WASHINGTON, Dec. 3 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — In the midst of the great recession, a depressed job market is hitting veterans particularly hard. Unemployment numbers for all veterans continues to hover near 12 percent, but for service members who left the military in the past three years unemployment is 18 percent, nearly twice the national average.

“The way we treat our veterans when they return home is an indication of our national character,” said J. David Cox, AFGE national secretary-treasurer, who was a registered nurse in the VA for over 20 years prior to being elected to the union’s executive leadership. “These brave men and women volunteered, served valiantly, and have to come home to stand in the unemployment line. There is something very wrong with that.”

The high unemployment rate of returning service members has not escaped the attention of the White House. On Nov. 9, President Obama issued an executive order aimed at enhancing the recruitment and promotion of employment opportunities for veterans. The order established a multi-agency “Council on Veterans Employment” and is supposed to develop a strategic plan on how to recruit and employ veterans for federal civilian service. According to the union, however, any plan developed by the Council should address the systemic risk to federal civilian employment of veterans posed by the expanded use of for-profit contractors. Ironically, the VA – the agency that strives to be the model employer of veterans — has contracted out more jobs held by veterans than most other agencies. Read More »

American Joint Replacement Registry Announced

American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons Creates Independent Organization

ROSEMONT, Ill. – The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) has incorporated the American Joint Replacement Registry (AJRR), a nonprofit organization dedicated to collecting and reporting on hip and knee joint replacement procedures. AAOS believes this proposed option is a patient safety best practice.

The goal of a national joint registry is to monitor device performance, thereby allowing early recognition of underperforming processes or devices and supporting continued clinical learning. A joint registry follows the artificial joint device throughout a recipient’s lifetime in a database with information about the patient’s demographics, as well as where and when the surgery took place. Read More »