Issue link: https://nnumagazine.uberflip.com/i/117848
NEWS BRIEFS Nurses use Forums to Educate Minnesota Legislators on RN Issues S MINNESOTA ome 30 nurses from northwest Minnesota���Bemidgi, Alexandria, and Fergus Falls���gathered on Nov. 20 for ���meet and greets��� with local legislators and a continuing education session on nurse advocacy. MNA Nursing Practice Specialist Carol Deimert and MNA President Linda Hamilton, RN presented on the Main Street Contract for the American People campaign and the history of advocacy in nursing. ���Nurses have a long history of being leaders in advocating for women���s rights, civil rights, and improvements to our healthcare system,��� explained Deimert After the presentation, Rep. Paul Anderson and Rep.-elect Ben Lein met with nurses to discuss some of the nursing issues the Legislature may be addressing this session. Many nurses shared stories of poor staffing situations affecting their patients, their practice, and their profession. The legislators listened, took notes, and thanked the nurses for helping to explain why issues like staffing are so important. ���Before coming here tonight, I really thought of nurse staffing as really more of a management right,��� said Anderson. ���I���m really glad I came though, because what I���m hearing from you is that this is about patient safety and I have serious concerns if you are not getting the staffing you need to keep it safe.��� Nurses stressed the importance of more discussions like these, pointing out that most legislators don���t have healthcare backgrounds and don���t truly understand how important these issues are unless nurses explain from their own experience what���s at stake. By all accounts, the event, organized by Northwest Regional Action Council member and District 7 President Connie Fields, RN was a success. Fields summed it up well, ���Hopefully this is just a start to get more ���movement��� out here in West Central Minnesota.��� In Minnesota���s metropolitan areas, 18 legislators joined nurses on Nov. 28 to hear a policy briefing from MNA���s government affairs specialists, followed by a lively discussion of 6 N AT I O N A L N U R S E MNA���s top priorities: safe staffing and protecting Minnesota���s high nursing standards. Nurses told stories from the bedside about the pressures of caring for too many patients, often feeling like their patients��� health and their own licenses are at risk. Without enough time to spend with patients, nurses can���t make critical assessments. Patients can develop serious conditions that could have been caught with frequent observation of subtle changes in the patient���s condition. ���There is no such thing as a stable patient,��� said one nurse participant. ���For the sake of you and your loved ones��� she told legislators, ���we need to be allowed time to make those judgments.��� Many of the legislators in attendance were freshmen beginning their first terms in January. MNA held additional forums on Dec. 3 in Southwest Minnesota; Dec. 4 in Southeast Minnesota, and Dec. 10 in Duluth. ���Jan Rabbers Michigan RNs Plan to Build On Year���s Work for 2013 T MICHIGAN o maximize all of the successful, hard work by Michigan Nurses Association RN members in many election races, MNA must continue to build on the gains made in November. 2013 promises to be filled with challenges as Michigan���s Legislature and the corporate special interests that influence it are poised to bring on the ���Right to Work��� battle. ���The attacks on working families brought on by corporate special interests and politicians will not stop,��� said John Karebian, MNA executive director. ���As patient advocates, MNA will not back down from a fight, now or at any time in the future. We���re not standing on the sidelines watching.��� W W W. N A T I O N A L N U R S E S U N I T E D . O R G The hard work shown by members in 2012 has made MNA stronger, more united, and better prepared to advocate for our members on both an individual and local basis, as well as for nurses and working families overall. ���We have become more visible this year than ever before,��� said Karebian. ���From helping gather hundreds of thousands of signatures to supporting working families to turning out votes, our nurses were front and center. The red scrub top worn by MNA nurses now signifies a force to be reckoned with.��� A key element of MNA���s success in 2012 was the increase in members stepping up and taking on new challenges. Many of the members who spoke to the press this year at rallies and other events had never done so before. Others took on new responsibilities and assisted with some of the campaigns of candidates endorsed by MNA���s political action committee. ���Central to our success and any state���s success is realizing that members must be involved,��� Karebian said. ���Saying ���we have the people��� isn���t enough if the people aren���t active. We are committed to investing in the strength we gained this year and building on that momentum until MNA is leading the charge for patients, nurses, and working families.��� ���Ann Sincox DECEMBER 2012