Originally posted in the New Ulm Journal: http://www.nujournal.com/page/content.detail/id/534962/Law-change-will-benefit-patients.html?nav=5004

Everyone who’s a patient in a hospital, who might be a patient in a hospital, or who cares about somebody in a hospital will be grateful that the Staffing Plan Disclosure Act was signed into law on May 9.

Rep. Joe Atkins (DFL-Inver Grove Heights) and Sen. Jeff Hayden (DFL-Minneapolis) authored a bill that provides for consumer transparency of hospitals’ nurse staffing plans. In addition, the Department of Health will study the correlation between nurse staffing and patient outcomes, with a final report due in January 2015.

Starting in January of 2014, patients will be able to see how many nurses care for them on a public website at www.mnhospitalquality.org/default.aspx Hospitals will be more transparent, and patients will make wiser decisions on where they have a procedure and where they can expect to make the best possible recovery.

We have a right to know this information because the healthcare industry as a whole operates behind a brick wall of secrecy. For example, the federal government recently released a report showing huge differences between what different hospitals charge for the same procedures. Sometimes, even doctors and nurses don’t know what kind of care to expect as patients at hospitals. That’s why transparency in patient care is so important. Hospitals that operate consistently with regard to patient safety should be recognized and those that cut corners to save money must also be singled out.

Throughout the legislative session, nurses told legislators that because there is no minimum staffing standard, they frequently can’t answer the call button or give a patient his or her medication on time. That’s not easy for nurses to admit. Nurses are hardwired to care for people. They stretch themselves to the limit to ensure no patient is forgotten. This law is a first step in allowing patients to choose where they get their care based on how many nurses will take care of them. Patients should check the website periodically to see how their local hospitals are doing, and if the hospitals aren’t reporting their staffing levels, they should tell their lawmaker that we all have a right to know who’s taking care of us.

Linda Hamilton

President

Minnesota Nurses Association

NOTES ON NURSING

Expert Affirms Nurses’s Warnings About Electronic Health Records System   At a meeting of the Marin Healthcare District board on May 14, a group of Marin General nurses told the board problems with the new computer system were diverting them from their patients and causing errors, such as sending orders to the wrong patients. One nurse reported that a patient had received a medication to which he was allergic.

Worst Times to be Admitted for Heart Attack.  Hint: Involves Nurse Staffing   It’s possible that staffing issues at hospitals during these times are part of the problem; patients who come into the hospitals just before the weekend and late at night may see fewer nursing staff members and this could contribute to less attention that may impact care.

LABOR UPDATES

High-End Health Plans Scale Back to Avoid “Cadillac Tax”   Companies hoping to avoid the tax are beginning to scale back the more generous health benefits they have traditionally offered and to look harder for ways to bring down the overall cost of care.

WalMart Workers Launch First-Ever “Prolonged Strikes”  Organizers expect retail employees in more cities to join the work stoppage, which follows the country’s first-ever coordinated Walmart store strikes last October, and a high-profile Black Friday walkout November 23.

In Thief River Falls, Plenty of Demand for Workers But No Room for Them   Two big employers have made the city an oasis of job growth. Now housing and schools are trying to catch up.

HEALTH CARE

Krugman:  The Obamacare Shock   Yes, it does look as if there’s an Obamacare shock coming: the shock of learning that a public program designed to help a lot of people can, strange to say, end up helping a lot of people — especially when government officials actually try to make it work.

Put Nurses in the Spotlight This Summer

Attention MNA Members

The summer months offer a great opportunity for nurses to enhance our visibility as an organization and a profession. We encourage you to connect with the public by participating in area events in your local community.  Think of booths at the county or local fair, a 4th of July parade, organized sports tournaments, community festival or any fun activity that allows nurses to proactively advocate about issues that directly impact patients and families who might need our care.

MNA will provide giveaways and message banners. You need to organize the onsite crew and handle all other arrangements.

Check the events calendar in your area, and submit your request using the online form or emailing Jan Rabbers

470 Registered Nurses at Mankato Mayo entered contract negotiations today as a united group determined to address troubling staffing issues at the hospital that members believe put patients at risk. Lead MNA negotiator David Nachreiner reflected the views of the mass of responses the team collected from colleagues throughout the hospital as he read the Opening Statement. “My colleagues and I approach these negotiations with one primary focus.   We believe our patients – our families, friends and neighbors of this community – face unnecessary risk when they require the services of this hospital.  They face that risk primarily due to inadequate staffing and poor planning.  The nurses of this bargaining unit are very concerned about the staffing shortages we experience every day.  Each of us receives about five texts a day requesting us to pick up shifts.  How can that be safe?  Especially when we’ve already worked 8, 9, 10 or 12 hours.  Ladies and gentlemen, hoping nurses will respond to relentless texts is not a plan. “The lack of devotion on the part of this administration regarding safe staffing only creates a dangerous environment to people of our community when they at their most vulnerable.

Signing in for colleagues who wanted to join the Negotiating Team in spirit.

“To retain the quality RN workforce this community deserves – to make Mankato a destination Medical Center of its own – requires commitment and the power of collaboration.  Unfortunately, we are troubled by recent actions that minimizes the mutual trust you hope for, exemplified by the unilateral changes made in health insurance benefits without input or consideration of impact to nurses. “It’s time these negotiations bring a fair and positive agreement that rewards our dedication, our skill and our professional knowledge. It’s time we combine our expertise to reach an agreement that will recruit the best of the best and keep the finest of the finest. We are confident that fair wages, robust insurance and most of all, ethical staffing plans developed in partnership will lead to the quality care our community expects and values. “Have no doubt, you will find my colleagues and I are fiercely united in our positions – we hope you join us for the sake of our patients and neighbors.”