By Randy Woods The last few years of this recession has provided all job seekers a harsh lesson in the realities of market economics. However, one labor segment – nursing – seems to defy the conventional laws of supply and demand. For decades, licensed nurses have tended to have an easier time finding work in most markets due to a chronic shortage of nurses in most markets. Recently, however, many nursing-school graduates have reported trouble finding work in Washington state and elsewhere. So does that mean demand has finally leveled off due to an adequate supply on the market? Read...

Former Chairman of the Federal AMA and Deputy President of the NSW Medical Board, Dr Peter Arnold, writes: Although John Deeble and I were, literally, on opposite sides of the table when Bill Hayden was planning Medibank (Mark I), our views have, over the decades, gradually moved towards one another. We are agreed, in private conversation, for example, that a continuing fault of Medibank I and its successors has been the absence of a ‘brake pedal’ to dampen the accelerated use (and abuse) of the almost free service. I have done my bit, on behalf of the AMA, in trying to reduce ‘overservicing’,...

Registered nursing is one of the fastest growing careers in the U.S. By 2018, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates, 580,000 more nursing positions will be needed, a growth rate of 22 percent since 2008. A number of demographic factors are contributing to this shortage of nurses, says Maureen Peterkin, nursing instructor at Everest University in Brandon, Fla. First, demographic changes are increasing the demand for health care of all kinds, and nurses and other health professionals are in high demand. “With an aging baby-boomer population, the need for more qualified health professionals...

By CARLA K. JOHNSON (AP) CHICAGO — A nurse may soon be your doctor. With a looming shortage of primary care doctors, 28 states are considering expanding the authority of nurse practitioners. These nurses with advanced degrees want the right to practice without a doctor’s watchful eye and to prescribe narcotics. And if they hold a doctorate, they want to be called “Doctor.” For years, nurse practitioners have been playing a bigger role in the nation’s health care, especially in regions with few doctors. With 32 million more Americans gaining health insurance within a few...

Operation cover-upIt’s degrading the way our teenage girls and women dress today. They are wearing low-cut tops that expose their breasts, and pants that expose their butts. You see store clerks and waitresses, etc. dressed the same way. This is not appropriate dress for the job. No wonder there are so many sexual assaults and rapes. Store owners and others, please remind your personnel to look professional. It’s a sad day when you have to depend on cleavage for good tips. What a mistake Read More…

Doctor Shortages, Deadly Nursing Strikes Shows New Law’s Short-Term Results Won’t Be Pretty By Ken Terry, BNET Health policy experts and medical societies are concerned about a shortage of primary care physicians, which will be even worse when the Affordable Care Act unleashes an estimated 32 million newly insured patients on the healthcare system. And if you’re wondering what effects that might have on hospitals, a new study of striking hospital nurses suggests that the short-term result won’t be pretty. The study, led by MIT professor Jonathan Gruber (ironically, a cheerleader for reform),...

Just when we thought that the over-stretched medic scenario could not get any worse, in comes a survey which reveals that due to the acute shortage of staff, nurses are now missing out on some important training, which is inclusive of basic life-support and controlling and curbing of dangerous infections like MRSA. Dangerous practice? Of course! And can we say unethical? Definitely not to be missed! It was revealed by a poll of over 3,000 nurses for the Royal College of Nursing that 32% of them had been unable to attend the “compulsory” training as they had to immediately start working...

As coverage is extended to the once uninsured, observers hope regional medical schools are able to satisfy the growing demand. The University of New England was already planning to nearly double the size of its medical school in Biddeford. Its timing couldn’t be better. The health care reform law signed last week by President Obama will extend insurance to more than 30 million uninsured Americans. In Maine, that means that about 140,000 people will soon be more likely to see a primary care doctor than wait until they’re sick enough for the emergency room. They might have to wait to...

TOKYO, Japan—Only one Filipina nurse, Ever Lalin, on Friday passed the Japanese nursing exam, the first to do so under Japan’s drive to attract Asians to help ease the nation’s severe shortage of nurses. Two other Indonesian nurses overcame language barriers and passed the test after coming to Japan in 2008 and 2009, the health ministry said. However, 251 others from the two nations failed, apparently due to language troubles since all of them are licensed nurses in their home countries. About nine out of 10 Japanese students passed the same test. “It is certain that issues...

Hours before President Obama signed the health care bill Tuesday, George Butler, a retired steelworker, was the first patient to enter Evanston-Rogers Park Community Health Center. By 9 a.m., all of the 22 black and gray molded plastic seats were filled. Mr. Butler, 75, who normally comes to have his diabetes and high blood pressure treated, needed a doctor’s note to get an extension on paying his gas bill. The rest of a lower-income Hispanic and black clientele sought typical medical help: advice on hypertension, refilling medications, a checkup for a newborn and follow-ups on test results....