Your monthly support provides voters the knowledge they need to make confident decisions at the polls. Donate today.
Massachusetts Nurses Association
This article is outside of Ballotpedia's coverage scope and does not receive scheduled updates. If you would like to help our coverage scope grow, consider donating to Ballotpedia.
| Massachusetts Nurses Association | |
| Basic facts | |
| Type: | Labor union and professional association |
| Website: | Official website |
The Massachusetts Nurses Association, a labor union and professionalization association, represented 23,000 members on political and legislative matters as of 2018. It supported Massachusetts Question 1, the Nurse-Patient Assignment Limits Initiative, in November 2018.
History
The Massachusetts Nurses Association was started in 1903. According to its website, it "created the Nurse Practice Act, the RN license designation, developed a uniform curriculum for the education of nurses, wrote the first code of ethics for nurses and passed, or helped to pass, nearly every state law governing nursing practice including the law allowing nurses to unionize in Massachusetts."[1]
Mission
As of November 2018, the Massachusetts Nurses Association listed the following goals:[1]
| “ |
|
” |
Political activity
Ballot measure activity
Massachusetts Question 1, Nurse-Patient Assignment Limits Initiative
The Massachusetts Nurses Association (MNA) supported Massachusetts Question 1, the Nurse-Patient Assignment Limits Initiative, which was on the ballot November 6, 2018. The initiative was designed to establish patient assignment limits for registered nurses working in hospitals..
The MNA contributed $10.27 million to the Committee to Ensure Safe Patient Care, the official campaign in support of Question 1. The committee argued that limits on how many patients a nurse can be assigned to would allow nurses to spend more time with patients and therefore reduce mistakes and readmissions.[3]
Official argument
The following official argument was submitted by RN Donna Kelly-Williams, representing the MNA, in favor of Question 1:[4]
| “ |
I have worked as a bedside nurse for 40 years. I joined nurses from across Massachusetts to write this law and place safe patient limits on the ballot to improve the quality of patient care in Massachusetts hospitals. Independent scientific studies have consistently found that quality of care decreases dramatically when nurses are forced to care for too many patients at once, putting patients at increased risk for complications like pneumonia, medication errors, and more. This initiative establishes a safe maximum limit for the number of patients assigned to nurses in all hospital areas to ensure our patients receive the care and attention they need. It provides maximum flexibility, requiring hospitals to adjust Registered Nurse staffing levels based on the needs of patients and does so without reducing other members of the health care workforce. A recent survey found that 86% of Registered Nurses in Massachusetts favor this question.[2] |
” |
Anderson Robbins Research survey commissioned by MNA
A survey of nurses conducted by Anderson Robbins Research and commissioned by the MNA was released in May 2018. The survey questions were asked between April 9 and April 25, 2018. The survey polled nurses, many of whom were members of the MNA. Among the nurses surveyed, the following results were reported:[5]
| The survey results can be expanded here | ||
|---|---|---|
When asked about the challenges faced by bedside nurses, the following responses were given:[5]
|
To read a full summary of the nurse survey, click here.
2014 initiative activity
In 2014, the Massachusetts legislature passed HB 4228, which stipulated that nurses in intensive care units can be assigned a maximum of two patients at one time. The legislation was passed in response to two initiatives that were proposed that same year. One initiative would have placed more stringent caps on nurse-to-patient ratios in intensive care units. The other initiative would have regulated the annual operating margins, chief executive officer compensation and financial asset disclosures of hospitals and certain other health-care facilities that accepted public funds. The initiative was supported by the Massachusetts Nurses Association and opposed by the Massachusetts Health and Hospital Association, mirroring the support and opposition campaigns of Question 1. Both 2014 initiatives were withdrawn in response to a compromise that resulted in the legislature passing HB 4228.[6][7]
Overview of ballot measure support and opposition
The following table details the Massachusetts Nurse Association's ballot measure stances available on Ballotpedia:
| Ballot measure support and opposition for Massachusetts Nurses Association | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Ballot measure | Year | Position | Status |
| Massachusetts Question 1, Nurse-Patient Assignment Limits Initiative | 2018 | Supported a "yes" vote |  Defeated
|
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms 'Massachusetts Nurses Association'. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Massachusetts Nurses Association, "About MNA," accessed November 1, 2018
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Safe Patient Limits, "What we stand for," accessed September 15, 2018
- ↑ Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth, "2018 Information For Voters," accessed October 5, 2018
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Cision PR Newswire, "MNA: 'State of Patient Care in Massachusetts' Survey Released for National Nurses Week Finds Nurses Sounding the Alarm Over Deteriorating Conditions for Hospitalized Patients and Need for Safe Patient Limits," May 8, 2018
- ↑ ‘’The General Court of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts’’, “Bill H.4228,” accessed December 30, 2017
- ↑ ‘’The Salem News’’, “Nurses press for patient ratio limit,” September 14, 2017
| |||||||
