Hundreds of Minnesota nurses to rally TODAY!

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.workdayminnesota.org/index.php?news_6_4411

26 March 2010
MINNETONKA - More than 900 Minnesota nurses are expected to gather Saturday for a boisterous public rally focused on the importance of patient safety and advocacy as RNs continue contract negotiations with several Twin Cities hospital systems.
The rally will take place Saturday, March 27, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Hopkins High School, 2400 Lindbergh Drive, Minnetonka.

“On the heels of the historic healthcare legislation passed earlier this week, attention is focused on this industry like never before,” said Minnesota Nurses Association President Linda Hamilton, who works as an RN in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Children’s Hospital in Minneapolis. “As nurses, we’re tired of seeing our patients suffer and in some cases even die because hospitals are putting profits ahead of everything else.”

More than 72,000 people across the United States needlessly die every year because hospitals don’t have enough nurses on staff, Hamilton said, referencing a 2005 Medical Care Journal study.

“That’s almost 1,500 Minnesotans every year,” she said. “If you don’t have enough nurses working, people are going to die when they don’t need to. That’s why the focus of our contract negotiations is to ensure hospitals allow for the kind of safe staffing levels that will prevent Minnesota families from watching a loved one potentially become one of these statistics.”

The current labor contract between 12,000 Minnesota Nurses and six Twin Cities hospital systems (North Memorial, HealthEast, Allina, Methodist, Children’s and Fairview) expires on May 31. After several weeks of bargaining, nurses will vote on May 19 to either ratify a contract or authorize a strike.

FULL story at link.