NURSES

Washtenaw Community College is one of nine programs across the United States to be honored by the National League for Nursing for its excellence in nursing education.

From 2-5 p.m. on Thursday, Feb.23, the health care system will interview for part-time and full-time registered nurse and patient care technician positions.

Nurses at U-M have ratified a new four-year contract with the university.

A deal is now in place to keep nurses with the University of Michigan off the picket lines.

Nurses at the University of Michigan have voted in favor of a strike that could cause work stoppages.

Michigan Medicine's financial results for fiscal year 2022 were presented during U-M's June 16 Board of Regents meeting.

Michigan State Police have detained three women and two men and seized three guns as they continue to execute “Operation Candy Man” in Oakland, Wayne, and Genesee counties.

Michigan State Police are executing “Operation Candy Man” on Wednesday -- a plan to raid locations in Oakland, Wayne, and Genesee counties and stop nurses who are illegally selling thousands of opioids.

Michigan State Police are executing “Operation Candy Man” on Wednesday -- a plan to raid locations in Oakland, Wayne, and Genesee counties and stop nurses who are illegally selling thousands of opioids.

Henry Ford Health Wyandotte nurses are being honored for their critical work during National Nurse Week.

National Nurses Day is Friday -- so first of all, if you have a nurse in your life who deserves some recognition, today is the day!

Superhero window washers gave patients hospitalized at Mott Children's Hospital a show on Thursday.

Leaders of the Henry Ford Health System held a news briefing Wednesday afternoon to provide an update on COVID and its impact on nursing.

Just last week, we asked: If you’re a health care worker, what are you seeing lately on the job?

Does it still seem like the COVID-19 pandemic just started, or do you feel like we’ve been dealing with this reality for ages?

Submit a photo of a healthcare hero in your life so we can highlight them on Local 4 News Today!

Four dedicated nurses from Michigan health systems join us on Flashpoint this week to discuss their work on the front lines of the ongoing pandemic.

Watch Flashpoint every Sunday at 10 a.m. on Local 4 News.

The distinction from the independent national watchdog organization recognizes how hospitals prevent medical errors and harm to patients.

Visit any floor in any hospital, and most of them are going to look like controlled chaos, a constant hustle and bustle of staff and patients.And those keeping that chaos under control are the nurses -- but they’re in low supply these days.

Beaumont Health said Wednesday all of its 10 emergency departments are nearly full as an "extreme" amount of patients seeking medical attention.

Beaumont Health said Wednesday all of its 10 emergency departments are nearly full as an "extreme" amount of patients seeking medical attention.

Nurses at the McLaren Macomb general hospital have voted in favor of a strike one month before their union contract expires, officials announced Tuesday.

Experts at Michigan Medicine have used modeling to predict an upcoming baby boom.

Doctors and nurses at Children’s Hospital are working around the clock to keep an infant’s heart beating.

Many Metro Detroit doctors and nurses brought got their children vaccinated on Saturday.

“It was like a horror, it was like in the movies. It was devastating. You wanted to help but you couldn’t help. It was just out of control and it came from nowhere,” said Nurse Green when reminiscing about the early days of the coronavirus.

With Thursday being Nurse Appreciation Day, many around the globe are celebrating the heroes of the hospital.

Depending on whether you’re looking to celebrate National Nurses Day, International Nurses Day, specifically RNs, or the nursing field in general, it’s all happening in early May.

At least 25% of medical employees at U-M reported burnout during the pandemic.

Local 4 checked in with frontline workers now that vaccinations efforts are underway.

DETROIT – It was almost exactly a year ago when a wave of COVID patients was starting to overwhelm hospitals. A Metro Detroit nurse took a video inside Sinai Grace Hospital and spoke about the need for more supplies. The hospital said that the cellphone video violated hospital policy and Barkai was fired. Detroit and Sinai Grace got hit by a wave of COVID-19 patients to the point the hospital was running out of space for those who were dying. Barkai is still involved in litigation with the company that owns Sinai Grace.

