Health Care Professionals and Monitoring

The Senate Committee on Health and Human Services amended and passed SF 1890 Wednesday afternoon, which would give the Minnesota Board of Nursing (BoN) more information about health care professionals who are eligible for the Health Professionals Service Program. (To enhance public safety in health care, HPSP monitors health professionals with illnesses as an alternative or adjunct to discipline.) MNA has several concerns about the bill, including that it would give the BoN much greater access to very sensitive personal information about nurses, and take a punitive, rather than chronic disease management, approach to substance abuse issues.

While SF 1890 passed the Senate HHS Committee, legislators and other experts around the table agreed the issues remain and will have to be settled in the Senate Judiciary Committee or somewhere before a final bill goes to the Senate floor.   Even bill sponsors agreed more conversation of refining HPSP and the BoN are needed. To read more about Wednesday’s hearing, visit the MNA Blog.

In the House, Representative Tina Liebling is sponsoring HF1898 which MNA supports, which would stabilize HPSP and address the gap that exists between a nurse being discharged from HPSP and disciplinary action by the Board. This bill is scheduled to be heard in the House Health and Human Services Committee on Tuesday at 2:15 pm in State Office Building Room 200. If you are planning to be at the Capitol on Tuesday for Nurses Day on the Hill, please consider staying for the hearing.

Minimum Wage

The House and Senate conference committee negotiating over raising the minimum wage hit a road block this week. After both sides agreed to raise the minimum wage to $9.50, it seemed like the committee had momentum. But the talks broke down when the Senate side refused to index the minimum wage to inflation, which would essentially give low wage workers an automatic raise of about 15 to 17 cents a year to keep up with the rising costs of food, gas, and housing. The House wants to pass a bill with indexing. MNA nurses have been flooding senators’ inboxes with messages in support of raising the wage and indexing it to inflation, but as of this writing there has been no more news. If you haven’t already, please contact your state senator and ask him or her to raise the minimum wage, and index it to inflation so workers can keep up with the rising cost of living and lift their families out of poverty.

Wages are a Health Issue

On Monday, MNA President Linda Hamilton joined other health experts for an event to highlight the health impact of low wages. Families in poverty can’t afford nutritious food, safe homes, or health care. Raising the wage will help raise families into better health. Read President Hamilton’s comments here

Senate Health and Human Services committee discusses SF 1890.

The Senate Committee on Health and Human Services passed SF 1890 Wednesday afternoon, which would give the Board of Nursing (BoN) more information about health care professionals who are eligible for the Health Professionals Service Program (HPSP) for treatment.

MNA testified and sent a letter to committee members about the bill and concerns with three elements of the bill.  Specifically, the bill still contains measures that could result in a chilling effect on those who self-report to HPSP.

Senators Tony Lourey, John Marty, and Chris Eaton agreed that addiction is a disease, and nurses shouldn’t be disciplined for voluntarily seeking treatment.  Currently, the bill from Senator Kathy Sheran requires HPSP to report any instances of drug diversion or other violations related to a person’s impairment to the BoN.  Lourey said that gives a “chilling effect” to the program and to those professionals who want to get help before they endanger patient safety.  If nurses personal data is released to their Board, it’s logical to predict that they won’t want to get help.  Nurses who self-report are far more likely to keep their conditions away from patients and get help, which will foster an environment where people can be honest about their disease and move forward in the recovery process.

As the American Society of Addiction Medicine has found, “fear of disciplinary action and stigma are powerful disincentives to healthcare and other licensed professionals referring their colleagues or themselves to medically necessary addiction treatment.  Link to report here.

In addition, discharge from the HPSP program would require a licensee to be automatically suspended for a period of not more than 60 days, regardless of why they were discharged.  That’s too long said some lawmakers.  Other boards of licensed professionals agree.  The executive directors of the Board of Dentistry and the Board of Pharmacy testified that such a long suspension could effectively end a medical professional’s career.  They also argued that discharge shouldn’t automatically qualify a licensee for disciplinary action, such as license suspension.  Monica Feider, program manager with HPSP, reported to the committee that about 1 in 5 discharges from the program are not due to reasons such as failure to comply.  Some leave voluntarily.  Some are the result of paperwork that’s incomplete or incorrect.

MNA also testified to concerns with an exemption to what’s called “Chapter 364″ of Minnesota Law, which requires that licensing boards consider rehabilitation of criminal activity.

