Nursing Assistants Face More Workplace Injuries Than Any Other Profession
There are more than 35,000 back and other injuries among nursing employees annually, according to surveys by the Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics. Meanwhile, pharmacists urge Medicare to protect seniors from insurance changes that make it difficult to fill prescriptions.According to surveys by the Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), there are more than 35,000 back and other injuries among nursing employees every year, severe enough that they have to miss work. Nursing assistants and orderlies each suffer roughly three times the rate of back and other musculoskeletal injuries as construction laborers.
In terms of sheer number of these injuries, BLS data show that nursing assistants are injured more than any other occupation, followed by warehouse workers, truckers, stock clerks and registered nurses. (Zwerdling, 2/4)
Neighborhood pharmacists say Medicare officials should do more to avoid situations where seniors have trouble filling prescriptions, as about 400,000 beneficiaries did earlier this year when Aetna Inc. incorrectly identified some pharmacies as being in their network.
About 220,000 seniors lost the ability to use pharmacies that were allowed last year after Aetna changed its list of participating establishments. And pharmacies that the company encouraged 240,000 seniors to use in 2014 in order to lower out-of-pocket costs are no longer able to offer those discounts this year. (Adams, 2/4)