Nursing (Page 8)

Posts categorized as Nursing also pull into the Member Resources > Nursing Practices page.

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In: Healthcare, Hospitals, Labor Unions, Legislative Policy, Minnesota Nurses Association, Nurses, Nursing, Patient Safety, Unsafe Staffing

NOTES ON NURSING

Local Nurses Say Hospitals “Skirting the Law”

Area nurses and healthcare advocates met in Worcester with the Health Policy Commission on Friday to fight against mandatory overtime practices being used at local hospitals to skirt the issue of poor staffing.  “You cannot allow this to continue,” said Colleen Wolfe, RN at UMass Memorial in her testimony to the commission. “Our patients are suffering every day from deplorable care resulting from understaffing of this hospital, and staff is being forced to practice while exhausted…”

LABOR UPDATES

Twin Cities Security Workers/Cleaners Prepare for Strike   “This is the first time in the U.S.
… Read more about: MNA NewsScan, February 25, 2013: Nurses say hospitals use overtime to cover poor staffing  »

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In: Activism, Healthcare, Hospitals, Labor Unions, Minnesota Nurses Association, Nurses, Nursing, Patient Safety, Unsafe Staffing

Standards of Care Act passes first committee

On Thursday, nurses packed the room for the first hearing of the Standards of Care Act, MNA’s legislation to establish standards for safe care for every Minnesota patient.

The bill was heard in the House Labor, Workplace and Regulated Industries Committee. Testifiers in favor were MNA President Linda Hamilton, Joe Howard, and MNA nurse from Essentia Miller-Dwan in Duluth and Naomi Freyholz a nurse from Sleepy Eye Medical Center. (The nurses at Sleepy Eye voted on Wednesday to join MNA. They chose to organize because of chronic unsafe staffing and retaliation against nurses who voice their concerns.) The hospital testifiers were the President of the Minnesota Hospital Association Lawrence Massa; Carolyn Wilson, President of University of Minnesota Medical Center Fairview; Sandra McCarthy, CNO for Essentia Health; Roger Lloyd, Nursing Manager at Essentia Health in Duluth; and Mary Pynn, HealthEast Vice President and Chief Nursing Quality Officer.
… Read more about: MNA Legislative Update, February 22, 2013  »

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In: Activism, Hospitals, Labor Unions, Minnesota Nurses Association, Nurses, Nursing, Organizing, Patient Safety, Unsafe Staffing

NOTES ON NURSING
… Read more about: MNA NewsScan, February 20, 2013: Sleepy Eye Nurses Join MNA  »

Sleepy Eye Nurses Vote For Union Representation with Minnesota Nurses Association24 registered and licensed practical nurses at Sleepy Eye Medical Center have the power of 20,000 additional voices at their workplace with today’s decision to join the Minnesota Nurses Association.  Leaders are confident the move will lead to better and safer care for patients of the critical access hospital located in south central Minnesota.  “With a contract behind us, we can better advocate for our patients,” said Naomi Freyholtz, RN.
Nurses were stirred to organize in part because skilled colleagues have been exiting the facility due to frustration with management practices regarding scheduling and staffing. 

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In: Activism, Healthcare, Hospitals, Legislative Policy, Minnesota Nurses Association, Nurses, Nursing, Patient Safety, Politics, Unsafe Staffing

photoMedia all over the state is signaling that MNA has the momentum to achieve a momentous breakthrough for patients in our state. When MNA and legislators Sen. Jeff Hayden and Rep. Joe Atkins announced the introduction of the Standards of Care Act, here’s what WCCO wrote: “the staffing proposal has a strong shot.”
Let’s keep the energy going, nurses. Let’s get Standards of Care in every facility, on every shift, for every patient. The following links should give you goose bumps, and we hope they inspire you to stay active in this campaign.
… Read more about: MNA Launches Standards of Care Campaign  »

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In: Bargaining, Health Care Reform, Healthcare, Hospitals, Minnesota Nurses Association, Nurses, Nursing, Patient Safety, Unsafe Staffing

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  »

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In: Healthcare, Hospitals, Labor Unions, Minnesota Nurses Association, Nurses, Nursing, Patient Safety, Politics, Unsafe Staffing

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  »

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In: Activism, Health Care Reform, Healthcare, Hospitals, Legislative Policy, Minnesota Nurses Association, Nurses, Nursing, Patient Safety, Unsafe Staffing

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  »

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In: Activism, Healthcare, Hospitals, Labor Unions, Legislative Policy, Minnesota Nurses Association, Nurses, Nursing, Patient Safety, Unsafe Staffing

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  »

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In: Healthcare, Hospitals, Labor Unions, Minnesota Nurses Association, Nurses, Nursing, Patient Safety, Unsafe Staffing

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.2– 3 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  »