Chris Segal, News Herald, June 27, 2010 Panama City - The top administrator for the Bay County Health Department met with School Board members Wednesday to present student health stats and plead for financial help to put more registered nurses in schools. “School health is probably one of the most vital things we can do in our community,” Bay County Health Director Doug Kent said. “We are dependent on clerical staffs, who are trained to administer medication and care. Our five-year goal is to have an RN in every two or three schools.” ... Health

Tampa Tribune, June 13, 2010 Protesting what they say is unfair treatment, dozens of nurses took their frustration to the streets of Ybor City today. The members of National Nurses United marched as part of a statewide campaign to reduce patient loads, promote patient advocacy and provide whistleblower protections. ... Nurses

Stacey Singer, Palm Beach Post, June 7, 2010 At a time when good jobs with benefits are tough to come by, South Florida's nursing shortage lingers, a new study shows, and therein lies a mystery. Nursing schools are full and turning qualified people away. Older nurses who used to be part time are returning to work full time. And nurses in Palm Beach County earn about $31 an hour, $10 more than the average local wage. ... Three

Dozens of nurses got pink slips or bumped to less desirable positions, including a famous veteran practitioner. Todd Wright, NBC Miami, April 14, 2010 It's bump day at Jackson Health System as hundreds of nurses and other employees learned their fate with the struggling healthcare provider in little envelopes. Posted on two lists were the names of people who would be lay off casualties or receive a new, less desirable assignment that might make them quit anyway. Many of the veteran nurses who were "bumped" were very emotional after learning their new fate, which likely meant leaving the hospital for not so greener pastures at a local prison ... It

Melanie Stawicki Azam, Orlando Business Journal, March 12, 2010 House Bill 1283/Senate Bill 840 - the Florida Hospital Patient Protection Act - would establish nurse-to-patient ratios based on patients’ average severity of illness. For example, in the intensive care unit, there would be no more than two patients per nurse, while in the emergency room, the ratio would be one nurse for every three patients. The bill would also guarantee whistle-blower protection for nurses exposing unsafe conditions. Meanwhile, House Bill 377/Senate Bill 114 - the Nursing Services/Hospital Nurse Staffing Plan - would require acute care hospitals to form councils that would include nurses to develop a staffing plan for each unit based on the American Nursing (sic) Association’s staffing principles.

Representative Braynon and Senator Hill File Florida Hospital Patient Protection Act of 2010 After Hundreds of Florida RNs March on Capitol. National Nurses Organizing Committee, March 10, 2010 National Nurses Organizing Committee-Florida and National Nurses United today announce that the Florida Hospital Patient Protection Act of 2010 has been filed in the state legislature by authors Representative Oscar Braynon and Senator Tony Hill and will be known as HB.1283 and S.2316. The bill will improve conditions and outcomes for patients in hospitals, while also lessening Florida’s nursing shortage by drawing RNs to work in safe and therapeutic conditions. ... Lifesaving

Kris Hundley, Saint Petersburg Times, February 18, 2010 Before Gwen Collins headed to Tallahassee this week to ask lawmakers to limit the number of patients each hospital nurse cares for, she asked her fellow RNs at Saint Joseph's Hospital in Tampa if they had a message to convey about their workloads. Their response: "Tell them this is madness." "Nurses want to see safety for patients and sanity for themselves," said Collins, a registered nurse who has heard similar sentiments from burned-out nurses at hospitals throughout the country. "They want to make sure mistakes are not made." ... Nurses

Dylan Brooks, CBS4, February 17, 2010 Tallahassee - Nurses marched near the Florida Capitol on Wednesday to support for a bill that would improve nurse access to patients. The bill would set a specific nurse-to-patient ratio, which would ensure hospitals would be adequately staffed. Nurses say setting these ratios could save lives and would be cheaper than other safety procedures. The bill would also help nurses who blow the whistle on a hospital or clinic to keep their jobs. Nurses who refuse certain assignments would also have job protection. The National Nurses Organizing Committee sponsored the rally. © 2010 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Hundreds of Registered Nurses from Across Florida March, Rally for Passage of Florida Hospital Patient Protection Act of 2010. National Nurses Organizing Committee, February 16, 2010 What: Hundreds of registered nurses from across Florida will travel to Tallahassee this February 16 and 17 to march, rally, and advocate for the new Florida Hospital Patient Protection Act of 2010, introduced by Representative Oscar Braynon (D-Miami Gardens) and Senator Tony Hill (D- Jacksonville). The Patient Protection Act will ... Florida

Robin Adams, Lakeland Ledger, October 3, 2009 California registered nurses led the way for state-mandated ratios that limit how many patients a registered nurse in a hospital can be responsible for managing. Now the National Nurses Organizing Committee, representing 86,000 registered nurses in 50 states, is seeking to have ratios established in states nationwide. Libby Devlin, the NNOC’s Florida coordinator, said NNOC has spent more than a year in Florida, helping build coalitions among direct-care registered nurses. The ones often called bedside nurses. Meetings are held in Tampa and Orlando, which Polk County nurses attend, she said. ... Florida

nbc6.net, May 12, 2008 Miami - Hospital officials said that too few nurses are taking care of too many patients, and it's a chronic problem at South Florida hospitals. In an emergency summit on Monday, the local union that represents nurses at Jackson Memorial Hospital spoke out about the staffing crisis. Nurses provide continuous care at patients' bedsides. The nursing shortage is having a critical impact, according to author Suzanne Gordon. "We have 60 studies that show the impact of not having enough nurses on - pneumonias, falls, bed sores," Gordon said. ... South

Naples Daily News, September 22, 2007 A hearing that began this past
Monday between the NCH Healthcare System and union representatives for
registered nurses has been ongoing and is expected to continue in the
coming week. The National Labor Relations Board in Tampa called for the
hearing to get a resolution on whether to conduct a union election
among NCH registered nurses. The hearing is being held in the federal
building in Miami because it is closer to Naples than Tampa. ... Hearings

Miami Herald, March 30, 2007
Nurses and other employees at Coral Gables Hospital, a Tenet facility, have voted to join the SEIU Florida Healthcare Union, the union announced Friday. The results of the vote were revealed to the 316 employees on Thursday. The hospital becomes the ninth group of hospital workers in 15 months to unite in SEIU-FHU. Employees at two other Tenet hospitals in South Florida, St. Mary's Medical Center in West Palm Beach and North Shore Medical Center in Miami, are also members of SEIU-FHU. SEIU-FHU now represents more than 16,000 hospital and long-term care employees. In the past 15 months, the union says nearly 5,000 workers have joined the Florida union. © 2007 Miami Herald Media Company. All Rights Reserved.

Associated Press, January 27, 2007 Panama City - A jury has awarded nearly $1 million to 12 female nurses, concluding that Florida corrections officials condoned sexual harassment by male inmates, an attorney said. The nurses claimed they had been harassed on their daily rounds since 1997, including while examining inmates and delivering medicine. "It is a magnificent verdict that finally provides justice for these women, who have complained hard and loud for years with no one in the prison system listening or providing relief whatsoever," said Wes Pittman, an attorney for one of the nurses. ... Jury

Donna Wright, Bradenton Herald, October 12, 2006 Bradenton - Blake Medical Center employees have voted to unionize. The vote on Tuesday was to join Service Employees International Union, an organization of more than 1.8 million members nationwide. Confirmation of the result was made this morning. In balloting, registered nurses and other hospital workers, who provide care and services for patients at Blake, voted 369 to 140 in favor of forming a union to give workers at Blake a new voice about patient care and career issues at the hospital, said Elizabeth Buchanan, the union's communications director. ... Nurses