Unsafe Staffing (Page 6)

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In: Legislative Policy, Minnesota Nurses Association, Nurses, Politics, Unsafe Staffing

The 2013 legislative session ended last week with some significant improvements and changes to policies that affect nursing, health care and working families. In addition, with the change in legislative majorities to DFL control of the House and Senate, we did not have to fight off threats like Right to Work legislation, deep cuts to programs, or the Interstate Nurse Licensure Compact.

Safe Staffing

We made major progress toward our goal of minimum standards for nursing care in acute care hospitals. Our bill for a Department of Health study of the correlation between nurse staffing and patient health outcomes was signed into law by Governor Dayton.
… Read more about: MNA Legislative Recap  »

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

NOTES ON NURSING

Night Shift Workers More Likely to Develop Type 2 Diabetes  “It is surprising that just a single night shift can significantly impair glucose tolerance and increase insulin levels,” said Christopher Morris.

National Health System May Bring In Police Officers to Deal with Acute Nursing Shortage   A local forum has discussed the possibility of drafting in assistance from Police Scotland and the Red Cross.  Two months ago it was announced that 30 nursing posts had to be filled as soon as possible at the hospital.

New Law Raises Fines for Assaulting Nurses   Much like law enforcement, health care can be a very dangerous job.
… Read more about: MNA NewsScan, June 5, 2013: RN college degree equals lowest unemployment rate  »

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

NOTES ON NURSING

In Australia, Nurses Fight for Patient Ratios   “You’re less likely to have the nursing hours you need the further you are from the city,” Miss Telfer said.

NSW Midwives Issued “Cease and Desist” on Patient Limits Despite Shortages      “We accept there is a shortage of midwives out there but management needs to understand that not only are staff at Nepean exhausted, they are deeply concerned that health care is being compromised. They have reached their limit and cannot continue on in this way.”

HEALTH CARE

The $2.7 Trillion Medical Bill   In many other developed countries, a basic colonoscopy costs just a few hundred dollars and certainly well under $1,000.
… Read more about: MNA NewsScan, June 3, 2013: RN concern for patient safety is worldwide  »

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

NOTES ON NURSING

MNA OpED:  Law Change Will Benefit Patients   (originally published in the New Ulm Journal)  Everyone who’s a patient in a hospital, who might be a patient in a hospital, or who cares about somebody in a hospital will be grateful that the Staffing Plan Disclosure Act was signed into law on May 9.

A Shared Concern:  Flight Attendant Fatigue Poses Safety Risks   Flight attendants exhausted from long hours and little rest have forgotten to engage or disarm emergency chutes, failed to properly stow baggage and carry out other safety duties.
… Read more about: MNA NewsScan, May 29, 2013:  »

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

Originally posted in the New Ulm Journal: http://www.nujournal.com/page/content.detail/id/534962/Law-change-will-benefit-patients.html?nav=5004

Everyone who’s a patient in a hospital, who might be a patient in a hospital, or who cares about somebody in a hospital will be grateful that the Staffing Plan Disclosure Act was signed into law on May 9.

Rep. Joe Atkins (DFL-Inver Grove Heights) and Sen. Jeff Hayden (DFL-Minneapolis) authored a bill that provides for consumer transparency of hospitals’ nurse staffing plans. In addition, the Department of Health will study the correlation between nurse staffing and patient outcomes, with a final report due in January 2015.

Starting in January of 2014, patients will be able to see how many nurses care for them on a public website at www.mnhospitalquality.org/default.aspx Hospitals will be more transparent, and patients will make wiser decisions on where they have a procedure and where they can expect to make the best possible recovery.
… Read more about: Editorial: Law change will benefit patients  »

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

NOTES ON NURSING

Expert Affirms Nurses’s Warnings About Electronic Health Records System   At a meeting of the Marin Healthcare District board on May 14, a group of Marin General nurses told the board problems with the new computer system were diverting them from their patients and causing errors, such as sending orders to the wrong patients. One nurse reported that a patient had received a medication to which he was allergic.

