in a little about the Red Sox. Remember Boston you can listen to Nurse Talk on Revolution Boston 1510 AM. We thank all of you wonderful nurses for fighting the fight to improve patient care! Read more...

RN Jane Sandoval from San Francisco’s St. Luke’s Hospital joins us to talk about the proposed new 555-bed mega hospital that Sutter Healthcare Corp wants to build. Sounds nice doesn’t it? It is if you don’t know the move to consolidate services and locate a hospital so far away from the communities that need it the most. The new hospital would force closure of St. Luke’s, the City’s mainstay for medical services for lower income populations. Read more...

The Laryngospasms sing “Breathe.”  Check it out on Nurse Talk coming up this Saturday @ 11am on 960 KNEW AM and Revolution Boston 1510 AM or nursetalksite.com.

And…Casey and Shayne take us on a walk down “Pain Lane.” HOW BAD IS YOUR PAIN? A new pain scale chart that starts at 0 with:

“Hi, I am not experiencing any pain at all. I don’t even know why I’m here.”

and ends with 11:

“Blood is going to explode out of my face at any moment.”

What a range! Lots in between too.

And…if you think the conversation about universal healthcare is for those who don’t work and want a handout…please watch this. It is not an isolated incident. It shouldn’t be about political parties or profits–it should simply be a matter of humanity.

And RN Jane Sandoval from San Francisco’s St. Luke’s Hospital joins us to talk about the proposed new 555-bed mega hospital that Sutter Healthcare Corp wants to build. Read more...

This week Casey and Shayne take an emergency call from a listener named Ginger. Ginger has a—shall we say—”burning” question and some important advice for our listeners who might just be inclined to do what she did! We’re pretty sure Ginger is not the only one who has ever done this…but we know she won’t do it again! Check it out. Thanks Ginger.

And from the Patient Advocate Desk—our friend and frequent guest RN and healthcare activist DeAnn McEwen talks about life-saving RN-Patient Ratios and what you need to know when you go to a hospital.

It seems the California Hospital Association and United Healthcare West are pushing a proposal to allow all California hospitals to suspend compliance with the life-saving 2004 RN Patient Ratio law. Their excuse—California’s budget problems—even though the proposal would apply to private hospitals as well as public facilities, and despite the fact that California hospitals are making record profits—$4,463,827,667 in 2010 alone. Read more...

From the Patient Advocate Desk—our friend and frequent guest RN and healthcare activist DeAnn McEwen talks about life-saving RN-Patient Ratios and what you need to know when you go to a hospital.

It seems the California Hospital Association and United Healthcare West are pushing a proposal to allow all California hospitals to suspend compliance with the life-saving 2004 RN Patient Ratio law. Their excuse—California’s budget problems—even though the proposal would apply to private hospitals as well as public facilities, and despite the fact that California hospitals are making record profits—$4,463,827,667 in 2010 alone. Yes, that’s TRILLION. Learn more at nationalnursesunited.org.

from the Patient Advocate Desk—our friend and frequent guest RN and healthcare activist DeAnn McEwentalks about life-saving RN-Patient Ratios and what you need to know when you go to a hospital.

It seems the California Hospital Association and United Healthcare West are pushing a proposal to allow all California hospitals to suspend compliance with the life-saving 2004 RN Patient Ratio law. Read more...

We lost Shayne to Oklahoma this week..but he called in from the streets of Colon (population 800), to give us the lay of the land on healthcare in his home state. He tells us access to care is difficult to non-existent in many areas, diabetes and heart disease are disproportionally high, and night life? Well…Shayne will tell us all about that when he returns to the show next week.

Our good friend and D.C. Healthcare correspondent Donna Smith joins us from the road—on the National Nurses United Medicare For All bus tour. The bus pulled out of San Diego, CA last week with 22 stops along the way. The nurses are providing mobile blood pressure screenings, information about accessing health screenings and check-ups in their own towns and cities and about the Robin Hood Tax, (robinhoodtax.org). Good stuff peeps!!! Oh, and for anyone who thinks the Robin Hood Tax is a pipe dream…check out this article..13 European nations—led by Germany—are moving closer to signing onto this initiative. Read more...

Our good friend and D.C. Healthcare correspondent Donna Smith joins us from the road—on the National Nurses United Medicare For All bus tour. The bus pulled out of San Diego, CA last week with 22 stops along the way. The nurses are providing mobile blood pressure screenings, information about accessing health screenings and check-ups in their own towns and cities and about the Robin Hood Tax, (robinhoodtax.org). Good stuff peeps!!! Oh, and for anyone who thinks the Robin Hood Tax is a pipe dream…check out this article..13 European nations—led by Germany—are moving closer to signing onto this initiative. Read more...

ACA - NurseTalk - D.Smith10.19.2013 by Nurse Talk