Patient Safety (Page 8)

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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  »

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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  »

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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  »

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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  »

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NOTES ON NURSING

Study:  Management Not in Tune with Quality Improvement   It appears that while hospital management asserts that patient-centred care is important and invests in patient satisfaction and patient experience surveys, our findings suggest that the majority do not have a structured plan for promoting improvement of patient satisfaction and engaging clinicians in the process.

HEALTH CARE

Kids, Seniors Prone to MRSA Infections Depending on Season   Children have a greater risk for infection with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in summer while seniors have a greater risk in winter, according to the study published online Feb.
… Read more about: MNA NewsScan, March 4, 2013: Chasm between boardroom and bedside; MRSA quirks  »

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

Standards of Care Act

MNA’s Standards of Care Act is picking up steam at the Capitol. The bill passed its first committee in the House last week, and is scheduled to be heard next on Wednesday, March 6 at 10:00 am in the House Government Operations Committee in the Basement Hearing Room of the State Office Building. Please contact Geri Katz by email or at 651-414-2855 if you can show your support for the bill and the nurses who will testify.

Stories are pouring in from nurses and patients all over Minnesota, illustrating the human side of unsafe staffing.
… Read more about: MNA Legislative Update, March 1, 2013  »

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

Video:  CNO of Essentia Sandra “Mac” McCarthy testifying to the House Labor, Regulated Workplace and Industries Committee on the Standards of Care Act, February 21, 2013.

Compare this to what Joe Howard, RN, at Miller-Dwan Burn Unit said:

“Chairman Johnson, Members of the Committee. Thank you for this opportunity.  My name is Joe Howard.  I’ve been a Registered Nurse for 11 years, and for the past year and a half, I’ve had the pleasure to work in the Burn Intensive Care Unit at Miller Dwan Medical Center in Duluth. 

As a nurse in the burn unit, you can imagine I have some serious cases. 
… Read more about: What Nursing Supervisors are saying…  »

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

NOTES ON NURSING

Number of Male Nurses Triples Since 1970 A new study from the United States Census Bureau reports the number of male nurses has more than tripled since the 1970s. Back then, about 2.7 percent of registered nurses were men. The new study, which tracked data through 2011, finds that men now make up 9.6 percent of all employed nurses in the United States – about 330,000 men in total.

Intubation in ICU Linked to PTSD   Mechanical  ventilation may prompt severe hallucinatory or delirious symptoms for patients  in the ICU, who even as long as two years later might experience symptoms  associated with post-traumatic stress disorder.
… Read more about: MNA NewsScan, February 27, 2013: It’s RNing Men; Progress for state health improvement program  »

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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  »