Nurses Will Testify at House Hearing on Hospital Safety During Pandemic (Page 30)

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of supplies of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), haphazard and rapidly changing safety procedures, mandatory use of outdated or insufficient PPE, effects on healthcare workers’ families, and retaliation against workers for attempting to protect themselves and their patients.

The hearing begins at 12:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 19, and it will be available to monitor via livestreaming channels. This remote hearing may be viewed live via the following methods:
1) Live stream via House website: https://www.house.leg.state.mn.us/live/1
2) Facebook Live: https://www.facebook.com/MNHouseInfo/
3) YouTube: https://youtu.be/RpbRvaeDjdc

When:       Tuesday, May 19, 2020, 12:30 p.m.
Who:         Registered Nurse members of MNA
MNA President Mary C. Turner, RN
Ericka Helling, RN
Brittany Livaccari, RN
Tonya Moss, RN
Sarah Simons, RN
Kara Spike, RN
What:        Remote Hearing Select Committee on Minnesota’s Pandemic
Response and Rebuilding
Why:         To inform state representatives of the actual situations
happening inside Minnesota’s hospitals

###

On:
In: Press Releases

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of supplies of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), haphazard and rapidly changing safety procedures, mandatory use of outdated or insufficient PPE, effects on healthcare workers’ families, and retaliation against workers for attempting to protect themselves and their patients.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  »

On:
In: Press Releases

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  »

On:
In: Coronavirus, COVID-19, Member Blog, Nurses

by Ann Foisy, RN
MNA Member

 

Hello, my name is Ann. I’m a nurse on the 8th floor at Fairview Southdale Hospital. We are a Med-Surg specialty unit for Oncology and Urology, but we’re known to kind of “catch-all.” We’re the floor that ends up with and Heart Center patients when those two units are full.

I love my floor, I love my coworkers, and I love my patients. I came to nursing later than some, graduating at 31 in 2008. It’s hard, it makes me think, it makes me sad, it makes me so happy and fulfilled, and I can’t see myself ever doing anything else.
… Read more about: Making Sacrifices to Keep My Family Safe  »

On:
In: COVID-19, Home, Member Blog, Patient Safety, Patient Safety Standards, PPE

By Todd Trigg, CRNA

MNA Steward

A few days ago, I was out to do my bi-weekly run for essentials. I had my lists, my route planned, my homemade cloth mask, hand sanitizer, disinfectant wipes to wipe things down. I was ready. I started by going to my local membership warehouse. Once there, I notice a majority of people wearing cloth masks and practicing good social distancing. I saw a few with N95 masks on, and I wondered where they got them and why they choose to wear this mask since it has become such a sacred, very limited, and treasured item to healthcare providers.
… Read more about: Save the N95s for Those Who Need Them  »

On:
In: Press Releases

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  »

On:
In: Member Blog, Unions

By Lori Christian, RN, BS, CEN
MNAF Chair

The Minnesota Nurses Association Foundation (MNAF) is now accepting scholarship applications for MNA Members or Associate Members in good standing for the 2020-2021 academic year. As Chair of MNAF, it is a great honor to give these scholarships to deserving MNA members!

Our recent Educator of the Year award was presented to Yisehak Tura, MS, RN, OCN, who received one of our scholarships and now teaches nurses. What a way to pay it forward! He is still an active Union Member who works part-time as a bedside nurse as well.
… Read more about: MNAF Scholarship Deadline Coming Soon  »

On:
In: Press Releases

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  »

On:
In: Press Releases

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  »

On:
In: Home, Member Blog, Mental Health

 

By Teresa Koenen, RN
St. Peter Forensic Mental Health
MN Department of Human Services

 

I wish healthcare administrators would just be honest with us.

I am a nurse for the State of Minnesota at our forensic mental health program in St. Peter. We care for people who have mental illness and have harmed others. If a patient contracts COVID, we would care for them in our facility unless they required hospitalization.

We need appropriate Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) if we are to protect ourselves and other patients from contracting the virus.
… Read more about: Just Be Honest with Us–Don’t Try to Give Us a False Sense of Security  »

On:
In: Press Releases

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 25, 2020 – The Minnesota Nurses Association has serious concerns with Executive Order 20-46, which allows nurses from other states to work at Long Term Care and other healthcare facilities, just as hundreds of Minnesota RN’s will begin receiving unemployment checks due to furlough.

Despite efforts to negotiate with Minnesota Hospitals, the terms of these furloughs force nurses to either go without a paycheck or jeopardize their ability to return to work after the pandemic.
… Read more about: MNA Response to Opening Up Minnesota to Out-of-State Nurses  »