Minnesota Nurses Association (Page 23)

 

Transcript:

There will likely be, probably layoffs of other employees, if a mandated government ratio went into effect.

And, what do you say about those, just the very issues they raise about patient safety because of the kinds of decisions they have to make?

Well hospitals obviously share the concern for patient safety. It is a top priority of hospitals to work on patient safety issues. And that is why we’ve been ranked very high on all the national rankings for hospitals. The Agency for Health Care Quality and Research ranked Minnesota hospitals and our health care delivery system here in Minnesota number one in the country.
… Read more about: MHA’s response to the Standards of Care Act  »

Lawmakers join the Minnesota Nurses Association in advocating for the Standards of Care Act that ensures enough nurses are on duty according to patient needs per unit and per shift and that hospitals will abide by nationally accepted, evidence-based standards.

 

Here’s the link to the media advisory:

http://us6.campaign-archive2.com/?u=b76817cab8adb00ed10718346&id=fea5d555da

 
… Read more about: Standards of Care Act introduced this Wednesday at the Capitol  »

HEALTH CARE

New Ulm Wellness Project Shows Healthy Results    New figures from the project show that the share of New Ulm residents with high blood pressure, high cholesterol and high triglycerides has gone down — modestly but measurably. Rates of obesity have also stabilized, alongside a small weight decrease across the population.

No One Fix to Slow Hospital Readmission Epidemic    Nearly 1 in 5 Medicare patients is hospitalized again within a month of going home, and many of those return trips could have been avoided. But readmissions can happen at any age, not just with the over-65 crowd who are counted most closely.
… Read more about: MNA NewsScan, February 11, 2013: Hope for health in New Ulm; Strike authorized for TC janitors/guards  »

Nurses at the Capitol

MNA nurses flooded the Capitol on Tuesday, bringing the message that patients are at risk in Minnesota hospitals, and we must have a statewide standard of care to ensure patients get the nursing care they deserve.

Nurses from all over the state came to St. Paul on Tuesday to meet with their legislators and call for patient safety legislation, as well as to support Governor Dayton’s budget and increased access to affordable health care for all Minnesotans. Nurses also took part in education sessions and heard from speakers including Governor Mark Dayton and Commissioner of Management and Budget,  Jim Schowalter.
… Read more about: MNA Legislative Update, February 8, 2013  »

NOTES ON NURSING

Nurses on the Hill 2013

MNA’S Nurses Day on the Hill 2013 in pictures

Legislators learned a lot about patients at risk in acute care hospitals, and why MNA members support the Governor’s proposed budget and Health Care for All. Revisit MNA’s Blog later today for a video featuring nurse stories.

HEALTH CARE

Boost in Hospice Care By Way of ICU   Yes, more people are getting hospice care — but they are getting it for only a few days and often, only after highly aggressive care near the end of life, including multiple hospitalizations and stays in intensive care units.
… Read more about: MNA NewsScan, February 6, 2013: Nurses lobby for patient care; Good-bye Saturday mail  »

NOTES ON NURSING

Forced Flu Shots Not the Cure    Too many hospitals, whose mantra is profits, not patient safety, favor forced vaccinations while cutting nursing or housekeeping staff, and denying paid sick leave, as most industrialized nations ensure.

Staffing Danger on Wards      More than 57% of those asked in the survey described their ward or unit as sometimes or always “dangerously understaffed”. Of those who had witnessed poor care, nearly 30% said they had seen it happen regularly.

LABOR UPDATES

Everybody’s Workin’ for … The Health Care Benefits     Three-quarters of retirees said they worked longer than they would have otherwise to maintain access to their health plan.
… Read more about: MNA NewsScan, February 4, 2013: On forced flu shots; Staffing “dangerously low” in Britain too  »

Linda-Hamilton_1by MNA President Linda Hamilton, RN, BSN

After nine years, hospitals are still reporting 314 adverse events that could have been prevented.

Patients are suffering; families are grieving because systems did not adequately protect them from preventable mistakes, such as falls and the development of pressure ulcers.

Beyond the sobering revelations of Wednesday’s 2013 Adverse Health Event report, nurses at the bedside are deeply concerned that other troubling instances are not reported.   We catch our breath with every “near miss,” every late medication, every discharge with hasty instruction.  We provide a safety net through our continual monitoring, but we see the foundation of that net eroding more each day.
… Read more about: Preventable Adverse Events Are a System Failure  »

HEALTH CARE

Docs Weigh In:  Workloads are Unsafe   (JAMA abstract only)  For resident physicians, workload so heavy as to result in physician fatigue is associated with increased medical errors and has led to the implementation of work-hour restrictions.23 For nurses, a recent cross-sectional analysis showed a significant association between patient mortality and low staffing.4 Fourteen states have enacted legislation and/or adopted regulations to address nurse staffing.5

 

LABOR UPDATES

Ford UAW Workers Receive $8,300 Profit Payout    UAW members have not had a wage increase in at least eight years, relying on lump-sum payments and profit sharing for between 20% and 25% of their annual pay, Dziczek said.
… Read more about: MNA NewsScan, January 30, 2013: Docs weigh in-patients are not safe  »