Nurses union applauds staffing level protections in tentative agreement

“Unprecedented language… to address chronic understaffing in our hospitals for the first time in history,” says the Minnesota Nurses Association about tentative contract agreements with 15 hospitals in the Twin Cities and Duluth-Superior, averting a strike that was set to begin December 11th.

The nurses union says changes would vary between the different hospitals, but include measures to prevent reductions in staffing levels without consensus between nurses and management… to help protect nurses from discipline when they raise concerns about unsafe assignments… and of review staffing levels by nurses and management if preventable problems such as nurse injuries or patient falls increase more than a certain amount.  Twin Cities Hospitals Group spokesman Paul Omodt (OH-mott) says, “The new tentative agreement shows that when we work together, we can develop staffing language that meets the unique needs of our hospitals, our nurses and, most importantly, our patients.”