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In: Elections, Home, Issues

joekatieBy MNA member Joe Howard, RN, Essentia Health-Duluth

I took my nine-year-old daughter Katie to Senator Bernie Sanders’ rally in Duluth on January 26. What an experience!

As a nurse, I like Sanders’ platform that addresses the blatant inequalities that exist in our country. As a father, I know he cares about a brighter future for my daughters.

Listening to the speech with my daughter opened my eyes to how far we have drifted to a society of the haves and the have nots.

I felt uneasy trying to explain why it is okay for women to get paid less, why it is okay for graduates to be saddled with heavy student loan debt, and why skin color might be a factor in not getting a job or in going to jail.
… Read more about: MNA Blog: Sanders rally was eye-opening experience  »

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In: Home

Welcome to MNA’s new website!

We’ve redesigned and modernized our website to better serve MNA members. Members told us they wanted a clean, uncluttered design that’s easy to navigate and find ways to get involved and active in our union.

Here are some of the highlights:

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In: Home, Issues

By Mathew Keller RN JD, Regulatory and Policy Nursing Specialist

kellerjan2016

In a decision that has shocked pediatric surgeons across the state, Florida recently repealed a 38-year-old rule establishing state standards for pediatric cardiac surgery.

The decision comes on the heels of a scathing investigative report by CNN, which found that St. Mary’s Medical Center in West Palm Beach had an abysmal record in performing pediatric cardiac surgeries — including a death rate three times the national average — and was failing to meet the state’s quality standards, which include proficiency in performing the surgeries as well as a mechanism for outside physicians to conduct an expert panel review of such surgical programs.
… Read more about: Florida dumps surgical standards after failing hospital donates to GOP  »

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In: Home, Press Releases

(St. Paul) – (January 15, 2016) – Members of the Minnesota Nurses Association call on state lawmakers to implement the recommendations of the Governor’s Health Care Financing Task Force, which appointees passed on Friday. Nurses applaud the task force’s work to move Minnesota closer to ensuring that every patient in the state can access affordable healthcare.

Governor Mark Dayton appointed a board of policy experts and healthcare advocates to the Health Care Financing Task Force in 2015. The task force agreed on a slate of recommendations to send to the legislature, including studying different models of payor systems. The board believes lawmakers should study the costs and benefits of a “Single Payer” or a publicly-financed, privately-delivered universal healthcare model.
… Read more about: Press Release: MNA Nurses Urge Lawmakers to Adopt Task Force Recommendations  »

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(St. Paul) – January 19, 2016 – Minnesota Nurses Association members from five metro hospital systems ratified a new three-year contract that will give them across-the-board wage increases and protect their pensions and health benefits.

The new contract affects 7,000 nurses from Bethesda, Children’s Minneapolis, Children’s St. Paul, Fairview Riverside, Fairview Southdale, Methodist, North Memorial, St. Joseph’s, and St. John’s hospitals.

Last week, nurses authorized their bargaining teams to enter into wage-only negotiations with five of the six hospital systems in the Metro Twin Cities. Only Allina hospital management refused to bargain a wages-only. MNA members and their employers agreed on a tentative agreement on January 14 that established a 2 percent raise for each year of the three-year contract.
… Read more about: Press Release: Nurses Ratify Agreement on New Three-Year Contract  »

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In: Home, Insurance, Issues

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By Rick Fuentes,  MNA  Communications Specialist

It was no surprise to hear Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders declare his support for Single Payer healthcare during last weekend’s Presidential debate.  Sanders has long been a proponent of a system that creates “Medicare for All.”  That model would cover everyone in the country through a publicly funded agency that paid for services to every provider in the country.  After all, Sanders’ home state of Vermont adopted a Single Payer system that covered almost everyone in 2011.  Green Mountain Care, as it’s called, was due to be fully implemented by 2017 (it’s since been put on hold indefinitely).
… Read more about: Single Payer Healthcare Becoming Big Part of Debate  »

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In: Home, Press Releases

January 15, 2016

(St. Paul) – January 15, 2016 – Twin Cities nurses represented by the Minnesota Nurses Association agreed to terms of a new three-year contract with five of the six hospital systems.  Nurses will vote to ratify the tentative agreement on Tuesday, January 19, 2016.  The MNA negotiations team is recommending nurses ratify the agreement.

The new contract begins June 1, 2016 and covers 6,000 nurses at Fairview Southdale and Riverside facilities, Children’s Minneapolis and St. Paul hospitals, Methodist, North Memorial Medical Center, and HealthEast’s Bethesda, St. Joeseph’s, and St. John’s hospitals.  Current benefits, including health coverage and pensions, would carry over to the new contract.
… Read more about: Press Release: Nurses, Hospitals Reach Tentative Agreement on New Three Year Contract  »

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In: Home, Issues, Minnesota Nurses Association, Nursing, Patient Safety

Mat Keller headshot

By Mathew Keller RN JD, Regulatory and Policy Nursing Specialist

 

“If you don’t stay and work extra, who will take the admission that’s coming?  There’s no one else.”

Sound familiar?

If you’ve been told by your nurse manager that you must work “mandatory” overtime, don’t buy it!  Under Minnesota state law, nurses cannot be disciplined for refusing overtime if, in the nurse’s judgment, it would be unsafe for the patient.

Study after study show that unplanned overtime assignments have a high potential to be unsafe.
… Read more about: Mandatory overtime: just say no  »

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In: Activism, Home, Minnesota Nurses Association

Nurses throughout Minnesota know of instances of employers intimidating and retaliating against staff for a wide variety reasons, like reporting unsafe staffing,  speaking up when they disagree with a program or pilot, reporting managerial unethical or illegal behavior, engaging in union activities, and many more.

These types of incidents can cause managers and administration some headaches, but they are all part of the ebb and flow of the employer-employee relationship. Unless, of course, the employee is punished for legal and ethical actions.

Unfortunately, retaliation in the workplace is all too commonplace – and not just in hospitals.

For nurses, the opportunities for retaliation are higher than in many other fields.
… Read more about: Retaliation is a real issue in nursing  »