Patient Safety (Page 8)

On:
In: Bargaining, Health Care Reform, Healthcare, Hospitals, Labor Unions, Legislative Policy, Minnesota Nurses Association, Nurses, Nursing, Patient Safety, Unsafe Staffing

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  »

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

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  »

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

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  »

On:
In: Minnesota Nurses Association, Nurses, Patient Safety, Unsafe Staffing

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  »

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

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  »

On:
In: Minnesota Nurses Association, Patient Safety, Unsafe Staffing

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  »

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

Standards of Care Update

The Standards of Care Act, our bill to establish patient assignments limits, had its third hearing today in the House Health and Human Services Policy committee. The bill passed with amendments, despite serious objections from the hospitals. As amended, the bill has a narrower focus than its original version, but a delivers a victory for patients and nurses by laying a strong foundation for documenting the crisis of patient risk in Minnesota that nurses witness every day. In fact, Committee Chair Rep. Tina Liebling of Rochester offered a strong endorsement of MNA’s concerns when she stated “there is broad agreement that there is a problem.”

By no means, however is the work done.
… Read more about: MNA Legislative Update, March 16, 2013  »

On:
In: Nurses, Patient Safety, Unsafe Staffing

New Amendments empower patients, require hospital reporting

 

(St. Paul) – March 15, 2013 – The Standards of Care Act passed the Minnesota House Health and Human Services Policy Committee with amendments.  Negotiations between the Minnesota Nurses Association and the Minnesota Hospital Association resulted in an agreement that recognizes the crisis of patient safety and creates a plan to add transparency to patient care.

“It’s the consumers of health care that really benefit from this,” said Walt Frederickson, RN, MNA Executive Director.  Right now this data has been non-existent to us and the public.”

During a brief recess of the committee, the nurses union suggested that hospitals would report online the actual direct patient care hours for regulators as well as consumers to examine. 
… Read more about: Press Release: Standard of Care Act moves on  »

On:
In: Minnesota Nurses Association, Nursing, Patient Safety, Unsafe Staffing

http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/event/article/id/261298/group/Opinion/

I am perplexed how some hospitals seem to fear having standards imposed on them when nurses comply to professional standards every day. (Our View: “Steer state clear of nursing mandates,” March 7).

Nurses know that hospital claims of safety records mask a precarious workplace filled with errors and near-misses. Patients suffer and die because we’re taking care of three patients even though our standards, knowledge and ethics tell us one patient needs our exclusive care.

Duluth does have a great reputation for great hospitals, and we deliver quality health care. But we’re holding on by the skin of our teeth to guarantee that care.
… Read more about: President Hamilton responds to the Duluth News Tribune  »

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

NOTES ON NURSING

One Step Further.  Standards of Care Act Passes Another Legislative Committee   Patients and families are closer to having their risks reduced in hospitals, as the House Committee on Government Operations gave its endorsement of the Standards of Care Act today.  The bill requires hospitals to provide staffing according to nationally-established standards.

Nurses Courtney Lucht, Eric Tronnes and Juli Uzlik testifed about the need to have a foundation of standards because hospitals are not providing even the minimum staff they promise.  Tronnes described fruitless meetings with hospital management in Staffing Advisory Committees because “productivity invariably trumps safe nursing care.”

Next step for the bill is likely to be the House committee on Health Policy.
… Read more about: MNA NewsScan, March 6, 2013; Standards of Care Act moves forward; MI nurses propose staffing legislation  »