National Nurses United

A P R I L | M AY | J U N E 2 0 2 1 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 N A T I O N A L N U R S E 7 deserve our support. Their jobs are critical to keeping patients safe and providing the highest quality care. But too often, nurses are stretched too thin, caring for too many patients with not enough support. We can prevent that by ensur- ing nurses are adequately staffed, and protecting their ability to go to hospital man- agement, without fearing potential retaliation." "Safe staffing levels save lives and con- tribute to lower patient mortality rates," said Rep. Schakowsky, who was proud to reintro- duce the bill on International Nurses Day with Sen. Brown. "Numerous studies have shown that safe nurse-to-patient staffing ratios result in higher quality care for patients, lower health care costs, and a bet- ter workplace for nurses. This bill will improve the health of patients by improving nursing care: establishing minimum regis- tered nurse-to-patient ratios in hospitals, providing whistle-blower protections to nurses who advocate on behalf of their patients, and investing in training and career development to retain hard-working nurses in the workforce." —Ty Richardson Episode 2, "Deadly Shame: Moral Distress," describes how nurses experience moral injury when they know the right thing to do, but insti- tutional failures resulting from a money-driven health care system make it impossible for them to do it. Furthermore, they experience moral injury when they are disregarded and aban- doned by employers and elected officials. Episode 3, "Deadly Shame: Nurse Power," outlines how collective power allows nurses to address the care penalty, moral distress, as well as the short-staffing, lack of resources, and discrimination that are inherent in the for-profit health care system. The animated series is based on the find- ings of NNU's white paper, "Deadly Shame: Redressing the Devaluation of Registered Nurse Labor Through Pandemic Equity." —Rachel Berger MINNESOTA M innesota Nurses Association RNs at Fairview Southdale Hos- pital in Edina, Minn., held an informational picket on the afternoon of May 12, about M Health Fairview's plan to cut staffing for patients in vitally important care departments. Close to 300 people attended, including nurses, leg- islators, and community supporters. While nurses have tried to engage in dis- cussions with hospital management on solutions, Southdale staffing plans show managers intend to cut anyway, including reducing medical-surgical department staffing. The effect will immediately increase the patient load from between four and five to six patient assignments for nurses work- ing on most inpatient departments. Erica Helling, RN, works at Fairview Southdale Hospital and shared more about why she and other nurses were on the picket line: "In the last year, post-pan- demic, our employer has come to us and said that they need to change our grids, meaning that they want to increase the workload for nurses, particularly on nights from 11 to 7. They want nurses to go from a 5:1 ratio to a 6:1 ratio, and we say that isn't safe. Statistics show that every time a nurse picks up another patient, all of their other patients have the probability of doing worse. And this is something we say no to." Nearly 1,000 nurses previously signed a petition telling Fairview that the staffing plans they have created are untenable and downright dangerous. Instead of respecting and listening to nurses' professional judge- ment, Fairview Southdale Hospital labeled current nurse staffing as "unsustainable." "Nurses understand that we do the work; we're the ones who recognize when [patients are] in trouble. And if you have less eyes on patients, you have more trou- ble," Helling said. "so we're here to inform the public that there's potential for patient safety issues, and we're hoping our employer understands that we're serious about our practice and that we want to take good care of the patients." Minnesota State Senators Melisa Franzen (DFL-Edina), Jen McEwan (DFL- Duluth), and Erin Murphy (DFL-St. Paul) came out to the picket line to show their support for nurses. Murphy, who is an RN, shared her thoughts around the importance of safe staffing, saying, "When you're in a hospital, you're there for good nursing care. When hospitals propose to cut the nursing, what they're saying is they're devaluing your care. We need our nurses inside this hospi- tal, in numbers enough to provide the best care you deserve." Today, more than ever, Fairview appears intent on protecting their bottom line over patients' lives. "We are constantly being asked to give more and more with less. Eventually, we will have no more to give," said Kristy Ricks, another registered nurse at Southdale. "The staffing levels management intends to force on nurses is simply impossible and may lead to poten- tially unsafe situations. Nurses have told management this repeatedly. We need them to hear us." —Staff report Minnesota nurses picket for safe staffing RNs at Fairview Hospital protest dangerous staffing plans

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