Tag Archives: unsafe staffing

Unsafe Staffing Story: A “rushed and chaotic” feeling

22 Jan

MNA Nurses fill out hundreds of Concern For Safe Staffing forms online each month. The story below is just one example of how unsafe staffing conditions inside Minnesota hospitals continue to have negative – and sometimes even deadly – consequences for patients and nurses. (Note: Due to HIPAA privacy laws for patients and concerns for potential workplace retaliation by employers against RNs, we do not identify the specific nurse and/or patient(s) involved in each story in this space.)

Today’s Story: Extremely busy, high acuity with no available  resources, nurses came from other units to help as able, but were not able to perform tasks necessary such as del, OR, scrub. No breaks taken. I felt patients received basic care … once patient was safely delivered and deemed stable enough, I had to move on to more urgent patients needs and hope for the best. I made a point of visiting today the 3 patients I had who delivered for me yesterday to apologize for the rushed and chaotic feeling of the unit and lack of any TLC.

More information:

MNA RN on Unsafe Staffing Levels: Enough is Enough!

18 Jan

This note from a frustrated MNA RN puts words to the frustration too many Nurses are feeling:

“We are getting tired of working without the safe amount of  nurses. We have enough upper  management to sink a ship and they want to add more COs. We need Bedside  Nurses – the ones that do the work, the ones who take care of the patients, the  ones who work overtime to help out the short staff.  We need a state law telling the hospitals how many patients the nurse can safely take care of. How many RNs don’t even get a break on their whole entire shift? Do the  CNOs ever miss a meal???? Sorry for the editorial, I’m just tired of all this crap.”

MNA Statement on vulnerable adult crime bill introduced in MN Legislature

12 Jan

In light of today’s announcement of a new bill in the Minnesota Legislature that would make neglecting a vulnerable adult a more serious crime, the Minnesota Nurses Association issued the following statement:

“As nurses, nothing is more important to us than ensuring our patients – especially the most vulnerable – are protected and given the best care and treatment possible.  We applaud the idea of protecting vulnerable adults, which is why nurses have been at the forefront of the movement to highlight the need for adequate staffing inside our hospitals, nursing homes, and other care facilities.

While every caregiver – including nurses – is and should be held accountable for the quality of his or her own care, it is important we don’t lose sight of the bigger issue here: The chronic and systemic understaffing of our hospitals, nursing homes and other facilities where care is delivered.  However, if the individual caregiver does not have the ability to increase staffing when necessary, patients will remain vulnerable.

Study after study has shown the direct connection between unsafe staffing levels and adverse events for the patients entrusted to our care. And while we expect personal responsibility and accountability for caregivers of all stripes, our lawmakers should also demand the same type of accountability from the health care facilities and their managers who have the ability to ensure safe staffing.

No patient – especially our most vulnerable adults and children – should ever be neglected and suffer without need. And while there are indeed instances of caregivers failing to do their job properly, there are also countless cases of patients suffering needlessly due to unsafe staffing levels inside our hospitals and nursing homes.

We hope that the issue of unsafe staffing levels will be addressed with the same fervor by state legislators as today’s announcement.

Formed in 1905, the Minnesota Nurses Association represents more than 20,000 nurses in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Iowa. MNA is also a founding member of National Nurses United (NNU), which represents more than 170,000 RNs across the United States. Learn more at www.mnnurses.org.”

Fairview Southdale RNs Stand Strong For Patient Safety, Safe Staffing Levels

20 Dec

Three cheers for Fairview Southdale RNs!

So proud of the MNA Nurses at Fairview Southdale and how they recently stood up for their patients and their profession regarding staffing grids!

Here’s what happened:

Management wanted to reduce staffing levels and cut FTEs during the grid reviews this summer. The nurses didn’t agree and the hospital requested that there be mediation as provided for in the contract. There are 6 units involved. The first three units had mediation on 11/30 and there were 30 staff nurses who attended and told their stories and objected to any decrease in staffing.

