Minnesota Nurses Association (Page 5)

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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  »

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In: Minnesota Nurses Association, Patient Safety

Filing Concern for Safe Staffing Forms and speaking out about unsafe staffing do make a difference. Just ask Surgical/Trauma/Neuro RNs at Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis.

Nurses mobilized and forced the hospital to end a pilot program in the STN unit that increased the number of patients a nurse cared for at one time.

The pilot was implemented in January 2015 without Nurses’ input. They knew from day one the pilot was endangering patient safety and stretching each nurse too thin.

The increased number of patients was “overwhelming” to the nurses and other staff.

“You can’t keep track of that many people,” said RN Sue Oberg.
… Read more about: HCMC RNs stop 'really awful' situation  »

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In: Home, Minnesota Nurses Association, Nursing

Mat Keller headshot
By Mathew Keller RN JD, Regulatory and Policy Nursing Specialist

It is with growing concern that MNA has received reports of increasingly ineffective charge nurse utilization in our hospitals.  If you’ve been in nursing for more than a few years, you’ve seen the trend yourself: charge nurses have quickly gone from having no patient assignment, to having a few admits or discharges as needed, to always having half of an assignment, to always having a full assignment… to having two floors?

This alarming new trend is to assign the nurse variously described as a given unit’s “resource,” “foreperson,” and “air-traffic controller” to two units at once.
… Read more about: Is this the End of the Charge Nurse as We Know It?  »

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In: Minnesota Nurses Association, Nurses, Nursing

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By Mathew Keller RN JD, Regulatory and Policy Nursing Specialist

With Minnesota’s medical cannabis law set to take effect on July 1, Minnesota nurses will likely be asked to administer medical marijuana in the hospital setting.  But are you ready to do so?  Here’s what you need to know about the new law.

  • Patients will not receive a medical marijuana “prescription” from a physician or APRN. Instead, a patient’s provider will certify that the patient has a medical condition that qualifies for medical cannabis use.  The patient will then need to register with the Minnesota Department of Health in order to be eligible to utilize the medication.

    • … Read more about: Are you ready to administer marijuana?  »

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In: Minnesota Nurses Association, Nurse licensure

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By Mathew Keller RN JD, MNA Nurse Practice & Policy Specialist

In a cost-cutting move, many Minnesota hospitals are asking registered nurses to take on more pharmacy duties. Where there may have once been pharmacy staff available 24/7 to answer questions, compound pharmaceuticals, and dispense medications, many nurses are finding that such coverage is now limited to 9-5 with an outsourced pharmacist in another city (or state) available by telephone after hours to answer questions and certify prescriptions. This can lead to potentially dangerous situations for patients as well as nurses’ licenses when nurses are asked to dispense and/or compound medications in the absence of a pharmacist.
… Read more about: Practice Alert: Should nurses be filling the Pyxis?  »

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In: Minnesota Nurses Association, Nurse licensure

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By Mathew Keller, RN JD, MNA Nurse Practice & Policy Specialist

“Samuel’s Law,” under consideration in the South Carolina Senate, would require the South Carolina Board of Nursing to revoke a nurse’s license “upon the board’s finding that a licensed nurse misreads the physician’s order and overmedicates or undermedicates a patient.”

While the circumstances surrounding the introduction of Samuel’s Law, involving the fatal overmedication of a 7-year old, are tragic, the bill is an inappropriate response and does nothing to correct the systems-level failures that are often the basis of medication errors.

As a systemic review of 54 studies on medication errors puts it, since “nurses find themselves as the ‘last link in the drug therapy chain’ where an error can reach the patient, they have traditionally been blamed for errors. 
… Read more about: Proposed Law Would Revoke Licensure for Medication Errors  »

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In: Minnesota Nurses Association

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Legislative Update May 8, 2015

Biennial Budget

Ten days to go in this Legislative Session, but lawmakers aren’t much closer on a budget deal than last week. Despite the $1.9 billion surplus, the GOP-led House still wants a tax bill with big cuts for state programs for Minnesota citizens. Speaker Kurt Daudt (R-Crown) said he’s still pushing for $1.1 billion in Health and Human Services cuts.  Big businesses would see their taxes lowered under the GOP plan and even enjoy an end to property taxes.

Working families will have to pay more if the final budget slashes $563 million, as proposed, with the elimination of MinnesotaCare. 
… Read more about: Legislative Update May 8, 2015  »

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In: Minnesota Nurses Association, Readmissions

carolyn jorgenson

By Carolyn Jorgenson, RN, BSN

As a registered nurse for more than 36 years, I understand first-hand how important it is to reduce unnecessary hospital visits and readmissions. Nurses want nothing more than to take care of their patients and send them back to healthy lives in their own homes. If patients need nursing care in their homes, public health nurses are educated and trained to care for their ongoing medical needs.

Minnesota RNs have concerns about a proposal in the Legislature that could have serious impacts on patients who have just returned home from the hospital and need more care.
… Read more about: Community EMT- for safety or the bottom line?  »

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In: Labor Unions, Legislative Policy, Minnesota Nurses Association, Patient Safety, Politics

By Rose Roach, MNA Executive Director

 

Recently, we’ve seen some lawmakers talking the benefits of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, including President Obama and 6th District US Rep. Tom Emmer. The Delano Republican’s endorsement is interesting, considering he’s never seen the whole of the TPP agreement. No member of Congress has. Only the 600 corporate negotiators know what’s really in it, which doesn’t inspire much confidence. US Rep. Keith Ellison (MN-5th) is one of the several members of Congress who have requested it but still hasn’t gotten it. All we can go on is what actual trade experts think will transpire if TPP becomes law.
… Read more about: TPP: Not a good trade  »

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In: Minnesota Nurses Association, Workplace violence prevention

By Mathew Keller, RN JD, MNA Nurse Policy Specialist

As a result of the assault against staff at St. John’s Hospital last November, the hospital removed bedside poles that could be used as weapons.  While this action may prevent future violence, it’s too late to help the nurses who were attacked that day.

Meanwhile, there’s a bill in the Minnesota Legislature that could lead to better prevention and preparation for healthcare workers caught with a violent patient. HF 1087 and SF 1071 are bipartisan bills aimed at preventing violence against health care workers, require that hospitals:

  • Develop preparedness and incident response action plans in collaboration with health care workers;
  • Provide adequate security staff;
  • Allow healthcare workers to request additional staff due to concerns over possible violence;
  • Provide training to all health care workers on safety guidelines, the incident response plan, how to properly de-escalate situations and request additional staff, and the worker’s rights regarding acts of violence.

    • … Read more about: Proposal protects healthcare workers from workplace violence  »