Mental Health

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In: Home, Mental Health, Press Releases

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Sam Fettig
(c) 612-741-0662
sam.fettig@mnnurses.org

Lauren Bloomquist
(c) 651-376-9709
lauren.bloomquist@mnnurses.org
MNA applauds MDH for protecting public interest in Minnesota for patients, workers and communities
(St. Paul) – March 1, 2024 – Nurses at the Minnesota Nurses Association (MNA) applaud the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) for listening to patients, workers, and community members and putting patient needs ahead of corporate greed with their ruling that the for-profit Nobis Rehabilitation is not in the public interest.

In January, MNA submitted a letter to MDH in opposition to the for-profit hospital proposal, writing in part: “Every day, nurses confront the ongoing staff shortages in our hospitals and experience firsthand the mental health crisis in our state.
… Read more about: Nurses celebrate denial of corporate for-profit care in Minnesota  »

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In: Home, Legislative Policy, Mental Health

By Laura Arnold, RN 

As a pediatric nurse for over 15 years, I have interacted with and cared for many patients and families experiencing various types of mental health needs. I would like to share what I believe Minnesotans need based on my experience as a nurse and as a mother who is walking this journey.

I could spend hours discussing physical and emotional trauma experienced by patients, families, and staff. Bottom line, if we are seeing them in our hospitals, they are already in crisis, and we are only able to put band-aids over serious problems before sending them out the door.  
… Read more about: It’s time to address the children’s mental health crisis in Minnesota  »

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In: Fairview, Home, Mental Health, Press Releases

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

Contact: Sam Fettig
(c) 612-741-0662
sam.fettig@mnnurses.org

Lauren Nielsen
(c) 651-376-9709
lauren.nielsen@mnnurses.org

(St. Paul) – September 12, 2022 – Today, the Minnesota Nurses Association responded to the announcement that the Minnesota Department of Health has found the proposed mental health facility to be operated by M Health Fairview and Acadia Healthcare to be in the public interest. MNA has raised concerns about the planned facility, citing recent hospital closures by M Health Fairview and the for-profit model of Acadia Healthcare which is out of step with Minnesotans’ and nurses’ values.
… Read more about: Statement from Minnesota Nurses Association on M Health Fairview and Acadia Mental Health Facility    »

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In: Fairview, Mental Health, Press Releases

MEDIA ADVISORY

Contact: Sam Fettig
(o) 651-414-2863
(c) 612-741-0662
sam.fettig@mnnurses.org

Lauren Nielsen
(o) 651-414-2862
(c) 651-376-9709
lauren.nielsen@mnnurses.org

While nurses support more mental health beds, for-profit Acadia Healthcare has a concerning track record on patient and staff safety, financial mismanagement, greed, and fraud

(St. Paul) – June 8, 2022 – This Thursday, June 9 at 6:00 p.m., M Health Fairview nurses, along with the Minnesota Nurses Association, will join other community members to testify to concerns with the proposed partnership between the Minnesota hospital system and Acadia Healthcare, a for-profit corporation with a concerning track record on patient and staff safety, and financial mismanagement, greed, and fraud.
… Read more about: M Health Fairview nurses, community members to testify to concerns with proposed Acadia Healthcare mental health hospital  »

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In: Home, Member Blog, Mental Health

 

By Teresa Koenen, RN
St. Peter Forensic Mental Health
MN Department of Human Services

 

I wish healthcare administrators would just be honest with us.

I am a nurse for the State of Minnesota at our forensic mental health program in St. Peter. We care for people who have mental illness and have harmed others. If a patient contracts COVID, we would care for them in our facility unless they required hospitalization.

We need appropriate Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) if we are to protect ourselves and other patients from contracting the virus.
… Read more about: Just Be Honest with Us–Don’t Try to Give Us a False Sense of Security  »

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In: Activism, Home, Member Blog, Mental Health, Minnesota Nurses Association, Unsafe Staffing, Workplace violence prevention

By Chidinma Nwanekpe, RN, BSN, MPH

GAC Commissioner, Mental Health Nurse at St. Joseph’s

 

Working on my unit has exposed me to a lot of issues our mental health patients go through, but the most prominent one is homelessness.

For example, here’s a patient we’ll call “Mr. J.” Mr. J had been in the hospital for seven days when I arrived at work one day. In a mental unit, it’s not uncommon for patients to be reported as loud, upset, disrupting unit activity, and not heeding re-direction. Mr. J said he had been in the hospital for quite a while, didn’t know where to go after he was discharged because he was homeless.
… Read more about: Mental Illness and Homelessness: A Cry for Help  »