Tag Archives: patient safety

MNA Daily NewsScan: May 25, 2012 – MNA Releases new e-book on Social Media, NPR Explores Unsafe Staffing Epidemic, Fairview parts ways with CEO Mark Eustis

25 May

What is this? The MNA Daily NewsScan is a round up the day’s biggest nursing, health care and organized labor stories.  As news unfolds in real-time, we update the NewsScan with new links and info, so check back often!

Stories we’re scanning:

Health Care

  • Eustis out as Fairview CEO: MNA RN Barb Martin talks to the Star Tribune and Pioneer Press about Fairview’s decision to part ways with CEO Mark Eustis in the wake of the hospital system’s ongoing debt collection scandal involving Accretive.

Notes on Nursing

Labor Updates

  • MNA Releases new (and Free!) e-book:  MNA recently published a new multimedia e-book called “Share This! Labor Unions and Social Media” in Apple’s iBookstore. You can download it for FREE on your iPad right now! Here’s the scoop: In light of its stunning success using Social Media during the largest nursing strike in U.S. history, the Minnesota Nurses Association (MNA) has become known as one of the Labor movement’s leading voices on how to use Social Media effectively and strategically. ”Share This! Labor Unions and Social Media” is MNA’s free gift to the Labor community at large. Pulling back the curtain to reveal every best practice and strategic decision that has gone into MNA’s amazing Social Media success, this interactive, video-enhanced e-book allows Labor Unions to leverage Social Media to Engage Members, Impact Negotiations, Drive Mainstream Media Coverage and Shape Public Opinion.

Grab your free copy of MNA’s new e-book today!

MNA Daily NewsScan: May 23, 2012 – MNA RNs on CNN, CEOs Get Even Richer, Patients Report Inferior Care

23 May

What is this? The MNA Daily NewsScan is a round up the day’s biggest nursing, health care and organized labor stories.  As news unfolds in real-time, we update the NewsScan with new links and info, so check back often!

Stories we’re scanning:

Health Care

  • U.S. Patients Report Inferior Care: Not only are sick Americans facing serious financial problems from high healthcare costs (43 percent), but many are experiencing problems with healthcare quality, according to a new poll released yesterday by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, NPR and the Harvard School of Public Health.
  • CEOs Raking in the $$$: The healthcare industry saw the largest increases in executive pay out of all sectors, according to a Wall Street Journal and Hay Group CEO compensation survey.

Labor Updates

  • MNA RN on CNN: MNA RN Jennifer Michelson talked Live with CNN from the streets of Chicago during the 2012 Staff Nurse Assembly. Take a look:

MNA Daily NewsScan: May 16, 2012 – “Money Hungry” (in more ways than one), NNU Stands Strong in Chicago, SEIU Votes to Strike

16 May

What is this? The MNA Daily NewsScan is a round up the day’s biggest nursing, health care and organized labor stories.  As news unfolds in real-time, we update the NewsScan with new links and info, so check back often!

Stories we’re scanning:

Health Care

Labor Updates

  • SEIU Takes Strike Vote: SEIU Healthcare Minnesota members voted overwhelmingly this week to authorize a 2-5 day strike. More than 3,500 workers at eight different Twin Cities hospitals are involved in ongoing contract negotiations.
  • Crow Wing County Decision Expected Soon: Several Labor Unions – including MNA – are waiting on a ruling from a judge regarding an Unfair Labor Practice charge filed against Crow Wing County officials.
  • “They Couldn’t Shut Us Down”: Musician Tom Morello tells Rolling Stone that Friday’s National Nurses United rally in Chicago is back on track because “We [the people] stood up.”

MNA Daily NewsScan: May 14, 2012 – Moyers and DeMoro, MN RNs in Vietnam, Patient Safety and Alphabet Soup

14 May

What is this? The MNA Daily NewsScan is a round up the day’s biggest nursing, health care and organized labor stories.  As news unfolds in real-time, we update the NewsScan with new links and info, so check back often!

Stories we’re scanning:

Health Care

Notes on Nursing

Labor Updates

  • Chicago Sun-Times: Nurses want to see a “Robin Hood Tax” on Wall Street trades in order to help the sick.
  • Bill Moyers Interviews NNU’s RoseAnn DeMoro: Legendary journalist and broadcaster Bill Moyers sat down over the weekend with National Nurses United’s Executive Director, RoseAnn DeMoro, to talk about some of the key facets of NNU’s Main Street Contract For America and more. Watch the video below:

MNA Daily NewsScan: May 11, 2012 – Nursing Shortage: Fact or Fiction?

11 May

What is this? The MNA Daily NewsScan is a round up the day’s biggest nursing, health care and organized labor stories.  As news unfolds in real-time, we update the NewsScan with new links and info, so check back often!

Stories we’re scanning:

Health Care

Notes on Nursing

Labor Updates

  • Help “Stamp Out” Hunger: National Association of Letter Carriers Union’s 20th annual campaign makes it easy to donate nonperishable food items to those in need.
  • Crow Wing County Employees File Suit: Workers – including nurses - are suing the county, charging an unfair labor practice charge related to pay increases.

MNA Daily NewsScan: May 9, 2012 – Rahm Against The Machine, Leave Lori Alone and NYT Reporters Speak Out

9 May

What is this? The MNA Daily NewsScan is a round up the day’s biggest nursing, health care and organized labor stories.  As news unfolds in real-time, we update the NewsScan with new links and info, so check back often!

