Worsening nursing shortages and patient care delays have increased attention to hospital staffing legislation that has languished in Minnesota for 15 years.
The Senate Health and Human Services Committee on Wednesday advanced a bill that would require that nurses and administrators work together on committees in every hospital to set staffing levels. The bill also set reporting requirements and penalties if hospitals fall short of those agreed-upon levels.
Nurses argued that hospitals have failed to maintain adequate staffing levels on their own, driving thousands of nurses from bedside care. The MNA reached out to 2,403 nurses who left their union hospital jobs last year and received survey responses from 499. More than 70% cited burnout or understaffing, or both, as reasons for leaving. The majority had worked fewer than five years in their hospitals.
“Many of these nurses are standing on the sidelines, watching, waiting, ready to return if working conditions improve,” said Wendy Wahl, adding that she is exhausted after being a nurse for 20 years. She works at the Sanford hospital in Thief River Falls.