Potential MN Nurses Strike?

mom2cka · Jun 10, 2010

I'm conflicted - I do understand that if nurses in prior years didn't stand up the way they have, we wouldn't have made the gains. But - I hear and see the comments posted, and people really do seem to think that we are a group of greedy, undereducated, lazy women. And that's not just from the online hospital propaganda types - that's from comments I've heard from patients, families, people I know, etc. The biggest is - a strike to improve patient care - that just doesn't have much support here in Minnesota. I am not in an involved hospital, and am not union but come from a very strong union area, so have mixed feelings on this one. I think we need to push legislators for stronger staffing - not only in hospitals, but nursing homes and schools, too.

SCSTxRN · Jun 14, 2010

I'm glad that I don't work in one of these hospitals - I was raised to never, ever cross a man's picket line (very traditional upbringing - I don't think my daddy ever got used to the idea of women having a career) ... but I don't know that I could strike if I myself were put in the position.

I know that unions can be awesome - but they can be monsters, as well... especially when the members lose control - and it almost looks like in this situation the members have not had control of this 'new improved union' from the beginning... that scares me.

HM2VikingRN, RN · Jun 15, 2010

OHHHH not only risk patient safety by striking, send hospitals further into the red in this economy by refusing to go to work like a toddler throwing a tantrum, but also file for unemployment and suck funds from the general public....very upstanding of you. You should feel great.

Unemployment may not be paid to striking workers under MN state law.....

HM2VikingRN, RN · Jun 15, 2010

DOWN WITH THE MNA!! This strike is internally about PENSIONS - the MNA has only mentioned 'patient safety concerns' publicly because that's what gets attention. This is not 1935 - it's ridiculous to think hospitals are going to risk unsafe patient conditions or overwork their nurses. Funny how you hear nothing from the MNA until union negotiations are up. If it was a real concern, it'd be in the media constantly. Unions are held to poor legal standards for factually reporting data where hospital administrations are held to very high legal standards - of course the unions are going to look better in the skewed media!! Just wait 3 years when contracts are up again...then we'll all hear about the next round of absurd claims. Don't believe everything you hear - dig a little deeper before supporting this strike.

Pensions are an important part of compensation and future economic security for employees.....If I was facing a 30% pension cut I might be just a bit upset....The complaints are (IMO) additive...excessive workload plus take backs yield adversarial relationships...

casi, ASN, RN · Jun 16, 2010

June 21 Strike Authorization Vote | Minnesota Nurses Association

It looks like the nurses are voting to strike again on June 21st. This time they are going for an open ended strike.

steelydanfan · Jun 17, 2010

I get so tired of posts that talk about striking by nurse being immoral. I am sure that some of them are trolls hired by the hospitals (and shame on you if you don't realize that they are active on this board as well as others). Regarding contract negotiations. I happen to work in Ca. and I cannot believe the amount of apathy in my own hospital, as we are due to enter negotiations soon.

IF YOU DON'T TAKE A STAND, WHO WILL?

If your hospital understands that 100% of the nursing staff will walk off the job if fair negotiations do not happen; then a strike will not be necessary. WE WIN !

WE have to stick together, and explain clearly that we will ALL walk out if demands are not met. They WILL listen. Believe me, the PTB are COUNTING on nurse who express these sentiments such as "I COULDN"T abandon my patients! they are NOT thinking altruism, they are thinking "Another sucker"!

steelydanfan · Jun 17, 2010

Nothing like having the MNA further trash our reputations for the public. Now we're airing "horror stories" of short staffing to sway the public towards our cause. That's not going to back-fire at all I've been following the comments on the Star Tribune's online articles. The stories are being viewed as nurse incompetence, situations that would have been improved by increasing nursing assistants, totally fabricated lies, and mostly the public is stating that if these horrors were really occurring the nurses should have brought it to the public's attention well before contract negotiations began. The other thing it's doing is creating more fear for our patients, just the sort of compassionate move nurses should be making.
As it is, most of the stories WOULD really show the need for increasing nursing assistants; pt falls due to lack of checks, unable to get patient up off the floor because there aren't enough staff, dying patient sitting in own feces because there wasn't anyone to help the nurse clean him up. Time spent ignoring patients to do admissions seems to be a frequent issue. Why would you ignore your other patients entirely while doing an admission that doesn't need to be completed for 24 hours? Where's the insight regarding what's important? Our hospital has recently changed the flyer RN position to an ADT (Admission Discharge Transfer) nurse position to alleviate some of the stresses caused by those situations. I like this sort of creative problem solving. We don't need more nurses on every floor just to manage admissions and discharges.
Of course MNA won't be advocating to increase the number of nursing assistants (though I would personally love more CNAs than RNs on the floors that I've worked) because CNAs don't further line the union bosses pockets.

Leyla, you have totally missed the point.