The committee did modify SF 1890 by adding a clause (in bold) to subdivision 6,  “Upon receiving a report from the program manager, based on allegations that the regulated person has engaged in conduct that might cause risk to the public, the participating board shall temporarily suspend the regulated person’s license, “  which allows the determination to come from HPSP.

While SF 1890 passed the Senate HHS Committee, legislators and other experts around the table agreed the issues remain and will have to be settled in the Senate Judiciary Committee or somewhere before a final bill goes to the Senate floor.   Even bill sponsors agreed more conversation of refining the HPSP program and the BoN are needed.

MNA President Linda Hamilton, RN, BSN joined health experts on Monday to highlight the impact of low-wage work on community health.  The press conference also included Commissioner of Health Dr. Edward Ehlinger, Representative Tina Liebling and ISAIAH President Rev. Paul Slack and called for a wider discussion around ending poverty wages in Minnesota.

Although wages and health are rarely talked about together, the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) drew the links. MDH released a report on Monday providing research to back up the claim that increases in income are associated with positive health outcomes.

The report  states that people with higher income are more likely to live longer and healthier lives than those with lower income levels, and recommends policies aimed at increasing income for groups with the lowest income. The full paper can be found here.

President Hamilton’s remarks offer an honest and poignant bedside view of the issue.

Good morning,

My name is Linda Hamilton. I’m a nurse at the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Children’s Hospital, and I’ve been a nurse for 33 years. I’m also proud to serve as the president of the Minnesota Nurses Association.

Many families struggle with choices that create health. When person has to work 2 jobs to just pay rent and their most basic needs their choices are limited. On 7.25 no one can afford a healthy life. .

• A nutritious diet that means fresh fruits and vegetables, not possible
• An environment where parents have time to give guidance and wisdom to their -young children, and time to monitor and counsel our adolescents when parents are working 60-80 hours/week, not possible
• An opportunity to play in organized sports or participate in school activities, cost is $200 at my local high school plus equipment and other fees, not possible
• Regular check-ups for medical and dental health, not possible
• Time off for illness, not possible
• Affordable shelter, not possible

A young mother I know of worked two jobs, which wasn’t even enough to pay rent and the expenses associated with a complicated birth.  She lived out of her car, staying warm at night under a pile of blankets.  She returned to work within days after delivery so she could save her money for an apartment for when her baby was ready to come home.  Her dream of an apartment for her and her child was destroyed one night when she was robbed and beaten.

If her child is going to grow up to be healthy, she will need an environment where there is safe shelter, good nutrition, medical and dental care. This story is not about one isolated family unfortunately this story is real for many across the state.

Nurses are patient advocates, and every Minnesotan will need a nurse at some point. Nurses are with you. We want to ensure that before you ever come into our care that you’re going to get the best care, regardless of who you are or what you make. It’s more difficult for Minnesotans to get that good care when they live below the poverty line-especially when those Minnesotans are children.

22 percent of all children in this country live in poverty-the highest rate we’ve seen in decades. We know that children from low-income families are more likely to drop out of school, develop obesity, and become teen parents.

It’s not just kids. Nurses notice the dramatic effect that low wages have on patients. Their conditions are worse when they come into the hospital, and they have little control over the quality of patient care they receive.

Patients come to the hospital sicker than we’ve ever seen them before. It’s obvious that patients are avoiding even simple check-ups because they can’t afford them. When they do get sick, they wait till payday to go to the clinic and then may not be able to pay for the treatment prescribed. This can lead to catastrophic illness which leaves scars for life or may take a life.

Raising the wage for all workers will allow families to live healthier lives. Raising the wage gives families access to healthy food and prevents the lifelong problems of diabetes, hypertension, and obesity. Raising the wage will allow families to afford those check-ups that can easily prevent an infection from turning into a hospital stay.

Those families who can’t afford the hospital will be referred to charity care with no control over the quality of care they receive. No family in Minnesota deserves to be poor or be bankrupt because they can’t afford healthcare. No family in Minnesota deserves to be poor when they work for a living. They need a living wage. They need us to raise the wage. As a society we value work. WE want our children, mothers and fathers brothers and sisters to be self-reliant not dependent on our safety nets to meet their needs. We need to make it possible for all working persons to have the choices available to them to a live healthy life.

Nurses are committed to keeping healthy people in their homes and in their schools, rather than in our hospitals and institutions. Let’s make health possible. We need a livable minimum wage now.

