MNA Blog (Page 88)

Recent news and updates from the Minnesota Nurses Association.

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In: Activism, Healthcare, Labor Unions, National Nurses United, Nurses, Nursing, Organizing, Politics, Robin Hood Tax

MNA 107th Annual Convention:  See.  Learn.  Prepare.  Act.

The annual convention of the Minnesota Nurses Association fortified members’ stance on nursing issues and demonstrated their resolve to act collectively on those issues.

“We are MNA,” said President Linda Hamilton, RN, BSN during her opening speech.  “We are 20,000 voices.  We are 20,000 votes.  We are nurses standing together across this country as National Nurses United. We are 185,000 voices. We are 185,000 votes.  Our voices and votes ring loud and true to defend the values we hold dear against the injustice of the corporate machine and corrupted political process.”

200 delegates dug into a packed agenda that mixed organizational business, education, celebration, fun and action during the  one pre-convention and three official days of the event, held from Oct.
… Read more about: MN Nurses 107th Annual Convention Summary  »

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In: Activism, Bargaining, Healthcare, Hospitals, Labor Unions, Nurses, Nursing

HEALTH CARE

Health Care Fraud Deconstructed:  Fraud and Patients Not the Problem  The bottom line is that there is already enough money in the system to more than adequately cover everybody, if we can eliminate the waste. To do so, we would have to kill a few golden geese. The owners of those geese will be unhappy and will fight tooth and nail, but the rest of us would be much better off.

Lapses at Big Drug Factories Add to Shortages and Dangers   Weevils floating in vials of heparin. Morphine cartridges that contain up to twice the labeled dose.
… Read more about: MNA Daily NewsScan, October 19, 2012: Who is really scamming the HC system?; Newborns at risk  »

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In: Activism, Bargaining, Healthcare, Hospitals, Labor Unions, Nurses, Nursing

HEALTH CARE

Hospital Lobbies to Save Exec Pay   A Peninsula ballot measure that would limit the pay of executives at El Camino Hospital faces its toughest opposition from the hospital, which has donated three-quarters of the campaign funds to defeat the proposal.

Two Huge Health Systems Plan to Merge   The boards of two leading Catholic health systems, Trinity Health and Catholic Health East, have announced plans to join forces in 2013.

 

LABOR NEWS

Corporate Profits Continue to Skyrocket.  What’s in your wallet?
… Read more about: MNA NewsScan, October 18, 2012: Lobby $$ spent to save hospital exec pay; Corp. profits skyrocket  »

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In: Healthcare, Hospitals, Labor Unions, National Nurses United, Nurses, Nursing, Politics, Robin Hood Tax

The 107th Annual MNA Convention is underway this week in Duluth! Make sure you follow MNA on Twitter and Facebook for the latest updates, photos and more!

LABOR NEWS

[youtube=http://youtu.be/HlyAL27eo7U]

A report by the Economic Policy Institute shows that the decline in wages in Michigan is tied to the decline in collective bargaining.

At a noon rally in downtown St. Paul on Tuesday, musicians of the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra sought to gain attention for their side of a dispute with management over pay, artistic control and other contractual details.
… Read more about: MNA Daily NewsScan, October 17, 2012 – SPCO Musicians Rally; Michigan Workers See Wages Decline  »

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In: Healthcare, Hospitals, Labor Unions, National Nurses United, Nurses, Nursing, Politics, Robin Hood Tax

The 107th Annual MNA Convention is underway this week in Duluth! Make sure you follow MNA on Twitter and Facebook for the latest updates, photos and more!

LABOR NEWS

Mercy Regional Medical Center in Lorain, Ohio, has reached an agreement with its nurses, avoiding a strike scheduled to occur this week, according to a Chronicle-Telegram report.

Former Republican insider Michael Brodkorb admitted to WCCO-TV last night that the controversial Marriage Amendment on the ballot this fall in Minnesota was created merely to increase voter turnout among Conservative Republicans.
… Read more about: MNA Daily NewsScan, October 16, 2012 – Republican Insider: MN Marriage Amendment a GOTV Tactic  »

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In: Healthcare, Hospitals, Labor Unions, National Nurses United, Nurses, Nursing, Politics, Robin Hood Tax

The 107th Annual MNA Convention is underway this week in Duluth! Make sure you follow MNA on Twitter and Facebook for the latest updates, photos and more!

LABOR NEWS

[youtube=http://youtu.be/mVPYvnf-Pr0]

Stop Crystal Sugar’s Greed! Sign the AFL-CIO’s Online Petition now!

The New York Times: The events of the fall of 2008 showed that many financial regulators were desperate to make anyone but those who created the crisis pay for its devastation.

HEALTH CARE

Wendell Potter: Mitt Romney’s talking points on health care are just like the ones I wrote when I was a health insurance industry PR flack.
… Read more about: MNA Daily NewsScan, October 15, 2012 – The 107th Annual MNA Convention is Underway!  »

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In: Healthcare, Hospitals, Labor Unions, National Nurses United, Nurses, Nursing, Politics, Robin Hood Tax

Union Video: Romney’s Bain Selling Out American Workers to China

[youtube=http://youtu.be/grQTuIYnreg]

 

LABOR NEWS

Star Tribune Op/Ed by Minnesota AFL-CIO President Shar Knutson: Just what’s behind this increase in lockouts?

The locked-out musicians of the Minnesota Orchestra plan to reunite with their former maestro for a concert next week.

Adding a medical director to a hospital’s staff is costing some healthcare institutions about $1 million each year, while creating a lucrative career path for the physicians who are hired in that role. This year, nearly 35% of medical directors are getting bonuses, 8% more than last year, a compensation survey shows.
… Read more about: MNA Daily NewsScan, October 12, 2012: Just What’s Behind This Increase in Lockouts?  »

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In: Bargaining, Healthcare, Hospitals, Labor Unions, National Nurses United, Nurses, Nursing

HEALTH CARE

The Big Spin:  Hospital Staffing Goes Under the Knife    Jan Rodolfo, Midwest director for National Nurses United, the country’s largest union of registered nurses, said profitable hospitals are behaving much like hospitals in dire financial straits. “Hospitals that are very profitable are still aggressively pursuing cost-cutting measures,” she said. “I think they see an opportunity right now to drive down costs and use the economic climate as the justification.”

Regulator Has Link to Firm Implicated in Meningitis Outbreak   The owners of New England Compounding Center, the Framingham company at the heart of a nationwide outbreak of fungal meningitis, also own a related pharmacy in Westborough, one of whose executives is a board member and former president of the state agency that regulates pharmacies.
… Read more about: MNA Daily NewsScan, October 11, 2012: Hospitals spin tales on staffing; Kodak hopes to bail on retiree benefits  »

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In: Activism, Healthcare, Hospitals, Nurses, Nursing, Politics

HEALTH CARE

Hospitals Add 8,000 New Jobs in September   Altogether, the healthcare sector added 43,500 jobs last month–more than a  third of the 114,000 jobs the U.S. economy added in September.

Mayo Clinic Adds Bismark Hospital to Network   The Mayo Clinic has added Bismarck-based St. Alexius Medical Center to its national network of hospitals, its first medical center in that part of North Dakota and its 10th in the past year.

The Ups and Downs of Electronic Medical Records   As health care providers adopt electronic records, the challenges have proved daunting, with a potential for mix-ups and confusion that can be frustrating, costly and even dangerous.
… Read more about: MNA Daily NewsScan, October 10, 2012: Hospitals add 8k new jobs in Sept.; Adequate nurse staffing a universal problem  »