Good morning, it’s Friday.
Happy National Nurses Day! (AKA Nurses Appreciation Day, which is the kickoff of National Nurses Week, which runs through May 12 – Florence Nightingale’s birthday – as part of Nurses MONTH).
This all started back in 1953. Dorothy Sutherland of the U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare asked President Eisenhower to proclaim a “Nurse Day” in October 1954 to coincide with the 100th anniversary of Nightingale’s work in Crimea, during which she contracted “Crimean fever,” from which she never fully recovered and was homebound and bedridden at 38.
The president didn’t act, but the day was observed as a result of a bill sponsored by Rep. Frances P. Bolton. The following year a new bill was introduced to Congress, again seeking official recognition of the celebration.
In February 1974, President Nixon proclaimed that National Nurse Week would be celebrated each May. Over the next eight years, various organizations rallied for a “National Recognition Day for Nurses” on May 6, proclaimed by President Reagan in 1982.
Whenever you choose to observe, this is an opportunity to honor and recognize the MANY different kinds of nursing and the individuals who engage in providing critical care for a wide range of people – including, but not limited to the injured, the sick, the newly born and the very old.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, some 60 percent of registered nurses work in hospitals. The types of nursing and specialities have grown significantly more diverse over the years, and the registered nursing workforce in this country is about 4.2 to 4.3 million strong, plus more than 325,000 licensed nurse practitioners.
Healthcare is one of the fastest growing sectors of the U.S. economy, and nurses make up the largest percentage of in that field.
The BLS projects that the employment of registered nurses will grow 9 percent by 2030, with roughly 194,500 openings for RNs projected annually. But that estimate was BEFORE the pandemic, which means BEFORE the significant burnout nurses (and all medical professionals) experienced as a result of the COVID crisis, which sparked a mass exodus.
More than one-third (34 percent) of nurses say it’s very likely that they will leave their roles by the end of this year and 44 percent cited burnout and a high-stress environment as the reasons behind their desire to depart the profession, according to a survey by staffing firm Incredible Health. The second leading cause of nurses’ unhappiness: Lack of benefits and inadequate pay.
It is not, apparently, due to the lack of appreciation from patients – or the general public. For the past 20 years, nurses have led Gallup’s annual ranking of professions for having high honesty and ethics. This year, they eclipsed medical doctors in second place by 14 points – 81 percent vs. 67 percent.
A big problem is that the nursing workforce is aging, and new entrants into the field aren’y matching the retirement numbers.
According to the 2020 National Nursing Workforce Survey, the average age of surveyed registered nurses was 52, up from 51 in 2017. Nurses 65 or older comprise the largest age category, making up about 19 percent of the workforce in 2020, compared to 14.6 percent in 2017.
Men represent just 9.4 percent of registered nurses, up from 9.1 percent in 2017.
So if you see a nurse or know one or happen to come upon one today, make sure to thank them for all they do. Also, there are a lot of discounts and freebies available this week for nurses – check some of them out here.
It’s going to be cloudy with a slight chance of showers today, and temperatures will be in the mid-60s.
In the headlines…
If the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade and paves the way for states to implement abortion bans, the U.S. would join only three countries — El Salvador, Nicaragua and Poland — that have rolled back abortion rights since 1994.
The Supreme Court marshal tasked with finding out who leaked a draft opinion overturning Roe v. Wade is a retired Army colonel with untested investigative powers to uncover the breach, which was extraordinary but might not be criminal.
Senate Democrats will vote next Wednesday on a bill that would make Roe v. Wade the law of the land and head off a Supreme Court decision that could leave states the sole authority on whether to restrict abortion.
The plan is little more than an effort to send a political message before the midterm elections and a seismic ruling that could have major legal, cultural and electoral consequences, with deep significance for voters across the political spectrum.
Any effort to protect abortion access nationwide is likely to face an uphill battle in the 50-50 divided chamber, where Democrats don’t have the 60 votes needed to overcome an expected filibuster.
“Republicans will have two choices: They can own the destruction of women’s rights, or they can reverse course and work to prevent the damage,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said.
Maine Sen. Susan Collins, one of two prominent Republican senators who support abortion rights, said she does not support a Democratic measure that would create statutory right to the procedure.