Budget Surplus

Today’s economic forecast showed the state has a budget surplus of $1.23 billion, due to better-than-projected revenue collections and lower spending. This news is a welcome change from past years of structural deficits, budget gimmicks and program cuts. This shows that Minnesota is on strong economic footing and the budget reforms made last session worked. Because the budget has been improving, the state has already paid off the entire “school shift” ($2.8 billion borrowed from public schools to shrink the 2011 budget deficit) so the $1.23 billion surplus is not obligated to be spent on any specific program. There will be a lot of talk coming up about what the state should do with this money, and we will continue to advocate for investing in our shared priorities: health care, education, caring for seniors and strengthening working families. Other proposals we anticipate include putting more money in reserves “for a rainy day” and tax breaks and rebates.

First Bill of 2014 Session Signed into Law

The legislature and Governor Dayton moved quickly to pass and sign a bill that would provide $20 million in additional funding to help low income Minnesotans pay their heating bills during this tough winter, exacerbated by a propane shortage.

Minimum Wage

The session kicked off with a big rally on Tuesday in support of raising the Minimum Wage. Last year, the House of Representatives passed a bill raising the minimum wage to $9.50 and indexing it to inflation (meaning it will rise automatically when workers’ cost of living goes up), but the Senate passed a bill raising the wage to only $7.50 and not indexed to inflation. The Conference Committee of senators and representatives working out the difference between the two bills took their work up again on Thursday and Friday of this week. If you haven’t already, please contact your Senator and urge them to raise the minimum wage to $9.50 and index it to inflation. Hard-working Minnesotans should not live in poverty. It’s time to raise the wage.

Nursing Hearing on Wednesday: Can you be there?

Next Wednesday, the Senate Health, Human Services and Housing Committee is hearing two bills related to nurse licensure and discipline and the monitoring program for nurses with health problems, including chemical dependency. MNA supports one of the bills, which features approaches chemical dependency as a chronic disease that can be managed with treatment and monitoring so a nurse can return to work and practice nursing safely. The other proposal includes several punitive measures and proposes giving the Board of Nursing private health and legal information about nurses.

Can you be there?

WHAT: Senate Health Human Services and Housing Committee

DATE: Wednesday, March 5, 2014

TIME: Noon

WHERE: Room 15, State Capitol (Click here for directions and parking information)

Nurses Day on the Hill is March 10 & 11

Have you signed up for Nurses Day on the Hill yet? This event is for you, even if you’ve wondered how you can be an effective citizen advocate.  Come to the Capitol.  Talk to your legislators. We will give you all the tools and information you need at an education session on Monday, March 10, featuring interesting speakers, educational breakout sessions, and a fun dinner. On Tuesday, March 11, you will attend meetings with your legislators to advocate about issues that are important to nursing, patients, and working families. We will make appointments for you, but you have to register before March 3! Sign up today!

The Minnesota legislative session starts today, Tuesday, February 25, and we have a lot of work to do to protect the practice of nursing, promote patient safety and advance the health of our community.

Minimum Wage Rally: Tuesday, February 25, 4:00 pm at the Capitol in St. Paul We will kick the session off with hundreds of allies at a rally in support of raising the Minimum Wage. Raising the wage to at least $9.50 and indexing it to inflation will raise thousands of families out of poverty and stimulate our economy. No one who works full time should live in poverty and have to choose between food for their family or gas for their car.  More information is available here. If you are unable to be at the Capitol on Tuesday, please use MNA Grassroots Action Center to send an email to your legislators to ask them to raise the minimum wage.

Nurses Day on the Hill: Monday, March 10 and Tuesday, March 11 in St. Paul

MNA’s biggest political event of the year is coming up soon too. Nurses Day on the Hill is our chance to meet our legislators, advocate for policies that affect our profession and our patients, and learn more about the issues that affect nurses at the Capitol. Monday night includes a dinner and education session, and Tuesday we will visit our legislators (MNA will make appointments for you). More information is here. Please RSVP soon!

Session Preview

This session, we will be working on a number of important issues, and we will keep you in the loop each Friday with a brief email update about the week at the Capitol. Please watch your email on Fridays – there will be times when we will alert you to action opportunities, bill progress and chances for you to reach out to your legislators. Geri Katz Political Organizer Minnesota Nurses Association 651-414-2855

Click the link below to log in and send your message: https://www.votervoice.net/link/target/mna/4J26M76Qc.aspx

When will the gender gap be over?

