Legislative Policy (Page 13)

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In: Health Care Reform, Healthcare, Hospitals, Legislative Policy, Minnesota Nurses Association, National Nurses United, Nurses, Nursing, Unsafe Staffing

NOTES ON NURSING

Nurses Fight State by State for Minimum Staffing Laws   Legislatures in at least seven states and the District of Columbia are trying to answer that question as they debate bills that would require hospitals to have a minimum number of nurses on staff at all times.

Ruling:  MI Hospital Cheated Nurses Out of Proper Pay   McLaren Lapeer Region improperly cut the wages of 51 registered nurses and must pay them tens of thousands of dollars in back pay, an arbitrator has ruled.

LABOR UPDATES

Minnesota’s Pay Equity Laws Have Bridged Gap for Women   Fifty years after Congress passed the Equal Pay Act, women still make less than men.
… Read more about: MNA NewsScan, April 24, 2013: CA adjusting well with state-mandated RN staffing levels  »

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In: Health Care Reform, Healthcare, Labor Unions, Legislative Policy, Minnesota Nurses Association, Nurses, Nursing

NOTES ON NURSING

Boston Nurses Talk of Caring for Wounded and Families of Marathon Bombing    The screams and cries of bloody marathon bombing victims still haunt the nurses who treated them one week ago. They did their jobs as they were trained to do, putting their own fears in a box during their 12-hour shifts so they could better comfort their patients.

HEALTH CARE

Seniors Get Hung Up in Health Care Scams   Many of the fraudsters seem to be preying on the public’s confusion over the massive changes taking place in the nation’s health care system.
… Read more about: MNA NewsScan, April 22, 2013: Boston RNs talk; The jobless trap  »

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In: Health Care Reform, Healthcare, Hospitals, Legislative Policy, Minnesota Nurses Association, Nurses, Robin Hood Tax, Unsafe Staffing

NOTES ON NURSING

Nurse Crisis in New York   Despite an increase in candidates, the State Nursing Association said hospitals aren’t hiring. In the end, it is hurting patients. State Assemblyman Richard Gottfried is the sponsor of the State Staffing Bill.

What Nurse Jackie Means for America   The reality of health care lurks outside our studio in Queens, New York, and informs some of what the writers create. The relentless money crunches. Corporate overlords coldly pulling strings on delicate medical and staffing decisions. Overcrowded waiting rooms and illogical triage. Communication vacuums between doctor and patient. The constant vulnerability of patients to not only disease, but to the system.
… Read more about: MNA NewsScan, April 17, 2013: Nurse crisis in NY; Hospitals profit from errors  »

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In: Legislative Policy, National Nurses United, Robin Hood Tax

Media Advisory:
Congressman Keith Ellison

MEDIA ADVISORY: Rep. Keith Ellison to Unveil Inclusive Prosperity Act Outside Capitol

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 16, 2013
Press Contacts
Jeremy Slevin– (202) 225-4755

WASHINGTON –Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN), Co-Chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus and Chief Deputy Whip, will announce the reintroduction of his Inclusive Prosperity Act tomorrow, which adds a tax of a fraction of a percent on transactions done by Wall Street firms and stock traders. In 2011, 40 countries had a similar tax, as did the U.S. until 1966. This tax would reduce harmful financial market speculation, discourage high-volume, high-speed trading, and slow down the proliferation of ever more complex derivatives.
… Read more about: MEDIA ADVISORY: Rep. Keith Ellison, NNU’s Jean Ross to Unveil Inclusive Prosperity Act  »

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In: Bargaining, Duluth Bargaining, Healthcare, Legislative Policy, Minnesota Nurses Association, Nurses, Nursing, Patient Safety, Unsafe Staffing

NOTES ON NURSING
Tentative Agreement for St. Lukes Nurses in Duluth   The Minnesota Nurses Association announced late Tuesday that Duluth nurses came to a tentative contract agreement with St. Luke’s hospital that would raise wages 4.5 percent. The three-year agreement would go into effect in July and run into June 2016.  View pictures of the great solidarity action  and a video of MNA’s powerful opening statement

Alarm Fatigue Puts Patients at Risk    The Joint Commission issued a “sentinel event alert” to hospitals, saying that the problem of “alarm fatigue” can jeopardize patients, and it urged hospitals “to take a focused look at this serious patient safety issue.’”  Watch MNA President Linda Hamilton’s interview on Fox 9 News.
… Read more about: MNA NewsScan, April 10, 2013: Tentative agreement for Duluth RNs; Alarm fatigue puts patients at risk  »

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In: Healthcare, Hospitals, Legislative Policy, Minnesota Nurses Association, Nurses, Nursing, Unsafe Staffing

NOTES ON NURSING

Better Staffing Would Help  Hospitals Fail to Take Simple Measures to Thwart Deadly Infections    The culprit is a strain of a spore-forming bacterium known as Clostridium difficile, or C. diff—in particular, a relatively recent strain that has grown more virulent and resistant to drugs.

