MNA Blog (Page 83)

Recent news and updates from the Minnesota Nurses Association.

On:
In: Bargaining, Health Care Reform, Healthcare, Hospitals, Labor Unions, National Nurses United, Nurses, Nursing

NOTES ON NURSING

Electronic Health Records May Turn Small Errors into Big Ones    According to a review by the Pennsylvania Patient Safety Authority, mistakes and near misses involving electronic health records were analogous to those made with paper-based records with one caveat: those made with EHRs tend to be amplified and can affect a larger group of people.

LABOR UPDATES

Bay Area Nurses to Strike on Christmas Eve   Union officials say the strike—the eighth by the association since September 2011—was not called over a salary dispute, but comes as the union and the hospitals remain at odds over staffing levels, health benefits and sick days.
… Read more about: MNA Daily NewsScan, December 17, 2012: Do EHRs mean bigger problems?; RNs to strike on Christmas eve  »

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In: Bargaining, Labor Unions, Nurses, Nursing, Organizing

More than 150 nurses voted on Tuesday, December 11 to ratify a new contract agreement between the Minnesota Nurses Association and Douglas County Hospital.

Both sides had been at loggerheads over staffing issues and the rising cost of insurance benefits, but the stalemate broke when more than 30 nurses stood up a hospital board meeting, which equates to 1 for every 6 nurses affected attending.

Nurses delivered Thanksgiving-themed greeting cards signed by a majority of MNA members and with a message of thanks if management would negotiate on staffing and retention issues. The strategy and the strong showing seemed to turn the tide toward nurses, as hospital management asked for a meeting even though a mediation session had been planned as the next step for negotations.
… Read more about: MNA Nurses at Douglas County Hospital Ratify Contract  »

On:
In: Health Care Reform, Healthcare, Hospitals, Labor Unions, Legislative Policy, Nurses, Nursing

NOTES ON NURSING

Hospital Alarms Fail to Prevent Injury     “My own 2 cents: If an alarm sounds when someone stirs, is any hospital or nursing home so well-staffed that someone can materialize within seconds? Does a staff become less vigilant when patients have alarms and are presumed – wrongly, it seems – to be safer?”

HEALTH CARE

Health Care Costs Rise Faster than Wages   Health insurance costs for the average family have risen more than five times faster than incomes in the last decade, according to a new study from Commonwealth Fund.

Paying for Prevention Works    That kind of attention has always been good medicine.
… Read more about: MNA Daily NewsScan, December 14, 2012: Alarms don’t prevent falls, nurses do; Big bucks for HC C-Suites  »

On:
In: Activism, Health Care Reform, Healthcare, Hospitals, Labor Unions, National Nurses United, Nurses, Nursing, Politics

NOTES ON NURSING

New Model IDs Patients At Risk for Serious Safety Events  “A reliable system to identify, mitigate, and escalate risk can be implemented in a children’s hospital and is associated with a reduction in safety events in a context where these events were already uncommon.”

Perspective:  “Get Over a Death in 2 Months.  They Can’t Be Serious”  I just finished reading the American Psychiatric Association’s new recommendations regarding the wrenching universal experience called grief.  I’m pretty sure they have a misprint.  Two months? They meant two years, right?

HEALTH CARE

Mayo Puts Brakes on MegaMall Project    Mayo Clinic said Wednesday it will not be part of the Mall of America’s expansion scheduled to open next fall.
… Read more about: MNA Daily NewsScan, December 13, 2012: Hold the Mayo at Megamall; ID’ing patients at risk  »

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In: Uncategorized

Think of yourself in your early 20s-young, energetic, maybe a little naïve in some ways.   All it takes is a look into one’s old closet or record collection to realize that. But one thing we all have in common is the belief that when we entered our careers, worked hard, paid taxes, that our investment in our future would pay off.  Our health care costs would be taken care of because we faithfully paid into Medicare for 30, 40, 50 years.  It’s a good thing our 20-something self didn’t hear the current discussion of raising the Medicare age to solve Washington’s budget woes.

 

Pushing seniors off the Medicare rolls sounds like a good idea, but it’s not. 
… Read more about: Save money by skimping on Medicare?  »

On:
In: Activism, Health Care Reform, Healthcare, Labor Unions, Nurses, Politics, Right to Work

LABOR UPDATES

Wages in Minnesota Rise for the Richest, Fall for the Poor    It’s being called a “lost decade” for low- and middle-income Minnesotans.

NOTES ON NURSING

Study:  Rural RNs More Likely to Commute for Better Salaries  These  findings suggest that policies supporting more competitive rural RN salaries  could encourage more rural-residing RNs to work in the rural communities in  which they live.

RNs, Labor Allies to Picket Las Vegas Venetian Hotel Today  The enterprise is the business center for multi billionaire Stuart Adelman who funds radical  corporate interest political agenda.
… Read more about: MNA Daily NewsScan, December 12, 2012: Rural RNs more likely to commute for better salaries  »

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In: Activism, Health Care Reform, Healthcare, Hospitals, Labor Unions, Nurses, Nursing, Organizing, Politics, Right to Work

LABOR UPDATES

Right To Work Passes Michigan House    The Michigan House approved the first of two right-to-work bills Tuesday that would weaken union power in the historical labor stronghold as hundreds of protesters rallied at the Capitol.

Take Action!  Call
Michiganders right now to spread the word and tell them to contact Gov. Snyder
to let him this legislation is wrong for Michigan.

HEALTH CARE

How Much Compensation is Too Much Compensation?  For while a sprawling health care system with nearly $1 billion in annual  revenues may be an extraordinarily complex operation maneuvering in a rapidly  changing market, ultimately Lancaster General Health and similar systems are  charities.
… Read more about: MNA Daily NewsScan, December 11, 2012: RTW passes MI House; U.S. lives longer, sicker  »

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In: Uncategorized

The Minnesota Nurses Association is happy to welcome Rick Fuentes to represent its 20,000 members in Minnesota, Iowa, and Wisconsin.  Rick has been known to the Twin Cities as a TV reporter, and, most recently, he’s been an advocate for nonprofit organizations and public affairs campaigns.

Rick is a graduate of the University of Missouri’s Journalism School.  From there

he worked at KOMU-TV (NBC) in Columbia, MO; KCOY-TV (CBS) in San Luis Obispo, CA; KSNV-TV (NBC) in Las Vegas, NV; and the CBS station, WCCO-TV, in Minneapolis.  Rick served as an investigative reporter, which earned him an Edward R. Murrow Award in 1998, and as a regular beat reporter on labor issues, where he covered grocery store workers, culinary workers, bus drivers, and airline mechanics in separate contract disputes.
… Read more about: MNA Welcomes New PR person  »

On:
In: Bargaining, Hospitals, Labor Unions, Nurses, Unsafe Staffing

More than 150 nurses will vote Tuesday, December 11, on a new Tentative Agreement between the Minnesota Nurses Association and Douglas County Hospital.

 

Both sides had been at loggerheads over staffing issues and the rising cost of insurance benefits, but the stalemate broke when more than 30 nurses stood up a hospital board meeting, which equates to 1 for every 6 nurses affected attending.

 

Nurses delivered Thanksgiving-themed greeting cards signed by a majority of MNA members and with a message of thanks if management would negotiate on staffing and retention issues.  The strategy and the strong showing seemed to turn the tide toward nurses, as hospital management asked for a meeting even though a mediation session had been planned as the next step for negotations. 
… Read more about: New TA to be voted on by Alex Nurses  »