According to the summary of a report by the Center on Women and Public Policy and the Women’s Foundation of Minnesota says that “at the current rate, the pay gap in Minnesota will not be closed until 2060.”  That’s right.  Men will still make more than women for the same job and the same work 140 years after Womens Suffrage, almost 90 years after a human landed on the moon, and about the same time Hailey’s Comet returns in its next 76-year-orbit.

As women succeed, the state succeeds.   How to accomplish that is spurred by the Womens Security Act-a legislative package of 17 ideas that are being championed by Rep. Paul Thissen.  The Speaker of the Minnesota House outlined the proposals at the 2014 Womens Economic Security Summit.  Some of these ideas affect the prosperity of all Minnesotans but through lapses in public policy they affect women more-the minimum wage is the most visible.  As women predominantly hold service and caregiver occupations, including nursing, they are held down as a whole when wages and salaries don’t keep up.

From a purely economic perspective, the dimunuitive female economy makes the state economy smaller as well.  As a recent Time magazine report said, the more money women make, the more money they manage-their own and their household’s.  That affects spending exponentially as well as 58 cents of every online dollar is spent by a woman.  80 cents of every healthcare dollar is spent by a woman.  Even 44 cents of every dollar spent on National League Football games and gear is spent by a woman.

It’s not just an issue of equality or justice.  It’s an issue of prosperity and growth.  Thissen and the House majority have made this package of policies a priority.  Minnesota should too.

A Summary:

Closing the gender pay gap through requiring vendors with the state to report on pay equity.

Increasing income for working women and families by raising the minimum wage to $9.50.

Expanding access to high-quality, affordable childcare by removing the cap on early learning scholarships and increasing child care provider reimbursement.

Expanding family and sick leave for working families by increasing unpaid family leave from 6 to 12 weeks.

Protecting women from discrimination in the workplace by preventing discrimination towards women with c

hildren or who are pregnant.

Enhancing protections for victims of domestic violence by including women who are victims of stalking and sexual assault for insurance eligibility.

Helping women-owned small business succeed.

Helping older women be economically secure.

Encouraging women in non-traditional, high-wage jobs.

Just by the numbers, women make up half of Minnesota’s workforce, but they are two-thirds of all minimum-wage earners and 58 percent of those who make less than $9.50.  If half of Minnesotans are being kept from earning more, the state is depriving itself of the wealth and success it needs and deserves.

The full platform is here:  http://mnwomen.org/dev/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/2013-MWC-Legislative-Platform.pdf

Allina – Westhealth nurses ran a strong and responsive campaign.

(St. Paul, MN – Feb. 14, 2014)    32 registered nurses at Abbott Northwestern Westhealth Emergency Department and Urgent Care on Thursday overwhelmingly voted for a voice at work through contract representation by the Minnesota Nurses Association (MNA). In a secret ballot election, conducted by the National Labor Relations Board, nurses voted by 92% to join MNA.

Many of the nurses at the new stand-alone emergency/urgent care unit located in the Twin Cities suburb of Plymouth have worked at other MNA contract facilities  and were eager for the same opportunity to have a voice in their workplace to be able to advocate for themselves and their patients.  “Not only do patients deserve the same quality of nursing care and skill that Abbott Northwestern offers, it is equally important that we as nurses are treated the same,” said nurse activist Missy Lu.

The facility opened in December 2012 and within eleven months, its nurses contacted MNA to initiate an organizing campaign.  With strong leadership and a knowledgeable nurse group, organizing swiftly moved to filing a Petition for Representation Election with the National Labor Relations Board on Jan. 24.   The successful vote culminated a determined effort by nurses, some of whom had never enjoyed the benefits of a contract.  “We are united as one with our fellow ANW nurses and will stand strong together for equality,” said Lu.

MNA President Linda Hamilton, RN, heartily welcomed the Abbott Northwestern-Westhealth nurses to MNA.  “We are all stronger and patients benefit because our voice continues to grow,” said Hamilton.

The move signals that union representation in Minnesota is evolving in pace with dynamic changes in health care delivery.  “Wherever people need nursing care, nurses need the protection of a contract so we can advocate for them to our best ability,” said Jean Ross, RN and Co-President of National Nurses United.

Nurses are planning meetings next week to talk about the next steps in securing a voice in their workplace by obtaining their first contract.

Allina Council of Chairs sent a vigorous message of support to Abbott Northwestern – Westhealth nurses as the campaign was winding down.

MNA nurses conducted an informational picket on Tues., Feb. 11 to support colleagues from Regina Medical Center to highlight concerns the Hastings community and its nurses are being considered second-rate by corporate management.