LABOR UPDATES

Twin Cities Metro Plumbers Devote a Day of Service to Help Those in Need   It’s a chance to help Minnesotans who might not otherwise be able turn to a professional plumber, and to reduce wasted expenses going down the drain.

CEO Percs Flying High    Dodd-Frank rules?
… Read more about: MNA NewsScan, April 8, 2013: C-Diff on the rise; Swanson grills Sanford execs  »

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In: Health Care Reform, Healthcare, Hospitals, Labor Unions, Legislative Policy, Minnesota Nurses Association, Nurses, Nursing, Patient Safety, Unsafe Staffing

Standards of Care Update

MNA nurses and representatives continue to meet with legislators to update them on the goals of the Standards of Care Act.  MNA is proposing that hospitals be required to report their staffing plans and actual nurse hours per patient day, and a Department of Health study of hospital staffing and its effect on nursing sensitive indicators like infections, falls and pressure ulcers.  We are confident that a MDH study will validate what nurses already know–that proper nurse staffing leads to better nurse outcomes–but we also recognize the need for Minnesota-specific data.  Our main objective for the remainder of the 2013 legislative session is to ensure that a comprehensive and accurate study is completed. 
… Read more about: MNA Legislative Update, April 5, 2013  »

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In: Bargaining, Health Care Reform, Healthcare, Hospitals, Labor Unions, Legislative Policy, Minnesota Nurses Association, Nurses, Nursing, Patient Safety, Unsafe Staffing

LABOR UPDATES

Harry Kelber:   1914 – 2013     Harry Kelber spent 80 years as a labor activist. Through it all he championed worker ownership of their unions. When Labor Notes commissioned a roundtable on “organizing the unorganized” in 2007, Harry’s contribution argued that rank-and-file workers should be part of organizing drives.

HEALTH CARE 

Did Hospitals Profit Off Drugs Meant for the Poor?   An inquiry by a U.S. senator has found that three nonprofit hospitals in North Carolina have made millions from a discount drug program intended to help the poor and uninsured.
… Read more about: MNA NewsScan, April 3, 2013: RIP Harry Kelber; CAH Mortality Skyrockets  »

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In: Healthcare, Hospitals, Legislative Policy, Minnesota Nurses Association, Nurses, Nursing, Patient Safety, Unsafe Staffing

NOTES ON NURSING

Fatigue is Pervasive in the Health Care Industry; Directly Linked to On-the-job Errors     Sixty-nine percent of healthcare professionals surveyed said that fatigue had caused them to feel concern over their ability to perform during work hours. Even more alarmingly, nearly 65 percent of participants reported they had almost made an error at work because of fatigue and more than 27 percent acknowledged that they had actually made an error resulting from fatigue.

PA Considers Nursing by the Numbers   A pair of Democratic state lawmakers have introduced bills in both the House and Senate that would mandate a minimum number of registered nurses-to-patient ratio at all hospitals in the state.
… Read more about: MNA NewsScan, April 1, 2013: RN fatigue pervasive and harmful to patients  »

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In: Healthcare, Hospitals, Labor Unions, Legislative Policy, Minnesota Nurses Association, Nurses, Nursing

NOTES ON NURSING

RN Grad Student:  “The $4450 Urgent Care Visit     “This was one patient on one day in one healthcare facility incurring every form of systemic waste Fineberg puts forth in his article and is also illustrated by Stephen Brill’s lengthy account of overcharging, particularly those who are uninsured or underinsured.”

HEALTH CARE

Fairview-Sanford Merger Talks Bring Scrutiny   Fairview Health Services, the Twin Cities’ second-largest hospital and clinic group, is weighing a merger with South Dakota-based Sanford Health in negotiations that have triggered concerns on the part of Minnesota Attorney General Lori Swanson. 
… Read more about: MNA NewsScan, March 27, 2013: AG Swanson sets public hearings on Fairview-Sanford merger  »