Governor Walz proclaims “Nurses Week” in Minnesota, local landmarks to be lit red as nurses call for “Keeping Nurses at the Bedside” (Page 14)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Sam Fettig
(c) 612-741-0662
sam.fettig@mnnurses.org
Lauren Nielsen
(c) 651-376-9709
lauren.nielsen@mnnurses.org

Nurses with MNA chose theme of “Keeping Nurses at the Bedside” in recognition of efforts to retain nurses with safe staffing to protect patient care

Throughout the week, landmarks to be lit red include Lowry Ave. Bridge, I-35W Bridge, Capella Tower, U.S. Bank Stadium and Allianz Field

Proclamations for Nurses Week also issued by City of Duluth, City of Minneapolis and City of St. Paul

   

(St. Paul) – May 6, 2023 – As National Nurses Week begins today throughout the country, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz has proclaimed “Nurses Week” in Minnesota. The Governor’s proclamation is joined by proclamations from the City of Duluth, City of Minneapolis, and City of St. Paul to honor this week of recognition for nurses in Minnesota.

“The State of Minnesota places the highest priority on quality health care for all people and greatly appreciates the 122,247 dedicated and professional Registered Nurses in the state,” reads the proclamation from Governor Walz. “Nurses have compassionately and tirelessly responded by managing crises involving clinical treatment, decontamination, isolation, communication, triaging, psychological support and palliative care at the risk of infection, exhaustion, and emotional vulnerability.”

Throughout the week, local Minnesota landmarks will be lit red in honor of Minnesota nurses. On Sunday, May 7, the Lowry Avenue Bridge in Minneapolis will be lit red; on Friday, May 12, the final day of Nurses Week, the I-35W Bridge, Capella Tower, and U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis will be lit red, as well as Allianz Field in Saint Paul and the Enger Tower in Duluth.

“Professional nurses are indispensable to the safety and quality of care of hospitalized patients in a wide range of settings,” reads the proclamation from Duluth Mayor Emily Larson.

This year, nurses with the Minnesota Nurses Association (MNA) chose the theme “Keeping Nurses at the Bedside” for Nurses Week 2023. The theme highlights efforts to address the challenges of retention and staffing for nurses in our hospitals, including legislation under consideration at the Minnesota Legislature to protect the nursing profession and patient care at the bedside. That legislation is currently under threat by corporate healthcare executives at Mayo Clinic Health Services who resorted to “blackmail tactics” in an attempt to strip key provisions that would protect quality patient care and bring nurses back to the bedside across the state.

“Retention of our Registered Nurses and continued support for nursing students are essential to meeting the increasingly complex primary and preventive health care needs of Saint Paul residents,” reads the proclamation from Saint Paul Mayor Melvin Carter.

The Keeping Nurses at the Bedside Act is a bill to retain and staff nurses to protect patient care. The bipartisan, compromise bill is a comprehensive approach to nurse staffing and retention that would establish committees of direct care workers and management at Minnesota hospitals to discuss what works best for staffing for their patients on a hospital-by-hospital, unit-by-unit level. The bill also includes additional nurse recruitment and retention solutions including workplace violence prevention and loan forgiveness programs.

“The Minnesota Nurses Association advocates for quality care that is accessible and affordable for patients and communities, including staffing levels, that are adequate to ensure safe patient care,” reads the proclamation from Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey.

To recognize and celebrate Nurses Week, MNA nurses in the Twin Cities and Duluth have planned events over the course of the coming week. Details on these events will be shared as they approach. National Nurses Week has been observed since the 1990s from May 6, marked decades earlier as a day of recognition for nurses, until May 12, the birthdate of Florence Nightingale.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Sam Fettig
(c) 612-741-0662
sam.fettig@mnnurses.org
Lauren Nielsen
(c) 651-376-9709
lauren.nielsen@mnnurses.org

Nurses with MNA chose theme of “Keeping Nurses at the Bedside” in recognition of efforts to retain nurses with safe staffing to protect patient care