Mott Children's Hospital and Von Voigtlander Women's Hospital now wear buttons with their faces on them to improve patient experience while masks remain a critical safety measure to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Mott Children’s Hospital can now safely see what their care team looks like. “Being at the hospital can be a scary and nerve-racking experience for children,” Luanne Thomas Ewald, chief operating officer at Mott and Von Voigtlander Women’s Hospital said in a statement. “We recognize that COVID precautions may make it difficult for some patients to recognize the people who are taking care of them. “Current restrictions are critical to keeping our hospital community safe but also limit some human interactions that show you care.

A nurse holds vials of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine above a deep freeze cooler at Michigan Stadium on Dec. 31, 2020. ANN ARBOR – Michigan Medicine announced in an email to staff on Monday that it has expanded the Phase 1A COVID-19 vaccine priority group after administering more than 11,000 vaccines since Dec. 14. Based on recommendations from the state, those now eligible for a Phase 1A vaccine at University of Michigan include:Anyone serving in a role at Michigan Medicine or University of Michigan who works in a clinical setting (i.e. hospital, ambulatory clinic, home care) and is not able to work exclusively remotely is able to receive a COVID-19 vaccine now as part of Phase 1A. Michigan Medicine is administering vaccines seven days a week.

ANN ARBOR – Michigan Stadium reopened its doors on Thursday morning after months of closure as a new site for Michigan Medicine’s sweeping COVID-19 vaccination program. Michigan Medicine aims to eventually vaccinate 2,000 people per day at The Big House, said David Miller, urologist and Chief Clinical Officer at U-M’s Cardiovascular Hospital. Signs guide individuals to Michigan Medicine's COVID Vaccine Clinic at the Jack Roth Stadium Club at Michigan Stadium on Dec. 31, 2020. Individuals are seen being monitored for 15 minutes after receiving the COVID-19 vaccine at Michigan Stadium on Dec. 31, 2020. A nurse holds vials of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine above a deep freeze cooler at Michigan Stadium on Dec. 31, 2020.

YPSILANTI, Mich. – Staff at Washtenaw County Health Department received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine on Friday. “I’m so excited to be vaccinated, and I don’t have to wait because it’s my job to vaccinate others,” said Christina Zilke, registered nurse and nursing supervisor with Washtenaw County Health Department in a release. The Health Department received an initial supply of 1,950 doses of the Pfizer Inc./BioNTech vaccine. READ: First Michigan Medicine employees receive COVID-19 vaccineNurse practitioner Cathy Wilczynski vaccinates Washtenaw County Health Department medical director Juan Marquez (left) and emergency preparedness administrator Cindra James (right). (Washtenaw County Health Department)“We’re feeling both grateful and optimistic as we begin this vaccination process,” said Jimena Loveluck, MSW, health officer for Washtenaw County in the release.

A healthcare worker at St. Joe's Ann Arbor holds up a sticker that says "I Got Vaccinated" as COVID-19 vaccinations get underway. ANN ARBOR – The first shipment of the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine arrived at four hospitals within the Mercy Health and Saint Joseph Mercy Health System on Thursday, including St. Joseph Mercy Ann Arbor, St. Joseph Mercy Oakland and Mercy Health Saint Mary’s in Grand Rapids and Mercy Health Muskegon. Mercy Health Muskegon received 1,950 doses while the other three hospitals received 975. All hospitals within Trinity Health Michigan have ultra-cold freezers capable of storing the vaccines. For more information about the COVID-19 vaccine, visit www.stjoeshealth.org/vaccine.

ANN ARBOR – Michigan Medicine began vaccinating its frontline workers against COVID-19 on Monday, with an initial group of five employees. MORE: University of Michigan Hospital workers show what ‘reconstituting’ COVID vaccine meansOn Monday morning, Michigan Medicine received an initial shipment of 1,950 of the Pfizer Inc./BioNTech vaccine. Roughly 40 Michigan Medicine employees are expected to be vaccinated starting Tuesday with vaccinations increasing next week, depending on supply. The first five employees at Michigan Medicine to receive the COVID-19 vaccine pose for a photo on Dec. 14, 2020. These groups will be determined by Michigan Medicine’s COVID-19 Vaccine & Therapeutics Taskforce which is following recommendations from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services.

