Press Releases (Page 27)

Media Advisory

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:  Rick Fuentes
(o) 651-414-2863
(c) 612-741-0662
rick.fuentes@mnnurses.org

Amber Smigiel
(o) 651-414-2849
(c) 651-202-0845
amber.smigiel@mnnurses.org
​

(St. Paul) – May 18, 2020 – Members of the Minnesota Nurses Association will be testifying on their actual experiences inside the hospitals during a hearing to be held by the Minnesota House Select Committee on Minnesota’s Pandemic Response and Rebuilding. Nurses will alert state representatives on the state of supplies of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), haphazard and rapidly changing safety procedures, mandatory use of outdated or insufficient PPE, effects on healthcare workers’ families, and retaliation against workers for attempting to protect themselves and their patients.
… Read more about: Nurses Will Testify at House Hearing on Hospital Safety During Pandemic  »

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:  Rick Fuentes
(o) 651-414-2863
(c) 612-741-0662
rick.fuentes@mnnurses.org

Amber Smigiel
(o) 651-414-2849
(c) 651-202-0845
amber.smigiel@mnnurses.org
​

“With the lapse in the ‘Stay at Home’ order and the move to a less restrictive ‘Stay Safe’ order, the Minnesota Nurses Association urges state officials, hospital administrators, and all Minnesotans to protect healthcare workers and each other by increasing our supply of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), dramatically expanding capacity for COVID-19 virus testing, and continuing to social distance. Failure to protect each other will result in a dramatic spike in positive cases, overload hospitals, and cause the very caregivers we need to succumb to the virus themselves.
… Read more about: MNA Response to Opening Up Minnesota’s Stay at Home Order  »

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:  Rick Fuentes
(o) 651-414-2863
(c) 612-741-0662
rick.fuentes@mnnurses.org

Amber Smigiel
(o) 651-414-2849
(c) 651-202-0845
amber.smigiel@mnnurses.org

(St. Paul) – May 9, 2020 – Faced with a continued lack of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), rising COVID-19 patient levels, and resumption of elective surgeries, nurse members of the Minnesota Nurses Association have announced an intention to march in St. Paul on May 20, 2020. MNA members will demand equipment, training, staffing, and transparency from United Hospital and other hospitals as well as for the Minnesota Department of Health to enforce the highest standards of safety and protection for patients and healthcare workers.
… Read more about: MNA Nurses Announce March in Response to Continued Lack of PPE, Scrubs during Pandemic  »

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:  Rick Fuentes
(o) 651-414-2863
(c) 612-741-0662
rick.fuentes@mnnurses.org

Amber Smigiel
(o) 651-414-2849
(c) 651-202-0845
amber.smigiel@mnnurses.org

(St. Paul) – May 4, 2020 – The Minnesota Nurses Association members are frustrated and disappointed with today’s decision to open the door for elective surgeries without adequate protection for workers. Nurses have warned the Governor, health officials, and hospitals that safety must come first before resuming elective procedures, including surgeries. With nurses currently unable to access adequate levels of PPE to address the COVID crisis, allowing elective procedures to resume will only put added strain on PPE distribution putting nurses, patients, and the public at risk.
… Read more about: MNA Nurses Warn of Risks of Resuming Elective Procedures Without Precautions  »

Media Advisory

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Rick Fuentes
(o) 651-414-2863
(c) 612-741-0662
rick.fuentes@mnnurses.org

Amber Smigiel
(o) 651-414-2849
(c) 651-202-0845
amber.smigiel@mnnurses.org

(St. Paul) – April 30, 2020 – Minnesota nurses, firefighters, frontline workers, and employees designated essential will gather at the Minnesota State Capitol Friday night, May 1, to honor those who have become infected with COVID-19 while on the job.

In honor of International Workers’ Day as well as the Workers’ Memorial Day in Minnesota this week, workers on the frontline will light candles and give a short presentation on the Capitol steps to show support for workers quarantined, hospitalized, or injured, or who have died due to their dedication to serving fellow Minnesotans.
… Read more about: Nurses, First Responders, Essential Workers Honor Those Hurt by COVID-19  »

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: press@nationalnursesunited.org

As COVID-19 cases continue to skyrocket in the United States, unions representing 230,000 nurses across the country have joined forces to demand hospitals and the government act now to give nurses optimal personal protective equipment (PPE)—including N95 respirators or higher—a demand made more dire due to the fact that nurses are beginning to die of COVID-19.

National Nurses United (comprising the California Nurses Association, the D.C. Nurses Association, the Minnesota Nurses Association, and National Nurses Organizing Committee— including RNs in Arizona, Florida, Illinois, Kansas, Maine, Missouri, Texas, West Virginia, and Veterans Affairs facilities in a dozen other states), along with the New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA) the Massachusetts Nurses Association, and the Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals (PASNAP) are calling on employers and the government to stop treating nurses as if their lives are expendable.
… Read more about: U.S. nurses unions: ‘Our members are dying. We demand protections now!’  »

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Rick Fuentes
(o) 651-414-2863
(c) 612-741-0662
rick.fuentes@mnnurses.org

Amber Smigiel
(o) 651-414-2849
(c) 651-202-0845
amber.smigiel@mnnurses.org

(St. Paul) – March 26, 2020 – Nurses working at M Health Fairview hospitals voted overwhelmingly to indicate they have “no confidence” in hospital management’s response to the COVID-19 crisis. Nurse members of the Minnesota Nurses Association work at University of Minnesota Medical Center-West Bank, Fairview Southdale, St. Joseph’s, St. John’s, and Bethesda hospitals.

“M Health Fairview is flagrantly violating the safety and staffing protections jointly agreed to by nurses and management, and yet our incredibly dedicated nurses are still throwing themselves into harm’s way to protect the public,” said Modest Okorie, a Registered Nurse at Bethesda Hospital.
… Read more about: M Health Fairview Nurses Hold Vote of No Confidence in Hospital Management  »