Eileen Montecalvo, a Malden resident and lifelong learner, is set to graduate with a master's degree in nursing at 81 years old after being inspired by a newspaper photo decades ago.
Medical professionals are five times more likely to be attacked, and most have experienced violence or threats on the job, especially in emergency medicine. An experienced nurse who was punched while working in the emergency department shared her story and the impact of the attack with WJZ Investigates.
It never ceases to amaze those of us who have read the research and know the truth, just how "uninformed" many hospital administrators claim to be. This is not a guess or an estimate; there is well-documented research showing that safe staffing is best for patients, nurses and even the hospitals, themselves.
Nurses at Miami Valley Hospital are working on organizing to form a union, and organizers say they have been coming up against tough pushback from the hospital.
Staffing ratios refer to the number of patients a nurse is responsible for caring for. Nursing advocates across the state have repeatedly tried to get laws passed mandating certain nurse-to-patient ratios for different hospital settings, but few lawmakers have ever backed them.
More than 15,000 nurses in Duluth and the Twin Cities recently launched contract negotiations with area hospitals.
The Minnesota Nurses Association (MNA), who represents nurses with Aspirus St. Luke’s and Essentia Health, held a press conference in St. Paul Thursday morning to go over their concerns.
An MNA representative specifically said they had concerns that hospitals were operating with unsafe staffing, compromising on patient care, and driving experienced nurses out of the profession. Nurses are now pushing for a minimum nurse-to-patient ratio. MNA said that research shows that lower nurse-to-patient assignments reduce hospital infections, readmissions, and deaths, and lowers healthcare costs.