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

(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.