As the Democratic president who happens to be serving when the Republicans’ anti-abortion agenda reaches its crescendo, Biden is being drafted into the kind of fight that he’s sidestepped for much of his career.
Biden was blasted for crediting his natural rights to being a “child of God” in defense of abortion, with one critic saying he “just made the case” against the practice.
The end of a national right to abortion could trigger a surge of interest in a method of pregnancy termination that has become popular in states that already restrict the procedure: Abortion pills by mail.
The Louisiana Legislature advanced a proposal this week that would classify abortion as homicide, going further than anti-abortion measures in other states by making it possible for prosecutors to bring criminal cases against women who end a pregnancy.
Gov. Kathy Hochul, who vowed New York will open its gates wide to out-of-staters seeking abortions if the Supreme Court follows through on its plans to overturn Roe v. Wade, said she is examining ways to bolster the state’s status as a national safe haven.
Biden named Karine Jean-Pierre to be the next White House press secretary, the first Black woman and openly LGBTQ person to serve in the role. Incumbent Jen Psaki is set to leave the post next week.
Jean-Pierre, 44, grew up in Queens and will replace Psaki on May 13 after working more than a year as a deputy press secretary.
“Student loan socialism would be a giant slap in the face to every family who sacrificed to save for college, to every graduate who paid their debt, to every worker who made a different career choice so they could stay debt-free,” said Senate Minority Lewder Mitch McConnell.
Biden’s daughter Ashley will not travel to Europe with the first lady after having “close contact” with someone who tested positive for COVID-19, the White House said, though she tested negative.
About 14.9 million people around the world died as a direct or indirect result of Covid-19 in the period between January 1, 2020, and December 31, 2021, according to new estimates from the WHO – nearly three times more deaths than were officially reported.
As China battles its worst coronavirus outbreaks, its uncompromising determination to eliminate infections has left millions unable to work.
The FDA is limiting the emergency use authorization of the Johnson & Johnson/Janssen Covid-19 vaccine to people 18 and older for whom other vaccines aren’t appropriate or accessible and those who opt for J&J because they wouldn’t otherwise get vaccinated.
Researchers with the FDA and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that the vaccine resulted in 60 confirmed cases of thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome. This leads to rare but potentially life-threatening blood clots.
Some of the passengers on a Carnival cruise from Miami to Seattle are in quarantine after a COVID-19 outbreak aboard the ship. Carnival won’t say how many of the approximately 2,100 passengers aboard were infected.
A new report says that 66 percent of working parents meet the criteria for parental burnout — a nonclinical term that means they are so exhausted by the pressure of caring for their children, they feel they have nothing left to give.
Some studies find higher rates of erectile dysfunction among men recovering from COVID-19. But other factors related to the pandemic, like heightened anxiety, may also be to blame.
COVID cases and hospitalizations rose yesterday across New York State although the surge is easing in some of the worst hit areas upstate, Hochul announced.
More than 10,000 new positive cases were reported in the most recent 24 hours as the ultra-contagious BA.2 sub-variant of omicron continues to spread fast.
New York City could bring back mask mandates and proof of vaccination status to go to restaurants, bars and other venues if Covid hospitalizations rise to a concerning level, according to the city’s top health official.
Russia is intensifying strikes on Ukrainian infrastructure, seeking to disrupt deliveries of Western weapons as Moscow’s offensive in the east appears to have stalled.
Russia is pressing its attacks in the eastern regions of Ukraine and in bunkers under the Azovstal complex in Mariupol, seeking a victory President Putin can showcase on Monday, Russia’s Victory Day, an annual celebration of the Soviet defeat of Nazi Germany.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said evacuations will continue from the besieged coastal city of Mariupol amid sustained Russian shelling.
Putin offered a rare apology to Israel over recent antisemitic comments from Russia’s foreign minister connecting Nazi leader Adolf Hitler to Judaism, according to the Israeli prime minister.
The stock market took its biggest U-turn since the early days of the pandemic yesterday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average posting its largest decline this year just 24 hours after its largest gain since 2020.
Elon Musk has assembled a group of investors including a Saudi prince, Larry Ellison and a bitcoin exchange to pony up more than $7 billion to back his bid to buy Twitter.