Stories we’re scanning:

Health Care

  • Rahm Emanuel vs. Lori Swanson, Round 1: Unexpected challenge from Chicago’s Mayor to Minnesota’s Attorney General takes center stage in the ongoing Accretive Health investigation, and MNA weighs in via Minnesota Public Radio.
  • Every Last Penny: Hospitals are suing patients for nominal amounts – even if they are likely to qualify for charity care.

Notes on Nursing

Labor Updates

  • Rahm Against The Machine? National Nurses United is calling an emergency press conference today at Noon to address the last-minute decision by Chicago’s mayor to undo months of planning and preparation regarding a planned rally in the city on May 18th. The event – part of NNU’s upcoming Staff Nurse Assembly in Chicago – is to feature NNU and MNA RNs, along with former Rage Against The Machine Guitarist (and Union activist) Tom Morello, along with other organizations and protestors gathering in support of the Main Street Contract.
  • New York Times Journalists Speak Out: Reporters, Writers demand resolution as contract negotiations drag on. (Video below)

MNA Daily NewsScan: May 7, 2012 – Happy National Nurses Week, Video Explanation of NNU-championed Financial Transaction Tax

7 May

What is this? The MNA Daily NewsScan is a round up the day’s biggest nursing, health care and organized labor stories.  As news unfolds in real-time, we update the NewsScan with new links and info, so check back often!

Stories we’re scanning:

Notes on Nursing

  • Happy National Nurses Day! U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius is among those voicing their thanks for the work nurses do each and every day.

Labor Updates

  • Video: Featuring an interview with National Nurses United Executive Director  Rose Ann DeMoro, Real News Network details the growing movement for a Financial Transaction Tax, which has been championed from the beginning by NNU. Watch below:

RNs Reach Labor Agreement in 10 Florida Hospitals    After drawn-out negotiations, registered nurses have reached a first-ever collective bargaining agreement with 10 Florida hospitals that are part of Hospital Corporation of America, including Doctors Hospital of Sarasota, Blake Medical Center in Bradenton and Fawcett Memorial Hospital in Port Charlotte.

MNA Daily NewsScan: May 4, 2012 – Albert Lea RNs Spotlighted, CEOs called out, Tips on RN-Doc Relationships

4 May

What is this? The MNA Daily NewsScan is a round up the day’s biggest nursing, health care and organized labor stories.  As news unfolds in real-time, we update the NewsScan with new links and info, so check back often!

Stories we’re scanning:

Health Care

  • Op/Ed: CEOs, it’s time to take ownership of the problems at your hospitals.

Notes on Nursing

Labor Updates

  • Albert Lea RNs Talk About Walks: The Albert Lea Tribune published MNA Nurse Kathleen Lehman’s detailed Letter to the Editor explaining why Albert Lea RNs have been taking to the streets in recent weeks as they fight for a fair contract.
  • California Nurses Make Noise: Thousands of California Nurses took to the streets this week as part of a one-day strike for patient safety and the nursing profession. Take a look at some of the highlights below:

Nurse Licensure Compact Legislation

23 Apr

Update May 10, 2012:  The House adjourned for the session in the wee hours of this morning, WITHOUT taking a final vote on the National Nurse Licensure Compact. That means it’s dead for this year. It will most likely come back next session, so stay tuned, but for now, be proud of all the calls, emails, letters and visits that nurses made to stop this dangerous bill!

This troubling story (published by Pro Publica and USA Today) provides yet another reminder why we need your help in opposing the National Nurse Licensure Compact bill moving through the state legislature. Please take a moment to read the story and then contact your legislator!

Issue Background: 

The Compact is still moving on two different tracks. 1) A stand-alone bill is moving in both bodies, and passed a key committee in the House on Wednesday and passed the full Senate on Thursday. We anticipate it will be up for a full floor vote in the House very soon.  2) The Compact is also part of the Senate version of the Health and Human Services Omnibus Bill.

The Omnibus bill is currently in conference committee, where legislators are working out the differences between the two versions. As the conference committee wraps up its work, we are hopeful that the Compact will be removed from the HHS omnibus bill.

The most important thing you can do to stop the Compact from putting your patients and your profession at risk is to CALL THE GOVERNOR TODAY at 651-201-3400. The Governor is on record opposing this bill and has not to our knowledge changed his position. But we need to give him as much support as we can so he can do the right thing with confidence. If you haven’t done this already, it will just take a minute. Tell the person who answers (or the voicemail) your name, that you’re a registered nurse, and that you oppose the Nurse Licensure Compact, and thank the Governor for his position on the issue.

MinnPost Gives Nod to MNA Nurses’ Efforts

19 Apr

Some nice recognition in MinnPost this week of the key work MNA RNs and other health care workers did behind the scenes to help this important legislation pass!

Here’s the item: 

Intentional abuse or neglect of a vulnerable adult can be charged as a felony in Minnesota, now that Gov. Mark Dayton signed a bill passed with bipartisan support.

Previously, such crimes often perpetrated against elderly victims were treated at most as gross misdemeanors with no prison time.

With all the highly charged partisan activity abounding in this year’s session, the governor made a big point of stressing that both Republicans and DFLers voted for the bill, and he appeared with a bipartisan group at the official signing.

Reports of caregivers depriving a vulnerable adult of food, shelter, supervision, clothing or health care led to the legislative efforts.

Lawmakers worked with health care workers and the nurses union to craft the law. A blog from the Minnesota Nurses Association said:

The compromise was an effort between all parties to protect the rights of workers in cases of understaffing, while giving the county attorney the right to charge someone who intends to neglect a vulnerable adult with a felony as opposed to a gross misdemeanor.

The bill signed by Dayton also increases penalties for those who use restraints to harm a child. It was included in the bill following reports of a case where a child was chained to a bed every night, but the parents could only be charged with a misdemeanor.

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