Throughout the week, landmarks to be lit red include Lowry Ave. Bridge, I-35W Bridge, Capella Tower, U.S. Bank Stadium and Allianz Field

Proclamations for Nurses Week also issued by City of Duluth, City of Minneapolis and City of St. Paul

   

(St. Paul) – May 6, 2023 – As National Nurses Week begins today throughout the country, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz has proclaimed “Nurses Week” in Minnesota.
… Read more about: Governor Walz proclaims “Nurses Week” in Minnesota, local landmarks to be lit red as nurses call for “Keeping Nurses at the Bedside”  »

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Sam Fettig
(c) 612-741-0662
sam.fettig@mnnurses.org
Lauren Nielsen
(c) 651-376-9709
lauren.nielsen@mnnurses.org

Mayo threatens state leaders with billions in withdrawn investments if corporate demands are not met, reporting reveals   

(St. Paul) – May 5, 2023 – Reporting from the Minnesota Reformer today reveals that Mayo Clinic Health System has resorted to blackmail tactics, threatening to withdraw billions in investments from the state if its corporate demands are not met to kill provisions in the Health and Human Services omnibus bill behind closed doors, including the Keeping Nurses at the Bedside Act, a bill to retain and staff nurses to protect patient care.
… Read more about: Statement on Mayo Blackmail Tactics to Kill Bill to Protect Patients and Retain Nurses  »

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Sam Fettig
(c) 612-741-0662
sam.fettig@mnnurses.org
Lauren Nielsen
(c) 651-376-9709
lauren.nielsen@mnnurses.org

Report comes as Keeping Nurses at the Bedside Act, a bill to retain and staff nurses to protect patient care, is taken up in conference committee with Health Omnibus bill   

PRESS CONFERENCE: Click here to watch video of the press conference releasing the new report

(St. Paul) – May 4, 2022 – Nurses with the Minnesota Nurses Association (MNA) today shared the results of an annual report on Concern for Safe Staffing (CFSS) forms which paint a bleak picture of the crisis of understaffing by hospital executives in Minnesota healthcare facilities.
… Read more about: New report details widespread understaffing in Minnesota hospitals, putting patient care at risk    »

MEDIA ADVISORY 

Contact: Sam Fettig
(c) 612-741-0662
sam.fettig@mnnurses.org

Lauren Nielsen
(c) 651-376-9709
lauren.nielsen@mnnurses.org

(St. Paul) – May 3, 2022 – At 11:30 a.m. on Thursday, May 4, 2023, Minnesota nurses will hold a press conference at the Minnesota State Capitol to share the results of an annual report on Concern for Safe Staffing (CFSS) forms filed by nurses at hospitals throughout the state.  The report’s release comes as the Keeping Nurses at the Bedside Act, a nurse-led remedy to the staffing crisis, is considered as part of the Health and Human Services omnibus bills in conference committee.
… Read more about: Nurses to release annual ‘Concern for Safe Staffing’ report  »

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Sam Fettig
(c) 612-741-0662
sam.fettig@mnnurses.org

Lauren Nielsen
(c) 651-376-9709
lauren.nielsen@mnnurses.org

Mary C. Turner, RN, MNA President, and Robyn Gulley confirmed today by Minnesota Legislature  
(St. Paul) – May 1, 2023 – The Minnesota Nurses Association (MNA) today celebrated the confirmation of two labor candidates to the University of Minnesota Board of Regents. The Minnesota Legislature in joint session today approved appointment of Mary C. Turner, RN, MNA President and Robyn Gulley to the University of Minnesota governing body.

