Video: More than 70 Minnesota nurses journeyed to San Francisco for the 2013 NNU Staff Nurse Assembly and showed up as one of the biggest collections of delegates.
… Read more about: Minnesota Nurses share unity, solidarity, victory at the 2013 Staff Nurse Assembly »
While more than 900 nurses came to San Francisco for the 2013 Staff Nurse Assembly, here the world came to them. Minnesota nurses met colleagues from Ireland, Australia, Korea, and Brazil as well as from across the US. They learned that staffing issues and budget cuts are affecting their job quality and their patients’ safety everywhere.
“We’re not alone in our struggles,” said Katie Skipton, “where we’re from, Bemidji, we can sometimes feel it’s just our problem-with staffing especially. It’s a big deal. We’re finding out that we’re not the only ones that are dealing with us, and we’re not the only ones who are fighting.
… Read more about: It’s a small world after all. »
How many Minnesota nurses can you spot?
… Read more about: Nurses practice for the big event at the 2013 Staff Nurse Assembly »
NOTES ON NURSING
Nurses Take Activism Beyond the Bedside Nurses and environmental activists from across the U.S. are joining hands this week to step up the message that there is still time to stop the Keystone XL Pipeline before it stops all of us.
St. Louis University Hospital RNs Win First Contract Registered nurses at Saint Louis University Hospital (SLUH) have won their first ever collective bargaining agreement with a new three year contract that provides for significant improvements in patient care protections, compensation, and job protections.
HEALTH CARE
AMA Recognizes Obesity as a Disease Experts in obesity have struggled for years to have obesity recognized as a disease that deserves medical attention and insurance coverage as do other diseases.
… Read more about: MNA NewsScan, June 19, 2013: Nurses march; Jobs gap for Black Americans »
NOTES ON NURSING
Federal Report Shows Wide Disparity in Nursing Supply The U.S. Nursing Workforce Report issued by the Health Resources and Services Administration National Center for Health Workforce Analysis predicts continuing shortages as more than 500,000 RNs are expected to retire within the next seven years.
HEALTH CARE
One-Third of Patients Willing to Change Doctors to Save Money Respondents also were asked how much money they would need to save annually to make that switch. Thirty-four percent thought keeping down out-of-pocket insurance costs was more important than retaining their doctors.
Angelina Jolie: My Medical Choice It has got to be a priority to ensure that more women can access gene testing and lifesaving preventive treatment, whatever their means and background, wherever they live.
… Read more about: MNA NewsScan, May 15, 2013: RN supply/demand gap to be 1.2M by 2020 »
NOTES ON NURSING
HHS Secretary Sebelius Hails Nurses National Nurses Week gives us a chance to recognize the contribution of the health care providers at the heart of our health care system. Every day, nurses provide leadership, innovation and advocacy to meet the health care needs of Americans.
Advanced Nurses Lower Costs, Improve Care Studies find that Advanced Practice Registered Nurses who provide preventive care are as effective as primary-care physicians in accuracy of diagnosis and prescription.
LABOR UPDATES
The Labor Market Won’t Be Healthy Until People Feel Like they Can Quit Their Jobs The unemployment rate may be falling and the number of jobs rising.
… Read more about: MNA NewsScan, May 8, 2013: Kaiser battle=sign of vibrant HC unions »
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 »
Standards of Care Campaign Update
House File 588 (HF588) passed the full Minnesota House of Representatives 73-58 on Wednesday. There was bipartisan support for our bill to require the Department of Health to study the correlation between staffing and patient outcomes and hospitals to report their staffing quarterly to the public. Take a moment to thank our author and champion Representative Joe Atkins. He has gone to the mat for nurses over and over again because he believes us when we say patients are vulnerable in Minnesota’s hospitals today. His email is rep.joe.atkins@house.mn. The bill still has to clear one more committee in the Senate.
… Read more about: MNA Legislative Update, April 19, 2013 »
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 »
Kathleen M. Harrington Mayo
Government Relations, Chair 200 First Street SW Rochester, MN 55905
Dear Ms. Harrington:
Thank you for bringing your Operations staff to meet with leaders from SEIU and UNITE HERE last Friday to discuss the Mayo Destination Medical Center (DMC) and the related legislative proposal. While we have significant concerns and unanswered questions, we are excited about the possibility of significant job growth in the health care and hospitality sectors.
We look forward to meeting again in the very near future and to discussing specific proposals about the future DMC workforce and how collective bargaining can ensure these are quality jobs.
… Read more about: Open letter to Mayo’s Government Relations Chair »