A bill to help the state’s overworked nurses is hitting the state’s legislature this week as lawmakers look to offer support for some of the most vital workers.
According to the President of the Minnesota Nurses Association, Mary Turner, the situation is dire, and lawmakers must take action.
Leading the way on the bill is state Sen. Erin Murphy (DFL-64), and she says that nurses need support now more than ever, so they can continue to help support Minnesotans.
“So here we are now, working and hearing from nurses. Both in their contract negotiations and back here at the legislature, saying, ‘We need help,’” Murphy said. “They are telling us more than half of nurses are considering leaving the bedside. And adverse events that should never happen are on the rise.”
The projection of nurses wanting to leave the industry is on top of the wave of nurses who left the profession due to the pandemic, burnout, or having retired.
Republican state Rep. Jim Abeler (35) says the ongoing short-staffing problem must be addressed sooner rather than later.
“Nurses don’t wake up in the morning thinking, ‘I hope I get to go picket at my hospital,’ ‘I hope I get to threaten a strike,’” Abeler said. “They wake up in the morning, hoping they get to go serve somebody.”
The Keep Nurses at the Bedside bill would address staffing issues by providing more nursing instructors and mental health support for nurses, among other things.
Murphy says she’s grateful for Abeler’s involvement in supporting the bipartisan bill, adding that she hopes his support will spur others across the aisle to make nurses a priority this session.
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