In light of the fact that inflation is at a 40-year high, the Minnesota Nurses Association has suggested a 30 percent salary raise over the next three years.
Health-care organisations have suggested a wage rise of 10% to 12%.
The union’s salary proposals, which still call for 29 and 30 percent rises over three years, are unreasonable and costly, according to Omodt.
The scarcity of nurses is nothing new.
The number of health-care personnel in the United States has still not returned to its pre-pandemic levels. However, as a consequence of the pandemic, which caused many in the industry to quit due to stress or health issues.
In comparison to February 2020, analysts estimate that the profession is short 37,000 people.
Additionally, the demand for healthcare services has been gradually rising, and a backlog of patients who put off seeking treatment are now doing so, contributing to the shortfall.
The fact that it has come to a strike, said Brianna Hnath, a nurse at North Memorial in Robbinsdale, “We’re extremely unhappy and disappointed.”
But we believe that this is the only way we can do to demonstrate to administration just how crucial a strong nursing core is to a hospital, she said, according to The Washington Post.
Hospitals accuse us of being at fault, yet despite our full participation, we have made no progress.
On Monday evening, the nurses’ union expressed satisfaction with the answer.
They tweeted, “Day 1 was a huge success and we’ll be back on the line again tomorrow.”
It has been revealed that nurses standing in for those who are on strike in Minnesota are getting paid $8,000 for five days of work. The striking locals have warned that their substitutes represent a danger to patients.
The greatest private-sector nurses’ strike in American history began on Monday with an estimated 15,000 Minnesota nurses walking off the job in protest over low pay and staffing levels.
Hospitals bused in nurses from neighbouring states in response, while recruiters looked for quick replacements.
A bus load of replacement nurses was observed arriving at Abbott Northwestern in Minneapolis while striking nurses were preparing their barricades.
According to CBS, online recruiters were looking for certified nurses who would be paid $8,000 for the three days of the Minnesota protest in addition to two days of training.
The substitute healthcare workers, according to the striking nurses, were subpar.
According to Abbott Northwestern Hospital registered nurse Angela Becchetti, “They don’t know our regulations or our practises.”
They are unable to learn these things in a few days of training, which is a problem for us since they don’t know where things are or how our unit or patients function.
However, the hospitals said the temporary nurses were capable and competent.
“The substitute RNs are excellent, experienced nurses who are licenced by the Minnesota Board of Nursing and fulfil the same credentialing criteria as our staff nurses,” Allina Health said in a statement.
Ilhan Omar, a member of the “Squad” who represents Minnesota in Congress, and Tim Waltz, the state’s Democrat governor, both support the nurses’ strike.
Omar tweeted, “Overwhelmed by the enthusiasm and devotion of these nurses.” I’ll stick with you for as long it takes, @mnnurses, to get you the care you deserve.
Nurses have risked their lives to provide treatment for Minnesotans during this epidemic, said Waltz. They should be compensated decently and work in a safe environment.
According to The Washington Post, Minnesota’s issue is especially severe because of its elderly population, which puts extra strain on the wards, as well as a low unemployment rate, which reduces the motivation for individuals to enter the difficult and underpaid profession.
According to Nurse Journal, the typical registered nurse in Minnesota makes $84,030 a year, or $40.40 an hour, ranking the state 13th in the country.
Registered nurses in California make $124,000 annually, while salaries are lowest in southern and midwestern states, with Alabama paying just $61,000.
A strike by University of Wisconsin nurses was nearly avoided this week, but Oregon’s 7,000 healthcare workers have also approved a work stoppage, making Minnesota far from the only state facing strike action. Mental health workers are now on strike in Hawaii and California in protest of the understaffing.
Hospitals reacted to the strike in Minnesota by cancelling non-essential appointments and busing in substitute nurses to care for patients in need.
Chris Rubesch, a nurse at Essentia Health in Duluth and vice president of the Minnesota Nurses Association, said he was striking out of resentment at not being able to tend to his patients.
He said to The Washington Post, “I can’t provide my patients with the treatment they deserve.”
‘Call lights go unanswered. If a patient has to use the restroom or has soiled themselves, they should only have to wait a few seconds or minutes, but this process may take up to ten minutes. They must be done right away.
Some nurses said that up to 10 more workers were needed for their shifts.
A nurse at Abbott Northwestern in Minneapolis named Kelley Anaas, 37, told the newspaper that she worries about the staffing deficit every day and that her workload has progressively risen over the course of her 14 years there.
She said that lead nurses were being selected with less than a year of experience and that nurses on her team were attempting to visit two patients at once.
It consumes you, she added.
“I wouldn’t want to leave their side if it was a member of my family in that bed.”
Private hospital representatives in Minnesota charged the unions of not doing enough to look for a resolution.
The union and the hospitals and health authorities have been in contract discussions since March; the contracts expired in May and June.
Paul Omodt, a spokesperson for the Twin Cities Hospital Group, which represents four hospital systems where nurses are on strike in the Minneapolis-St. Paul region, said that nurses “have persistently refused to go to mediation.”
“They may choose to strike.” The nurses are on strike.
Speaking on behalf of Allina Health, another hospital system in the Twin Cities where nurses are striking, Conny Bergerson stated, “Rushing to a strike does not help our staff, patients, or the communities we serve.” Allina Health is one of the hospital systems where nurses are striking.
However, the Minnesota Nurses Association said that throughout contract talks, hospital officials had “continued to resist solutions” to understaffing and safety.
According to the article, in order to make up for labour shortages, nurses are being required to care for more patients at the bedside, which is worsening burnout and high turnover.