Without nurses, who will care for you?

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey declared Sept.14, 2023, "Abbott Northwestern Hospital Day," as hospital management broke ground on a new building that same day.   

What the public doesn't know is that Abbott Northwestern is spending thousands of dollars on outside consultants to compare our staffing levels to those in other states and municipalities and implement a plan to gut nurse staffing levels. The current proposals increase workload and patient care assignments by 20% or more. There is a large amount of research that shows cutting hospital nurse staffing increases patient complications, morbidity, and mortality and even more research that shows already unsafe staffing levels are the predominant factor in why nurses are leaving or not coming back to hospitals.

Frey's declaration is profoundly out of touch and appears to be a cover-up for what is happening inside the walls of the largest hospital in the Twin Cities. Our patients – the residents of Minneapolis and its surrounding communities – deserve high-quality, safe patient care provided by experienced nurses. Minnesota’s reputation as a leader in healthcare is once again being threatened by highly paid corporate bullies who are prioritizing their own pocketbooks over patient care and driving nurses away. Without nurses, who will care for you? 

 

Rebekah Nelson, RN

Abbott Northwestern employee/

elected labor leader