MEDIA ADVISORY
Contact: Sam Fettig
(c) 612-741-0662
sam.fettig@mnnurses.org
Lauren Nielsen
(c) 651-376-9709
lauren.nielsen@mnnurses.org
Nurses will share stories on the need to pass Keeping Nurses at the Bedside Act, oppose Sanford-Fairview merger
(St. Paul) – March 16, 2023 – On Friday, March 17, 2023, nurses with the Minnesota Nurses Association will host a virtual town hall with legislators to press for key issues to retain nurses, protect patient care, and prevent the corporatization of our healthcare system. The town hall comes as nurses’ top legislative priority, the Keeping Nurses at the Bedside Act (SF 1561, HF 1700), recently passed through key committees in the Minnesota House and Senate.
In the virtual town hall, nurses will share stories about the need to pass the Keeping Nurses at the Bedside Act, a comprehensive approach to nurse staffing and retention that would establish committees of direct care workers and management at Minnesota hospitals to work together to create staffing plans on a hospital-by-hospital, unit-by-unit basis. This flexible approach will allow hospitals to set and adjust staffing levels that work on a local level based on the expertise of bedside nurses at that hospital.
Nurses will also speak to the need to oppose the further corporatization of our healthcare system with the proposed merger of Sanford Health and M Health Fairview. Nurses are supporting legislation (HF 402, SF 1681) to provide critical public oversight of proposed hospital mergers to protect patients, communities, healthcare workers, and our entire healthcare system from the harms caused by further consolidation and corporatization.
Joining nurses for the virtual town hall will be patients to speak to the impact of short staffing by hospital executives on patient care, and Minnesota legislators to hear directly from nurses about the changes needed to retain nurses and protect patients in our hospitals.
Members of the press are invited to attend this event. Details are included below.
LEGISLATIVE TOWN HALL ON KEY NURSE AND PATIENT ISSUES:
· When: Friday, March 17, 2023, 12:00 p.m.
· Where: Zoom
· Who: Nurses, patients and legislators
· What: Virtual town hall on key legislative issues for nurses and patients
· Why: To retain nurses and protect patient care
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