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minnesota nursing accent
Feature Story “Power of the collective bargaining unit benefits all nurses”: Fairview Southdale Nurses win staffing victory
Minnesota Nursing Accent
M Health Fairview Southdale Hospital nurses are celebrating a staffing victory. After months of pushing back, saying no, and filing Concern for Safe Staffing forms, the employer finally heard the message: One nurse to six patients is not possible! “It’s a long time coming,” said Southdale MNA Chair Ericka Helling, RN. “What we have here is not sustainable. There’s a chronic nursing assistant shortage. Nurses were working in assistant roles and were expected to cover those, and those grids were not sustainable.” Last fall, Fairview forced grid changes on nurses that created unsafe conditions where nurses were managing six patients at a time at certain census points. “We told stories about how that was untenable and unsafe,” Helling continued, “There were lots of tears. They care about their practice. We went through mediation and had a petition go through the house. More than 900 nurses signed.” Nurses gave the signatures to the employer and again, nothing happened. Then nurses notified the employer of an informational picket. “We had a couple of legislators come to the picket line who had conversations with nurses,” said Helling, “And again, the employer moved forward with the grid changes.” In addition to signing a petition and holding an informational picket, nurses also wore stickers and shared emotional patient stories of unsafe events with state representatives and senators, the news media, and the public. Nurses throughout Fairview Southdale also filled out, “untenable amounts of Concern for Safe Staffing forms,” Helling added. “Finally, the message was received,” Helling continued, “Nurses are done risking their licensure. They’re emotionally sick. They’re done. Finally they recognized those grids don’t work.” While Fairview Southdale nurses consider this a big win, “it’s a win where people are exhausted in the middle of a pandemic,” she shares, “We’re not asking for it to be easy, we’re asking for it to be safe. It shouldn’t be so hard that you’re breaking yourself and you’re in tears.” In the end, the many concerted, collective efforts by MNA nurses made the difference. The employer agreed to return three stations that had been previously taken away and returned Observation to a 5:1 ratio for patient care on the night shift. “Your efforts made the difference. Your voices created change, and a positive outcome is the reward for the effort,” Fairview Southdale MNA Chairs said to their fellow nurses in a letter announcing the victory, “Nurses unite and transformation happens. The power of the collective bargaining unit benefits all nurses.” “Anything that’s good isn’t easy to win,” Helling added. Attributing the win to “collective bargaining, sticking it out and going to bat for one another,” she shared one last piece of advice to all nurses: “Keep your eye on the prize and never ever stop. And that’s exactly what we did.”
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