Worst Times to be Admitted for Heart Attack.  Hint: Involves Nurse Staffing   It’s possible that staffing issues at hospitals during these times are part of the problem; patients who come into the hospitals just before the weekend and late at night may see fewer nursing staff members and this could contribute to less attention that may impact care.
… Read more about: MNA NewsScan, May 28, 2013: Nurses warn about electronic health system; The Obamacare shock  »

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In: Activism, Healthcare, Minnesota Nurses Association, Nurses, Nurses Strike, Nursing, Patient Safety, Uncategorized, Unsafe Staffing

NOTES ON NURSING

More Proof:  Heart Patients Survive with Better Nurse Staffing    “This finding suggests that the correlation between cardiac arrest incidence and case survival was partly attributable to the hospital factors in the model,” the authors write. A hospital’s nurse-to-bed ratio and geographic region correlated with the greatest shift in the relationship between incidence and survival.

Moore MCHero Nurse Protects Newborn from Tornado   Miraculously, all the staff, patients and families survived the storm.  That includes nurse Cheryl Stoepker, who used her own body to protect a newborn she’d delivered barely an hour earlier.

LABOR UPDATES

UMass Nurses Poised to Strike if Today’s Negotiations Fail   Nurses at UMass Memorial’s University Campus are staging the 24-hour strike to draw attention to what they call deplorable patient conditions.
… Read more about: MNA NewsScan, May 22, 2013: More proof- heart patients survive with better nurse staffing  »

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In: Legislative Policy, Minnesota Nurses Association, Nurses, Politics, Unsafe Staffing

 

Health and Human Services

As we near the end of the session, the major budget bills are nearing completion. The details of the Health and Human Services Finance omnibus bill are still being decided, but the basic framework cuts $50 million from the HHS budget, not the $150 million originally planned. At the same time, it makes significant increases (3.25% in 2014 and 3.2% in 2015) to long term care, 75% of which will be mandated to go to workers’ wage increases. This is a major victory for workers whose wages have been frozen for years.

The HHS omnibus bill also includes funding to keep the Willmar state treatment facility, which had been slated for closure, open to continue providing much-needed services.
… Read more about: MNA Legislative Update, May 17, 2013  »

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

NOTES ON NURSING

Angels Fund Set Up for RNs and Co-Workers Lost in Limo Fire   This year’s Nurses Week was sadly darkened by the death of two RNs and three other caregivers in a tragic limousine fire on the San Mateo Bridge in the San Francisco Bay Area.

UMass Nurses Will Strike Over Poor Patient Care Conditions    After posting more than $88 million in profits, UMass Memorial Medical Center has slashed its nursing and support staff in the last two years.

LABOR UPDATES

Dairy Queen Offers Grads Their First Job – Without Pay    Edina-based Dairy Queen is giving new college grads the chance to shill for its Orange Julius brand.
… Read more about: MNA NewsScan, May 13, 2013: Fund set for RNs, colleagues lost in limo fire; ND highest in worker death  »

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In: Legislative Policy, Minnesota Nurses Association, Nurses, Politics, Unsafe Staffing

Standards of Care Campaign

Yesterday, Governor Dayton signed HF588/SF471 into law after it passed its final hurdle on the first day of Nurses Week when the House took a last procedural vote on Monday.  The bill requires the Department of Health to conduct a thorough study of the correlation between nurse staffing and patient health outcomes, and mandates every Minnesota hospital to publicly report their staffing plans.

When the study is complete, we will have Minnesota-specific data to underscore the stories nurses have been telling legislators for years: that unsafe staffing is a serious problem in Minnesota hospitals. Our ultimate goal is still a minimum standard of care for patient assignments in Minnesota.
… Read more about: MNA Legislative Update, May 10, 2013  »