The following is the New Jersey Nursing Initiative (NJNI) weekly news roundup, highlighting nursing and health care stories from around the state.
Inspira Woodbury nurses file to join union (South Jersey Times)
A statewide health care and nurses union has announced that registered nurses at Inspira Medical Center Woodbury have filed with the National Labor Relations Board to join its ranks. According to the Health Professionals and Allied Employees union, nurses at the Woodbury hospital will soon host a meeting with local elected officials and other leaders to draft a mission statement and call on Inspira to “respect the rights of nurses to unionize, and to commit to holding a fair and fast election.” HPAE currently represents registered nurses at Inspira’s medical centers in Bridgeton, Elmer and Vineland.
As investors buy struggling hospitals, big change comes to New Jersey health care (The Record)
There’s a continuing evolution in New Jersey’s health care industry, where struggling nonprofit hospitals, some on the verge of closing, are being eyed as potential moneymaking enterprises by for-profit companies eager to extend their reach in the state. Institutions that only recently were worth little have become lucrative takeover prizes.
Hunterdon event raises $50,000 for nursing scholarships (Nurse.com)
The Hunterdon Medical Center Foundation raised $50,000 for nursing scholarships at the Prosperity Awards: Investing in the Future of Nursing. The 2014 award recipients were Jackie Allen Hale, RN, APNC, MSN, AOCN, APNG, program coordinator of the family risk assessment program in the Hunterdon Regional Cancer Center, and Melissa Hanscin, RN, BSN, evening nursing supervisor. Proceeds from the event benefited the Hunterdon Medical Center Foundation’s Friends of Nursing fund, which allows the hospital’s nurses to attend conferences and educational seminars nationwide.