(Reuters) – Health ministers sealed a rare global accord Friday to avoid recruiting doctors and nurses from poor countries where there is an acute shortage of medical staff. The voluntary code for World Health Organization members is only the second such accord in its history and follows six years of negotiations aimed at stemming the exodus of health care workers from around 60 of the world’s poorest countries. “You reached agreement on some very important items that are a real gift to public health, everywhere. Thanks to some all night efforts, we now have a code of practice...

By LYNDSAY MOSS MORE health boards in Scotland have signalled job cuts to come as they try to save hundreds of millions of pounds. NHS Tayside said about 500 posts would be lost, while other boards revealed plans not to replace staff who leave. It comes after NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde said more than 1,200 jobs would be axed in the next 18 months – more than half in nursing and midwifery. Doctors, nurses and union leaders have warned the cuts will affect patient care. But health boards have maintained that their money-saving plans can be delivered without impacting on services. They also...

Delegates at a major nursing conference in Londonderry have warned politicians about the dangers of cutting back spending on health. The conference at the University of Ulster’s Magee campus is examining the current problems faced by the health service. Read more…

By Gwenn Garland BERLIN — With a national nursing shortage and nurses facing ever-increasing duties, one Eastern Shore hospital has found a previously untapped resource to help its patients: retired nurses. Started in 2007, Atlantic General Hospital’s retired nurse volunteer program is a help to not only the nurses, but also patients and the volunteers themselves. “We want to help out in any way we can,” said Joyce Brittan of Ocean City, the coordinator of the retired nurse program. “We cannot do anything invasive, but our members can take blood pressures, help out with paperwork or...

CHICAGO (CBS) ― We’ve always been told nursing and health care are nearly recession-proof careers. So the nursing school students who graduated today should be in great shape, right? Not so fast. As CBS 2′s Roseanne Tellez reports, even some nursing graduates are struggling to find jobs. Students from the College of Nursing were beaming with excitement at commencement exercises at UIC on Thursday. After all, they’ve chosen the ever-growing field of health care. Even in this poor economy, there are always jobs in health care, right? “In the Quad cities where we’re...

By SUSAN PEPPERELL – Sunday Star Times Nurses sat a pilot programme using American health workers to act as “physicians’ assistants” in New Zealand is depriving them of an opportunity to expand their own roles as “super-nurses”. The assistants, being recruited in the US where the programme has been established for more than 40 years, are not doctors but will have had at least two years’ medical training. The trial starts with the Counties-Manukau District Health Board in July and is likely to be extended to fill gaps around New Zealand. The pilot programme,...

MARISSA CALLIGEROS The federal government’s expected cash splash on registered nurses in general practices will exacerbate the existing statewide nursing shortage, the Queensland Nurses Union says. With aims to create one-stop health shops across the nation, the federal government is expected to announce more funding for nurses places in general practices in tomorrow night’s Federal Budget. Every GP will receive a payment of $25,000 to employ a registered nurse, who will be charged with carrying out pap smears and blood sugar tests and co-ordinate follow-ups for chronically ill patients,...

Up to 270 jobs are expected to be created as part of a new 20 million euro private nursing home development, it has emerged. The facility is planned for the Newmarket/Mill Street area of south inner city Dublin with construction set to begin by mid summer. During the 12-month construction phase 150 jobs will be created while a further 120 administration and nursing posts will become available on completion. Developer Martin Creedon said Dublin City Council has granted planning permission, adding the home is expected to be up and running by the middle of next year. Read more…

Almost 1,000 nurses jobs will be axed in the West Midlands in the next four years, health bosses revealed. The NHS West Midlands strategic health authority said it employed 32,969 full-time nurses in 2009/10 and this would fall to 32,047 in 2014/14 – a drop of 922. The disclosure comes amid Tory claims that thousands of NHS medics will lose their jobs over the next five years under Labour’s “secret” cost-cutting plans. The proposals would see 651 fewer doctors and 2,050 fewer nurses across England, shadow health secretary Andrew Lansley said. Read more…

By ANTONELLA ARTUSO Ontario has lost more than 2,000 full-time nursing positions — the majority in hospitals — over the past 12 months, the Ontario Nurses Association says. “That is equating out to over four million hours of nursing care,” ONA president Haslam-Stroud said Monday. “The fact is that it’s across the province. It’s a virus happening and they’re cutting the nurses to balance the budgets and impacting the care that we’re able to provide.” ONA released a report that identifies 2,045 positions that are on the chopping block with more on the way. Health Minister Deb...