Allina Healthcare’s proposals to Regina Medical Center and its Registered Nurses represent a second-rate commitment to the delivery of quality nursing care in the community relative to the care residents receive in every other area served by Allina full-service hospitals.

MNA nurses from Abbott Northwestern with support from other Allina facilities and MNA-represented hospitals all donned red to march in solidarity along Chicago Ave. in front of Abbott Northwestern Hospital.  Hastings Bargaining Unit Chair, Jane Traynor took the opportunity to send an invitation to Allina management.  “Where’s (CEO) Ken Paulus’s office?,” she called.  I’d like to have coffee with him, so he can put a face to the thorn in his side from Hastings, because we’re not going to give up!”  Traynor pointed out that as a new Allina employee now, living less than 40 minutes away, she could sign a posting and be a nurse at Abbott with a pension and more choices for health insurance.  “Nurses will make choices and that will not leave our community with much,” she added.

Co-Chair of the MNA Allina Council of Chairs, Mischelle Knipe, who works at Allina’s Unity Hospital in Fridley offered her support Hastings nurses as well.  ” They deserve what we have,” said Knipe.  “Their community deserves to have excellent nurses.”  She called on Allina management to provide a fair contract that encourages nurses to stay in their community to “work and support those people they know and love.”

Watch the video to see the great show of support.

“I’d go back tomorrow,” states MNA member Megan Cassidy if she were asked to return to hurricane-ravaged Roxas, Philippines.  And she’d be warmly welcomed by residents as well as the Registered Nurse Relief Network (RNRN) operation continuing to provide health services nearly three months after the area was decimated.

“The people we served are so appreciative that we keep coming,” said Cassidy who is back at her job as a pediatric nurse at Children’s Hospital in Minneapolis after volunteering in the Philippines from Jan. 15 – 27.  ”But at the end of the day, it was my privilege to be there,” she added.  “You can’t helped be touched when you see people with so little, still smiling, who want to cook for you.”  One of Cassidy’s RNRN companions was a native of Roxas and his family would regularly bring home-cooked meals to the team.

From their main clinic, Cassidy’s group travelled to set up day camps in San Rafael, Estancia and a remote mountain village of Lemery.  “We treated people who walked two hours to get to us,” said Cassidy.  For some, it was the first time they had received any medical care in their lives.  One day, Cassidy estimates that two of their physicians each saw at least 300 people.  “Yet they were so patient,” said Cassidy, reflecting on the image of seeing “lots of people in a small space who had big needs.”

Cassidy was impressed by the effectiveness of the RNRN operation, which collaborated with the Philippines-based Alliance of Health Care Workers.  “The trust and respect was already established, because our hosts knew the needs of the community so well.”

Cassidy describes citizens of a country living in danger every day.  “Houses are down, infrastructure is down and people are displaced,” said Cassidy.   The landscape is littered with steel beams bent in half, and sharp metal shards continue to be a source of injury.  Downed power lines, flattened schools and a prominent oil spill hinder relief and reconstruction efforts.

The RNRN program is dedicated to providing health resources as long as needed.  Even though the demand is great for volunteers, a limited number can go at any one time, due to funding restraints.  And although RNRN  is still accepting volunteers, National Nurses United (RNRN’s parent organization) encourages nurses to contribute financially to maintain this much-needed relief effort.  Click here to learn how you can help.

Anything you can do will make a difference to the victims of Hurricane Yolanda.  One of the biggest transformations might be your own.  “You learn to prioritize; you learn what’s important,” said Cassidy. “We can all be global citizens, no matter where the need is.”   Having conscious conversations can spark an idea or point us in a direction for overcoming inertia, and Cassidy is having those exciting discussions with co-workers “and everyone I know.”

Read a blog entry by one of Megan’s colleagues

Click to view slideshow.

An Invitation from MNA President Linda Hamilton

2014 is an  important election year for nurses and the communities we care for and live in. The entire Minnesota House of Representatives is up for re-election, as well as the Governor, U.S. Senator Franken, all eight members of Congress and countless local races.

These elected officials make decisions about nursing and health care that affect our profession, our patients and our families. We must speak up for nursing values of caring, compassion and community. If we don’t advocate for our patients and our profession, no one will.

Start out by attending your party’s Caucus Night, Feb. 4.  View this video to learn more.

Resolutions to present:

• Standards of Care
• Health Care for All
• Robin Hood Tax
• Medical Marijuana