An Open Letter to MN Politicians from a MN Nurse (Page 136)

Minnesota has been the leader in the nation and in the world for health care.  If this is to continue, the field of nursing needs to be supported.  The outlook for health care is certain in that there will be less health care providers including nurses and doctors taking care of more patients including the baby boomer generation to which my own parents belong.  This ratio can mean only one direction for health care unless priorities change.  We hit a plateau in health care in the last decade and now we are declining.  I work at an inner city private hospital and have for 13 years.  I have seen this plateau and the slight decline in the nurses ability to keep up with current workloads which directly affects patient safety and quality of care.  This decline will certainly increase in speed and severity unless measures are taken.

I am not unaware of the economic situations of our health care systems, state and nation.  I can appreciate that there is a balance.  I understand that concessions need to be made across the board.  What I would like you to understand is that nursing is a very demanding career full of compromise and concessions as it stands now.  It is unrealistic to expect many nurses to work full time as the burn out rate for this career is very high.  Nurses are expected to be on their feet for hours per shift, exposed to many disease processes and illnesses such as MRSA and VRE never mind the blood borne illnesses like Hepatitis and HIV along with the common colds and now more prevalent Influenza strains.  My family is sick constantly with my two children (2 and 4) being very susceptable to these illnesses.  I only include this information because I am only one of many nurses in this same situation.

I want you to be aware of the concessions the hospitals are asking nurses to make.  Please take the time to research what nurses have fought for to bring health care to the exceptional level that it had been for years and what the hospitals are trying to take from the nurses that can only hurt patient care and safety for both the nurses and patients.  The hospitals will have you believe that the nurses are trying to advance nursing salaries and line their pockets in a poor economic time.  This is the furthest from the truth.  It takes much restraint to not completely attack those who are making accusations like this when they themselves are making more money in bonuses than most nurses make in one year.

I will only mention health care reform as it relates to our current situation.  I can appreciate that reform needs to occur.  I can appreciate that more people need health coverage.  I cannot forsee how the new law will affect health care except for an increase in patient population.  This brings us back to the issue of ratios between health care providers and patients.  This ratio is paramount as it relates to patient outcomes.  The current nursing shortage is nothing compared to what it will be when more people have access to health care and a growing number of people reach an age who need it.  There are issues that could be addressed which would remedy this situation.  The lack of nursing programs and nursing instructors are just two of those issues.  There are hundreds or thousands of people willing to work in the nursing profession but have to wait for sometimes years to become accepted into one of the few programs available.  The requirements are stringent, as they should be, but it is the lack of nursing instructors that makes it so difficult to graduate new generations of nurses.  Compensation for becoming a nursing instructor is much less than even staff nursing.  Many nursing instructors work extra in the hospital setting just to make a decent living.  There just isn’t enough incentive for nurses to obtain advanced degrees and become instructors.  I don’t know about you but this seems like a significant issue.

It is obvious that the state, the nation and the world are transitioning and changing and not necessarily for the better.  We only have so much control within our lives.  I have taken a few minutes while taking care of my kids to send this message to you and others in our state and federal leadership in the hope that there will be support for the lifeblood of our health care, the nurses.

Very sincerly,
Justin S. Maki, RN