Last Friday, the other three units had mediation. Stewards from two of the units really stepped up to the challenge and turned nurses out! There were about three dozen nurses who attended (including the tri-chairs). One of the units had 25% of the nurses in attendance and another had 30%!

The nurses were outstanding and spent two hours in each of the first two sessions and just over an hour in the third telling management that there are systems issues that need fixing, that they are needing to do more and more as other departments get cut, that they are no longer able to say they are proud of the care they are able to give, etc. One RN was especially powerful in asking, “Can you tell me specifically what I can do to take more patients? Can you tell me what I do that I can stop doing? How can I be more efficient?”

The VP for nursing had no answer. She repeated a couple of times that she knows the nurses all work hard and that they aren’t sitting around reading magazines and knitting. The nurses pushed back over and over and management looked pretty weary at the end of the day. The nurses said they did not object to taking on more or caring for more patients – if management could provide a list of what they could stop doing so they could free up time. MNA nurses repeated over and over that they are the safety net, and that when management cuts other departments, the work doesn’t go away – rather the nurses pick up even more.

As one of the MNA Chairs said at the end of the day: “To a person, your stories were powerful and eloquently told, and your passion for your profession and commitment to your patients was impressive to everyone in the room … Enjoy the weekend knowing that you couldn’t have done any more than you all did incredibly well to influence management. Our nurses are an amazing group of people, and you should all be proud of the extraordinary care you give every day.”

Couldn’t say it better ourselves! Way to go Fairview Southdale Nurses! We’re proud of you and thankful for your leadership and solidarity!

Here’s what a typical day looks like in terms of the number of Unsafe Staffing reports that continue to flood MNA’s inbox

6 Sep

Make sure to keep filling out these Concern For Safe Staffing forms either online or via the MNA App for iPhone or Droid! Your insight and information are critical as we continue to document unsafe staffing and the negative impact on our patients and our profession.

Unsafe Staffing Story: A “perfect example of when a grid does not work.”

2 Sep

MNA Nurses fill out hundreds of Concern For Safe Staffing forms online each month. The story below is just one example of how unsafe staffing conditions inside Minnesota hospitals continue to have negative – and sometimes even deadly – consequences for patients and nurses. (Note: Due to HIPAA privacy laws for patients and concerns for potential workplace retaliation by employers against RNs, we do not identify the specific nurse and/or patient(s) involved in each story in this space.)

Today’s Story: We had only 3 nurses from 6-8:30 to admit up to 8 patients and then do post surgical care on 2 patients. We had the 8:30 nurse arrive, and an on call nurse was called. This is a perfect example of when a grid does not work. By 0930 the dilemma was resolved because then 3 more on call RN’s arrived. It was embarrassing to come into a patient’s room after they had been waiting 30 to 50 minutes. I felt rushed and was concerned I might miss something. Then we had an immediate medical procedure added to the existing patient load, and this would require yet another nurse that we didn’t have. The anesthesiologist agreed to do this procedure in the operating room instead on in the pre-operative suite. We only had two unit coordinator staff checking people in and obtaining pre-operative information from the clinics, which was inadequate for the number of patients being admitted.

More information:

Unsafe Staffing Story: New mom needs 1:1 care, can’t get it due to staffing levels

31 Aug

MNA Nurses fill out hundreds of Concern For Safe Staffing forms online each month. The story below is just one example of how unsafe staffing conditions inside Minnesota hospitals continue to have negative – and sometimes even deadly – consequences for patients and nurses. (Note: Due to HIPAA privacy laws for patients and concerns for potential workplace retaliation by employers against RNs, we do not identify the specific nurse and/or patient(s) involved in each story in this space.)

Today’s Story: The day shift started out with 1 RN assigned to 4 post-delivery moms and babies, 1 of which was a fresh delivery with hemorrhaging, (that mom almost required surgery to stop the bleeding!) This patient was 1:1 and the nurse was with her alone for at least the first 2 hours of the shift. The second RN had 3 postpartum (post delivery) and the third RN had 2 post delivery and a fresh c-section that again just arrived from post anesthesia care unit. The  fresh C-section should have been a 1:1 until frequent vital signs were done being assessed. We did have one support staff, but needed another RN.  We did pull the Another RN from the  office and she helped with the first RN’s assignment.