YES WE SHOULD BE SCARING OUR PATIENTS BECAUSE THEY HAVE THE RIGHT TO UNDERSTAND WHAT IS GOING ON IN OUR HOSPITALS!

This public campaign only became public because your hospital system REFUSED to address the problems brought to them by your nursing staff in PRIVATE, EXTENSIVE discussions. Maybe YOU need to wake up and find out what is going on in your hospital. The statement you made about ADT's is completely ludicrous. If you do not need more A/D nurses, why are you in favor of limiting float nurses to that role?

steelydanfan · Jun 17, 2010

I understand the nurses frustrations, I really do. But it seems so hypocritical to me to tell patients that you are fighting to protect their safety and well being yet you walk out and abandon them at the same time. Many are critically ill, elderly, children. I just feel there is a better way to get what you need. What about suing and petitioning lawmakers? Striking will cause the patients to suffer even more. I just can never agree with the idea of nurses striking. Personally I think it should be illegal, just like air traffic controllers.

Yeah, and look what happened with that. 20% more runway incursions, near misses at an all time high. Yeah, screw the professionals, hire some scabs. That'll do your patients a lot of good. You can't sue for better conditions, learn your rights as employee for heavens sake. Lawmakers have proposed and won staffing ratios; but only if you are a discerning voter, Barbara Boxer was the leader; and today she is in fight with Carly Fiorina who would like to undo it all.

Get educated as to your responsibilities under your nurse practice act, and then vote for those candidates who will help you live up to them.

Leyla~ · Jun 17, 2010

Leyla, you have totally missed the point.
YES WE SHOULD BE SCARING OUR PATIENTS BECAUSE THEY HAVE THE RIGHT TO UNDERSTAND WHAT IS GOING ON IN OUR HOSPITALS! This public campaign only became public because your hospital system REFUSED to address the problems brought to them by your nursing staff in PRIVATE, EXTENSIVE discussions.

Then why now and not over the past 3 years of the current contract? They aren't trying to "inform" the public. They've realized that the public is wholly against them, believes that the strikes are over financial gains, and only now brings these to light in an effort to win back lost public support. If horrible patient care existed, and was ignored by hospital administration, MNA and its members should have the responsibility to inform the public at that time of the problems going on so that they could be informed, and demand better service for the hospitals. Airing "horror stories" now accomplishes nothing.

Maybe YOU need to wake up and find out what is going on in your hospital. The statement you made about ADT's is completely ludicrous. If you do not need more A/D nurses, why are you in favor of limiting float nurses to that role?

Maybe you should read posts more clearly and ask questions if you don't understand. I'd never suggest limiting float nurses to a singular role. If you'll read more clearly it was the FLYERs, not the floats with a change of roles. If anything, changing the flyer to ADT clarifies their role more, gives them clearer direction and responsibility, as well as easing some of the most time consuming tasks of the floor nurses.

I do know what goes on in my hospital. Which is why I further find the fervor over staffing ratios ridiculous. Our hospital already has EXCELLENT staffing ratios. Mandating the 4:1, scheduling to 115% of capacity while only allowing the hospitals to fill to 90% is unnecessary. In our hospital the greatest concerns seem to come from vague contract language by the hospitals regarding floating to more than one floor. Unfortunately, rather than requesting clarification on the language, MNA would rather leave the language alone so it can make wild extrapolations regarding what the hospitals might really mean. Fear seems to be the most used tool in MNAs box.

Furthermore, after learning just how much of our contract negotiations are being led by NNU I further understand that NNU and MNA aren't interested in Minnesota nurses' needs, they're simply interested in furthering their own national agenda. It doesn't matter that healthcare in MN is excellent. It doesn't matter that we have great patient outcomes. What matters is accomplishing their staffing ratios in MN so that they can win other states to NNU and force hospitals with lousy ratios and outcomes to NNUs ways.

The one-day strike was DISGUSTING. The hatred for the replacement workers who provided care when MNA walked out is awful. Partying on the picket line, to the point where news sources describe the atmosphere as "festive," makes me sick. A security guard where I work even reported a group of nurses who were intoxicated on the picket line during the overnight shift. There were more patient complaints at my hospital regarding the noise from the picket line. We don't have foot traffic at my hospital. Using bull-horns and chanting accomplishes NOTHING but disruption to the sick patients that they supposedly "care" about. I have yet to see a single word of sympathy expressed by MNA towards the numerous lives disturbed by the nurses walking out. They are so focused on their own goals they don't realize the added stress to women who gave birth that day with nurses who don't have established relationships with the doctors. They don't realize that it's more than a simple inconvenience for patients to have to reschedule their surgeries. Sure "elective" sounds like "unnecessary," but I doubt those waiting for joint replacements, hysterectomies and other "elective" surgeries feel they are unnecessary. Because nurses walked out, our community members were forced to continue to live with pain. Many of those patient had to find friends and family members to help take care of them for the surgery, or to assist with child care. They'll have that inconvenience once again. Some of those patients had to take PTO for their surgery; many employers won't allow staff to rescind PTO once approved. Will they have more PTO for the next time their surgery is scheduled? MNA members are so damned focused on their own goals they're oblivious to the consequences for our patients.

