Does any one remember source for this info??

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by Jay-Jay
Apr 29, '01   Views: 810   Comments: 4

  1. I made a post on Friday about Mike Harris wanting to privatize Ontario hospitals, and in it I said that one hospital in the States was so short of nurses that they gave housekeeping staff nursing-type uniforms, and had them pass out meds. I remember reading this during one of the MNM discussions, or was it in that infamous Chicago Trib expose?

    Can someone help me find the source for this info? I intend to send letters to various individuals/media, etc. and need to make sure I've got my information accurate, and can direct people to the source to check that I'm NOT MAKING THIS STUFF UP! (Unfortunately!)
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    Joined: May '00; Posts: 2,493; Likes: 93
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  3. by fergus51
    Apr 29, '01
    Joined: Jul '00; Posts: 11,351; Likes: 388
    I know 20/20 had a program about this problem on a while ago, you may be able to back order it.
  4. by cmggriff
    Apr 30, '01
    Occupation: RN Joined: Jan '01; Posts: 511; Likes: 20
    The program was a pilot at Humana Audubon in Louisville, Ky, my home state. Their reasoning was that the shortage of nurses prohibited them hiring more RN's. This was a program spawned by the American Hospital Association and endorsed by the American Assoc. of Nurse Executives (ANOE). The pilot site was to be kept a secret. As I recall (I have oldtimers and CRS) the Ky Board of Nursing initally agreed to allow this project to take place. Gary
  5. by Jay-Jay
    Apr 30, '01
    Occupation: Community Nurse Joined: May '00; Posts: 2,493; Likes: 93
    Yes, but does anyone remember this being mentioned on the BB? The way I remembered it, it was something an individual hospital did to save money, and not part of an ongoing study or pilot project. And no, I did not see it on TV - I don't watch TV.
  6. by Jay-Jay
    Apr 30, '01
    Occupation: Community Nurse Joined: May '00; Posts: 2,493; Likes: 93
    Hey, I found it! It WAS the Trib article!

    Here's the text:

    Under a cost-saving program in at least two Chicago hospitals, housekeeping staff assigned to clean rooms were pressed into duty as aides to dispense medicine, the Tribune found.

    Scary, huh?

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