More information:

Unsafe Staffing Story: Confused patients walking out of rooms on nightmare shift

29 Aug

MNA Nurses fill out hundreds of Concern For Safe Staffing forms online each month. The story below is just one example of how unsafe staffing conditions inside Minnesota hospitals continue to have negative – and sometimes even deadly – consequences for patients and nurses. (Note: Due to HIPAA privacy laws for patients and concerns for potential workplace retaliation by employers against RNs, we do not identify the specific nurse and/or patient(s) involved in each story in this space.)

Today’s Story: Last night I was split between two different geographical parts of the unit. In one area, I was taking  care of patients with high acuity (extremely sick) scores. One patient was impulsive and confused and was constantly trying to crawl out of bed. I had to constantly check on this patient to ensure that he did not climb out of bed. I was also taking care of a patient in same unit who was a high fall risk and extremely impulsive, and who was hospitalized due to a fall. The bed alarm did not work on this patient’s bed. At one point in my shift, when I was across the hallway in the other confused patient’s room, I saw the first confused patient walk out into the hallway. The Night Assistant was in another room and I was the only RN in the area. It was very scary. The other two patients in the other unit I was covering were “total cares” and required assistance of 2 staff for any type of care. When I was in these rooms, the charge RN had to come and monitor the other patients in to ensure patients were safe. In  addition, I had to frequently assess and call a Doctor regarding one of my  patients on one of the units. It felt like I could not give this patient enough attention because I had to make sure that patients in the other unit were safe.

More information:

Boom! Bemidji RNs keep their amazing Letter to the Editor streak going in the local paper

26 Aug

Another great Letter to the Editor from a MNA Nurse ran in today’s Bemidji Pioneer newspaper:

I have been employed at our hospital in Bemidji for over 30 years working at the bedside. Understaffing is a nationwide concern and our nurses have been struggling for years. Three years ago when we negotiated, nursing formally expressed their staffing concerns and management agreed to form a committee to work on this. The issues were never resolved. The tentative agreement that management is referring to is again a committee to work on the problems.

It was part of the offer presented to the Minnesota Nurses Association nurses when we voted, and it was overwhelmingly rejected.

We did have several other issues involving our pension, paid-time-off time and insurance that are big concerns, too. But in a survey done before negotiations began, the nurses’ concerns were with safe staffing.

Sanford is new to our community. The problems were there when they came. We are hopeful that Sanford will be good for our community.

We are proud to be nurses. Not ashamed when we leave at the end of our shift feeling we have been unable to provide safe, adequate care for our patients. There is no one else to speak up for our patients – patients everywhere. Nurses nationwide, not just locally, are speaking out for safe staffing. Safe staffing is about using acuity levels, not just a grid to determine the number of nurses needed to provide care for that shift.

Again, we ask Sanford to be a progressive leader. Help us provide safe care and give us a fair contract.

Mary Olson, RN
Pinewood

From the hospital’s front lines: A literal checklist of unsafe staffing concerns during a single shift

26 Aug

MNA Nurses fill out hundreds of Concern For Safe Staffing forms online each month. The story below is just one example of how unsafe staffing conditions inside Minnesota hospitals continue to have negative – and sometimes even deadly – consequences for patients and nurses. (Note: Due to HIPAA privacy laws for patients and concerns for potential workplace retaliation by employers against RNs, we do not identify the specific nurse and/or patient(s) involved in each story in this space.)

Today’s Story:
- 2 RNs for 13 patients. In addition to charge nurse responsibilities, one RN had 6 patients, and the Staff RN had 7 patients.
- Medications not given on time.
- No breaks taken.
- Staff Nurse was on her second shift off orientation and is a new graduate with little experience.
- 3 patients needed total care.
- No additional resources were available – e.g. RNs, nursing assistants, etc.

← Older Entries
Newer Entries →

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 1,896 other followers