“I am honored to have the overwhelming confidence of the Minnesota Legislature to take on this important work for University of Minnesota students, workers, and all Minnesotans who benefit from the reach of our incredible public university system,” said Mary C.
… Read more about: MNA Celebrates Confirmation of Labor Candidates to University of Minnesota Board of Regents    »

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Sam Fettig
(c) 612-741-0662
sam.fettig@mnnurses.org

Lauren Nielsen
(c) 651-376-9709
lauren.nielsen@mnnurses.org

Bill to address nurse staffing, retention and patient care advances in health omnibus bills 

(St. Paul) – April 26, 2023 – Nurses with the Minnesota Nurses Association (MNA) and chief legislative authors today celebrated passage of the bipartisan Keeping Nurses at the Bedside Act in both chambers of the Minnesota Legislature. The bill passed last week as part of the Senate Health and Human Services omnibus bill (SF 2995), and today in the House Health omnibus bill (HF 2930).
… Read more about: Keeping Nurses at the Bedside Act passes Minnesota House and Senate  »

MEDIA ADVISORY 

Contact: Sam Fettig
(c) 612-741-0662
sam.fettig@mnnurses.org

Lauren Nielsen
(c) 651-376-9709
lauren.nielsen@mnnurses.org

 

(St. Paul) – April 25, 2023 – Tomorrow, Wednesday, April 26, 2023, nurses will line the halls and hold a press conference outside the Minnesota House chamber ahead of an expected vote on the Keeping Nurses at the Bedside Act as part of the Health omnibus bill (HF 2930). Tomorrow’s vote in the House follows passage of the bill by the Minnesota Senate last week as part of that body’s Health and Human Services omnibus bill (SF 2995).
… Read more about: Nurses to line the halls, hold press conference outside House vote on Keeping Nurses at the Bedside Act in Health omnibus  »

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Sam Fettig
(c) 612-741-0662
sam.fettig@mnnurses.org
Lauren Nielsen
(c) 651-376-9709
lauren.nielsen@mnnurses.org

New report from Board of Nursing underscores that there is no workforce shortage, but a crisis of retention in our hospitals
Keeping Nurses at the Bedside Act advancing at the legislature to address retention, short staffing, and patient care

(St. Paul) – April 25, 2023 – New data just released by the Minnesota Board of Nursing shows that the state has added 8,000 new Registered Nurses so far since 2022, bringing the total number licensed in the state to more than 130,000.
… Read more about: Minnesota adds 8,000 registered nurses this year, over 130,000 now licensed in state    »

MEDIA ADVISORY 

Contact: Sam Fettig
(c) 612-741-0662
sam.fettig@mnnurses.org
Lauren Nielsen
(c) 651-376-9709
lauren.nielsen@mnnurses.org

 

(St. Paul) – April 18, 2023 – Tomorrow, Wednesday, April 19, 2023, nurses will line the halls and hold a press conference outside the Minnesota Senate chamber ahead of an expected vote on the Keeping Nurses at the Bedside Act as part of the Health and Human Services omnibus bill (SF 2995). Tomorrow’s vote will be the first time legislation to address nurse staffing levels has reached the floor of the Minnesota Senate.
… Read more about: Nurses to line the halls, hold press conference outside Senate vote on Keeping Nurses at the Bedside Act in Health and Human Services omnibus  »

By Cassie Snodgrass, RN, MNA Elections Committee Chair

MNA is YOU! You are what makes MNA a union – for nurses, made up of nurses, and led by nurses! Have you thought about running for a leadership position at MNA? There are so many benefits – it gives you a chance to shape policy and organization-wide positions. Do you feel strongly about setting the direction MNA is taking and establishing yearly goals or legislative priorities? Serving in a union leadership position will make your voice even more prominent and help sharpen your interpersonal and communications skills.

Consider serving in an MNA organization-wide leadership position on one of the following bodies:

  • Board of Directors
  • Commission on Governmental Affairs
  • Commission on Nursing Practice and Education
  • Elections Committee
  • Council of Active Retired Nurses (CARn) Leadership
  • MN AFL-CIO Delegate

Even if you don’t win, you’ll gain valuable insight and skills that could help you in your work and interpersonal relationships.
… Read more about: Running for MNA leadership – an experience you won’t regret!  »