ANN ARBOR – Michigan Medicine has partnered with about 100 of the country’s top health care systems urging Americans to mask up as COVID-19 cases reach record-breaking highs. Over the past two weeks, more than 900 medical workers at Mayo Clinic tested positive for COVID-19. The message reads:“As the top nationally-ranked hospitals, we know it’s tough that we all need to do our part and keep wearing masks. However now is exactly the wrong time to let up,” Marschall S. Runge, CEO of Michigan Medicine and dean of the U-M Medical School said in a statement. “But for now, we have to use the tools that we know work: wearing masks, staying socially distant and washing hands.

ANN ARBOR – Michigan Medicine announced Monday it has added visitor restrictions at its hospitals and clinics to curb the spread of COVID-19 and to protect patients and staff. Visitors, including family, are required to wear a face covering that covers their nose and mouth at all Michigan Medicine properties, including inside a patient’s room. No visitors will be allowed in clinics for adult patients unless the patient has a physical or cognitive impairment that requires assistance. We hope that by adding these restrictions, we will better protect everyone from COVID-19,” Washer continued. “Limiting visitors and requiring a mask at all times will help reduce the spread of infection.”Related reading:

WESTLAND, Mich. – A group of nursing home workers will walk off the job Monday morning over their working conditions in the pandemic. Essential nursing home workers at Four Seasons Rehabilitation and Nursing home, located on Newburgh Road in Westland, had agreed in August to delay their planned strike by 30 days after Gov. Gretchen Whitmer urged SEIU Healthcare Michigan and nursing home chains to negotiate toward a fair contract. RELATED: Wayne County COVID-19 data: Tracking cases, deaths; City-by-city breakdownThey said that they are treated like they’re dispensable and will now walk off the job Monday at 6 a.m., kicking off their strike over unfair labor practices. They said they’re arguing for more PPE, better pay and more staff to help take care of patients.

DETROIT – Four doctors, two nurse practitioners and three pharmacists are among the 19 people who have been indicted in connection with an elaborate drug scheme that went on for years, officials said. The opioid epidemic is still very much a problem in Metro Detroit, with people addicted to and dying from pain pills, heroin and fentanyl. Oxycodone, Percocet and hydrocodone are powerful pain pills that were pedaled on the streets for cash. “These people are greedy and they don’t care about the average citizen,” said Steve Dolunt, the former assistant Detroit police chief. “Average people, some people, have pain,” Dolunt said.

DETROIT – Health care workers, especially those on the frontlines in the fight against coronavirus, are experiencing burnout at alarming rates. It’s a silent crisis hiding in the shadow of the pandemic and it can potentially harm patients, the doctors and nurses themselves. A recent study published in the Cleveland Clinic Journal of Medicine finds the prevalence of burnout is 40%. When he recovered, he traveled to New York to treat coronavirus patients. A plea to the public to protect themselves and others to reduce the burden on front line medical workers, at imminent risk of burning out.

Nurses sue Sinai-Grace Hospital claiming patients died because of low staffing. If you need help with the Public File, call (313) 222-0566.

The Cleveland Clinic has sent 13 nurses to Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit for COVID-19 response assistance and relief. They will spend up to four weeks at various Henry Ford Hospital locations treating COVID-19 patients, according to the Cleveland Clinic. This video shows their sendoff:On Wednesday, Henry Ford Health System announced that it would be laying off about 2,800 workers temporarily due to the coronavirus pandemic, while executives will donate a percentage of their salary to help workers. According to officials, the health system lost $43 million in operating income in March, and that loss is expected to be even greater in April. Officials cite the postponement and cancellation of services and procedures, temporary site closures, and an increased need for resources to care for COVID-19 patients, including personal protective equipment for team members as reasons for the losses.