With Musk having a deal to buy the social-media platform for $44 billion, the Tesla founder will temporarily sit at the helm as the platform’s CEO.
Top U.S. regulators proposed overhauling how banks lend hundreds of billions of dollars annually in lower-income communities, the first major revamp to the standards in more than two decades as lenders increasingly offer financial services online.
The four-week average for claims, which softens some of the weekly volatility, rose 8,000 from the previous week to 188,000. This is the biggest weekly rise in claims since last July and the highest level since mid-February.
The total number of Americans collecting jobless benefits for the week ending April 23 fell by 19,000 from the previous week, to 1,384,000. That’s the fewest since January 17, 1970.
Weekly applications for unemployment aid have been consistently below the pre-pandemic level of 225,000 for most of this year, even as the overall economy contracted.
The New York City panel charged with regulating rents across nearly one million rent-stabilized homes voted to support the largest increases in almost a decade.
The move, which must be formally approved next month, would raise rents on one-year leases by 2 to 4 percent, and on two-year leases by 4 to 6 percent.
While the increase may not be as steep as some once feared, it still could stun many who have seen their annual rent increases capped for years. A final vote will come in June following a series of public hearings.
Mayor Eric Adams has been on a campaign-funded jaunt to Los Angeles for more than two days as new data showed major crime continued to surge and a poll revealed his approval ratings have sunk over the issue.
Adams scrapped nearly all of his public events planned in the city for yesterday after his flight back from a campaign fund-raising trip to Los Angeles got canceled, according to his spokesman and a source familiar with the matter.
The mayor quietly named Scott Sartiano, the 47-year-old founder of the members-only club Zero Bond, as his representative to the Met board in February.
Since taking office over four months ago, Adams has raised some eyebrows for the company he keeps — and the latest addition to his entourage is a high-powered Hollywood talent agent, Cade Hudson, once accused of sexual harassment.
City officials want to temporarily nix an extra city tax incurred by bars and restaurants in a move aimed at helping the hard-hit industry in its ongoing COVID-19 recovery.
Shawn Williams, falsely accused of a 1993 murder in Brooklyn, won the largest settlement so far – $10.5 million – thanks to the alleged misconduct of a once-renowned homicide detective.
A borough leader and the City Council’s top Republican are teaming up to press passage of a bill that would give authorities some muscle to go after men who send out unwanted pictures of their private parts.
The grandson of former Staten Island president James Molinaro has been charged with attempted murder after he was busted with 100 pounds of pot following a shooting last week, police said.
Rep. Antonio Delgado’s appointment as the next lieutenant governor was met with praise from Latino organizations, but when asked about his identity, he left many wondering.
Delgado is clarifying his “Afro-Latino” roots following criticism from Latino activists. (The two other candidates running for LG are Latinas).
Delgado has one of the most moderate voting records in Congress.
Two legal challenges pending in state court could upend the final legislative maps left standing in the redistricting process: the New York state Assembly.
DNA searches that identify criminal suspects via genetic links to their relatives were banned by a New York Appellate Division ruling that said the use of the searches must be approved by the Legislature.
After two fatal shootings within a week, Albany Police Chief Eric Hawkins is imploring the public to keep lines of communication open with law enforcement.
A local property management company has entered into business with The Century House, Latham’s well-known wedding and event venue, to build apartments on the property.
Schenectady County Metroplex Development Authority has pledged $1.85 million to bring the hulking Wedgeway complex back online.
One of the City of Saratoga Springs’ most controversial pieces of legislation, the implementation of a Civilian Review Board to oversee police conduct, passed with little fanfare this week.
Chris Churchill on the new Albany Skyway: “If the walkway is a first step toward future projects, it may yet prove worthy of the fanfare.”
A midlevel appeals court upheld the town of Guilderland’s approval of a planned Costco Wholesale store and an apartment complex near Crossgates, dealing a blow to opponents and potentially clearing the way for the delayed project to move forward.
Rudy Giuliani, who helped lead President Trump’s effort to overturn the 2020 election results as his personal lawyer, pulled out of a scheduled interview with the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack after it refused to let him record the session.
The man accused of attacking the comedian Dave Chappelle onstage late Tuesday night at the Hollywood Bowl will be charged not with a felony, but with four separate misdemeanors, prosecutors said.