And what did the one-day strike accomplish other than disruption to patient care? As far as I can tell nothing.

SCSTxRN · Jun 17, 2010

I get so tired of posts that talk about striking by nurse being immoral. I am sure that some of them are trolls hired by the hospitals (and shame on you if you don't realize that they are active on this board as well as others). Regarding contract negotiations. I happen to work in Ca. and I cannot believe the amount of apathy in my own hospital, as we are due to enter negotiations soon. ...

I sincerely hope my post did not come across as calling them immoral. Nurses are no more or less amoral than the rest of society. My biggest issue is - at least according to the stories I read - the fact that the union started with complaints about money, and most members said they weren't willing to strike over money. Then the union decided to target staffing - which was pretty much the only reason that most of the nurses were willing to strike.

FWIW - I have NEVER seen someone walk into contract negotiations and walk away with everything they wanted; it's just not the way the game is played.

Do we need staffing ratios? Absodamnlutely... but I agree with another poster that I would rather see more CNA's on the floor than RN's... especially given that, for the same salary, you could get two CNAs for the cost of one RN. CNA's job descriptions don't include the high acuity tasks - I'd rather ask for help lifting a patient and get someone five minutes behinds on baths or linen changes than on meds, honestly... and I do help my CNA's with both - ftr.

JMO, useless as it is.

Man In Black · Jun 18, 2010

Furthermore, after learning just how much of our contract negotiations are being led by NNU I further understand that NNU and MNA aren't interested in Minnesota nurses' needs, they're simply interested in furthering their own national agenda. It doesn't matter that healthcare in MN is excellent. It doesn't matter that we have great patient outcomes. What matters is accomplishing their staffing ratios in MN so that they can win other states to NNU and force hospitals with lousy ratios and outcomes to NNUs ways.
The one-day strike was DISGUSTING. The hatred for the replacement workers who provided care when MNA walked out is awful. Partying on the picket line, to the point where news sources describe the atmosphere as "festive," makes me sick. A security guard where I work even reported a group of nurses who were intoxicated on the picket line during the overnight shift. There were more patient complaints at my hospital regarding the noise from the picket line. We don't have foot traffic at my hospital. Using bull-horns and chanting accomplishes NOTHING but disruption to the sick patients that they supposedly "care" about. I have yet to see a single word of sympathy expressed by MNA towards the numerous lives disturbed by the nurses walking out. They are so focused on their own goals they don't realize the added stress to women who gave birth that day with nurses who don't have established relationships with the doctors. They don't realize that it's more than a simple inconvenience for patients to have to reschedule their surgeries. Sure "elective" sounds like "unnecessary," but I doubt those waiting for joint replacements, hysterectomies and other "elective" surgeries feel they are unnecessary. Because nurses walked out, our community members were forced to continue to live with pain. Many of those patient had to find friends and family members to help take care of them for the surgery, or to assist with child care. They'll have that inconvenience once again. Some of those patients had to take PTO for their surgery; many employers won't allow staff to rescind PTO once approved. Will they have more PTO for the next time their surgery is scheduled? MNA members are so damned focused on their own goals they're oblivious to the consequences for our patients.
And what did the one-day strike accomplish other than disruption to patient care? As far as I can tell nothing.

MNA did try to minimize the impact of the strike on patients. How far in advance was the strike announced? At least 3 weeks from my memory. Patient's had ample notice and I really doubt that there was a single employer who did not work with those who were possibly affected....Painting others with the broad brush of accusation of not caring assumes motivations that were not in evidence..... Those who are willing to take a stand are those who really care about and are trying to shape a better future...

Scabs don't deserve respect IMO. If you cross a picket line as an individual than you need to be willing to take the heat.

Leyla~ · Jun 19, 2010

MNA did try to minimize the impact of the strike on patients.

So what part of chanting with bull horns and driving up and down the street in front of hospital zones honking, as well as encouraging/forcing other vehicles to honk by stepping into the streets was designed to minimize the impact on the patients? We had very sick people trying to rest and heal being disturbed by this useless noise. There were MNA members who "care about patients" blocking hospital entrances so patients couldn't easily access the services they needed or visit their sick family members. How is this "minimizing the impact?"

Am I supposed to be somehow convinced of MNA compassion because patients had much needed surgeries rescheduled rather than being abandoned on the floor? My friend's aunt had to have her knee replacement rescheduled for a month out. Though another strike may postpone that for her once again. I'm sure she's very grateful to MNA for their consideration so that she may spend at least another 2 months in pain. I'm so glad MNA worked so hard to "minimize the impact."

NNU wanted a strike to gain national attention and push their agenda. Patients were the last concern.