The Keeping Nurses at the Bedside Act was introduced to address the unacceptable status quo in hospitals, where both nurses and patients are harmed due to chronic understaffing. Nurses have shared many stories of unsafe conditions for patients, nurses, and other staff due to unsafe staffing, where their concerns have been ignored repeatedly. This bill is a well-designed, heavily-negotiated version of the original bill introduced 15 years ago to address this issue, which has only gotten worse with time.
As the House author of this bill, I have worked extensively to solicit input from hospitals to ensure that the language is clear, sophisticated, and actionable upon passage. This has included many, many conversations with chief nurse officers, chief executive officers, the Minnesota Hospital Association, and Mayo Clinic. Based on the numerous meetings, conversations, emails and exchanged draft language, my impression was that we were making excellent progress.
Mayo Clinic did not demand an exemption until this week. The exemption that Mayo proposes would exempt, in essence, every hospital in Minnesota. This would make the bill meaningless and is a non-starter. Mayo has thus far refused to provide more reasonable language to address the clear concerns I expressed during our most recent meeting before they cut off communication.
Minnesota nurses are counting on us to get this bill across the finish line in a form that meaningfully achieves its goals of supporting nurses and patients statewide. I will continue championing the Keeping Nurses at the Bedside Act and will negotiate in good faith with any concerned stakeholders.
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