Incredible show of solidarity as 150 nurses, family members, and fellow union members greet the St. Luke’s bargaining team prior to negotiations. Then, an emotional message from about the importance to respect nurses by offering them a fair offer for their continued hard work under short-staffed situations.
… Read more about: Support and solidarity for Duluth nurses prior to contract talks »
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 »
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 »
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 »
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 »
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 »
NOTES ON NURSING
Study Says NICUs Need Nurses A surprising number of the nation’s neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) have too few nurses, a new study by researchers from the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ) has found.
HEALTH CARE
It’s Come to This – A Lottery for Health Care Coverage Tennessee residents who have high medical bills but would not normally qualify for Medicaid, the government health care program for the poor, can call a state phone line and request an application. But the window is tight — the line shuts down after 2,500 calls, typically within an hour — and the demand is so high that it is difficult to get through.
… Read more about: MNA NewsScan, March 25, 2013: NICU nurses needed; Tennessee’s HC lottery »
Standards of Care Update
Last Friday, MNA, in consultation with our legislative allies, revised the Standards of Care Act to shift the focus of the bill to collect Minnesota-specific data on issues of nurse staffing transparency as it relates to patient outcomes. We continue to strongly believe that every patient in the state deserves a minimum number of Registered Nurses and that any data collected will validate the thousands of nurses in Minnesota who experience unsafe staffing on a daily basis.
We learned that legislators had too many questions about staffing, and not enough hard data specific to Minnesota hospitals. So we shifted our focus to a framework that would improve transparency by requiring hospitals to report their staffing on a quarterly basis, and tie it to data on nursing-sensitive health outcomes like falls, infections and pressure ulcers.
… Read more about: MNA Legislative Update March 22, 2013 »
NOTES ON NURSING
Healing the Hospital Hierarchy Most people in health care understand and accept the need for clinical hierarchies. The problem is that we aren’t usually prepared for them; nor are we given protocols for resolving the inevitable tensions that arise over appropriate care.
LABOR UPDATE
Income Inequality Shapes MN Tax Debate Even in middle-class, middle-American Minnesota, income inequality is rising. It’s not a new phenomenon.
HEALTH CARE
New Database Reveals Thousands of Hospital Violation Reports Hospitals make mistakes, sometimes deadly mistakes. A patient may get the wrong medication or even undergo surgery intended for another person.
… Read more about: MNA NewsScan, March 20, 2013: Hospital hierarchy; Error reporting »
Last Friday, MNA, in consultation with our legislative allies, agreed to amend the Standards of Care Act to create a procedure which will provide Minnesota-specific data on issues of nurse staffing transparency as it relates to patient outcomes. We agreed to language in the House with an understanding that we would work on adding more detail with respect to reporting requirements.
We learned that legislators had too many questions about the staffing situation, and not enough hard data specific to Minnesota hospitals. So we shifted our focus to a framework that would improve transparency by requiring hospitals to report their staffing on a quarterly basis.
… Read more about: Standards of Care Act Update »