Nick Bonham, Pueblo Chieftain, September 2, 2011 A fiery group of red-topped nurses and supporters gathered in Downtown on Thursday to "tax Wall Street and heal America." The purpose of the Pueblo rally, one of 21 held across the nation, was to take a petition to the offices of Senators Mark Udall and Mike Bennet and see if they'd support the Wall Street Transaction Tax - a political initiative being pushed that its supporters say can raise an estimated $350 billion to improve health care services. The tax would target transactions, stock trading, currency, credit default swaps, bonds and other Wall Street transactions. ... Nurses

Jennifer Brown, Denver Post, June 17, 2009 Three nurses who cared for the sickest babies at Swedish Medical Center claim they were fired for reporting what they believed was unsafe care, including a pacifier taped to a baby's mouth. Their lawsuit is among the first to test a 2007 state law that protects health care workers who "blow the whistle" on dangerous conditions. The three workers - all supervisory "charge nurses" in the intensive-care nursery - allege they were terminated for clashing with supervisors about safety concerns. ... Colorado

United Press International, June 17, 2009 Three nurses are testing a new Colorado "whistle-blower" law, saying they were fired for exposing allegedly unsafe infant care, attorneys say. Penelope Clor, attorney for the three former nurses at Denver's Swedish Medical Center, says the women were dismissed after complaining to their superiors about what they say was substandard care for premature babies, including an alleged incident in which a pacifier was taped to a baby's mouth, The Denver Post reported Wednesday. ... Nurses

Alan Gathright, Rocky Mountain News, March 29, 2007 Gov. Bill Ritter took action to make patient safety a top priority today by signing the Health Care Worker Whistle-Blower Protection Bill and an executive order creating the Nurse Workforce and Patient Care Task Force. After years of fierce battles between hospitals and staff over nurse-to-patient ratios, Ritter praised all sides for "sitting down and hammering out differences" to find common ground on patient care. "The common ground here: Providing the best possible health care and consumer information to the people of Colorado, while also protecting the interests of our health care workers and our hospitals," Ritter said at a Capitol signing ceremony to the cheers and whistles of health-care workers. ... Ritter

Group claims health care workers simply are burned out on hospitals. Amy Gillentine, Colorado Springs Business Journal, September 22, 2006 The Colorado nursing shortage – twice that of the rest of the country – is an artificial creation caused by staffing ratios and low pay in the state’s hospitals. That’s according to a report from the Nurses Alliance of Colorado, part of the Service Employees International Union, which represents 1.3 million hospital employees nationwide. “There’s no real shortage of nurses,” said Rebecca Matthys, a former nurse who works as a lactation consultant and served on the NAC policy committee that issued the report. “There’s a lack of nurses willing to work at the bedside in hospitals.” ... Report

Associated Press, January 12, 2006

As a nurse, Barb Hostrup, 58, deals with everything from bedpans to bedsores.

She sticks patients with needles. She gives sponge baths. She not only changes bandages, but sheets on beds.

"I have patients stare at me, saying 'why are you changing the beds?' ... Well, there's no one else to do it."

Sometimes, her shifts stretch to 12 or even 14 hours. Sometimes, she can't take a break because there aren't enough other nurses or assistants on her station.

Hostrup said she went into nursing more than 19 years ago because she wanted to be a caregiver. Now, she says she has become something else. ... Nurses