News

The X-ray of Tove Schuster's spine shows the metal cage and four screws her surgeon used to repair a damaged disk in her back.

Hospitals Fail To Protect Nursing Staff From Becoming Patients

5:09pm February 25, 2015

by Daniel Zwerdling

Nursing employees suffer 35,000 back and other injuries nearly every year. But many career-ending injuries could be prevented if hospitals brought in new technology and taught "safe patient handling."

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The screenshot from a simulation video shows the magnitude and distribution of forces NPR correspondent Daniel Zwerdling endured on his spine while re-creating the way nurses lift patients from their beds.

Even 'Proper' Technique Exposes Nurses' Spines To Dangerous Forces

5:09pm February 25, 2015

by Daniel Zwerdling

What exactly is happening to nurses' backs when they move and lift patients? NPR's Daniel Zwerdling teamed with scientists for a high-tech look inside his own back as he tried the same maneuvers.

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Terry Cawthorn was a nurse at Mission Hospital for more than 20 years. But after a series of back injuries, mainly from lifting patients, she was fired. Cawthorn took legal action against the hospital and still faces daily struggles as a result of her inj

Health & Safety

Hospital To Nurses: Your Injuries Are Not Our Problem

5:09pm February 25, 2015

by Daniel Zwerdling

When Terry Cawthorn severely injured her back on the job, Mission Hospital refused to take responsibility — an attitude toward nurses that NPR found in hospitals across the U.S.

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Jordanian soldiers stand guard at the Iraq-Jordan border last year. Jordan also shares a border with Syria and has had to deal with a flood of refugees from both its neighbors over the past decade.

World News

Jordan's Army Preps For A Bigger Role Against ISIS

4:55pm February 25, 2015

by Robert Siegel

After a pilot was burned alive by the Islamic State, Jordanians have become much more supportive of its role in the war against the extremist group.

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A carb ball shares the bowl with a chunk of meat.

World News

House Of Carbs: A Big Ball O' Carbohydrates Is Good Eating In Ghana

4:36pm February 25, 2015

by Kiley Shields

Our Peace Corps correspondent meets the giant ball of carbs that floats in many a Ghanaian stew. She takes a pinch (using her right hand only). And she learns to almost love it.

Washington, D.C., mayor Muriel Bowser in November of 2014.

As Washington Prepares To Legalize Pot, Congressman Threatens To Arrest Mayor

4:10pm February 25, 2015

by Eyder Peralta

Mayor Muriel Bowser said the city would continue with its plans to legalize pot at midnight. Rep. Jason Chaffetz of Utah said the District would be in "willful violation of the law."

Siblings Jessica and Oliver Schaap of Holland, Mich., test out the temporary vegetable tattoos known as Tater Tats.

Produce Pride: Showing The Love With Vegetable Tattoos

3:24pm February 25, 2015

by Eliza Barclay

Vegetable tattoos, both temporary and permanent, can make for beautiful body art. Some enthusiasts are hoping to use them to encourage healthy, seasonal eating.

National

Supreme Court Sides With Fisherman In Case Of The Missing Fish

3:18pm February 25, 2015

by Krishnadev Calamur

At issue was whether discarding fish after a raid for undersized red grouper violated the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. The justices said the law, passed in the wake of the Enron scandal, didn't apply to fish.

Ukrainian servicemen stand guard on a street near a burning building after a shelling by pro-Russian rebels of a residential sector in Mariupol, eastern Ukraine, last month.

World News

France Warns Russia And Its Allies Not To Advance On Ukrainian Port City

3:13pm February 25, 2015

by Eleanor Beardsley

The foreign ministers of the four signatories to the Minsk cease-fire agreement met in Paris to discuss the fighting in Ukraine. Kiev worries that the separatists' next target will be Mariupol.

FBI Arrests 3 Men For Allegedly Plotting To Join Islamic State In Syria

2:43pm February 25, 2015

by Eyder Peralta

The three men from Brooklyn were charged with conspiracy to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization. Two of the men had already purchased tickets to Istanbul.