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In Day 6 Of Nurse Strike, Nurses Say Patient Care Suffering

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – Friday marked the sixth day of the Allina nurses strike and there was still no idea when the hospital system and nurses will negotiate again.

The Minnesota Nurses Association (MNA) is unhappy with a proposed health care change Allina wants to put into place. The nurses' contracts expired May 31.

On Friday afternoon, MNA union members revealed it is filing more than 20 complaints against the five hospitals involved in the strike. The MNA says it has sources inside the hospital telling them some nurses are unqualified for their positions.

Fighting a rare neurological disorder at Abbot Northwestern Hospital, Emily Janisch found herself in the middle of her staff's battle.

"I hope the best for the nurses on strike I built some great relationships with them, at same time, I've had wonderful care with travel nurses as well," Janisch said.

Janisch has been at the hospital for more than two weeks.

Last Sunday, 4,800 metro area nurses walked off the job and 1,400 replacement nurses from around the country began filling in. Allina says workflow is running similar to usual even though there are fewer nurses on staff. The replacement nurses have been working every day of the strike for 12 hours per shift.

"It's very upsetting to hear our patients aren't being taken care of but they continue to support us," MNA member Angela Bechetti said. "That's our home in there and Allina should have prepared for this."

The sources for the complaints remain unknown to the public.

Some complaints say some replacement nurses are working outside of their areas of specialty, and in at least one case, sloppy work may have led to a patient's death.

Allina denies that allegation and many others brought forth by MNA.

"Nurses have many years of experience in the exact fields," United Hospital Chief Nursing Officer Mandy Richards said.

Another complaint alleges a replacement nurse grabbed a patient's genitals and commented on the size.

"It is absolutely not true, nothing like that happened," Allina spokesperson David Kanahan said.

Kanahan said Allina is working to investigate every claim by MNA but hasn't found any to be true yet.

While stories from both sides continue to be wildly different, patients like Emily Janisch hope a resolution is in the near future.

"I can really understand both sides of the coin here," Janisch said.

Allina health system which oversees the five hospitals invovled in the strike says it is looking into all of the union's allegations.

The hospitals haven't fired or suspended any of the replacement staff.

The Minnesota Department of Health is also investigating but says it can't comment on ongoing investigations.
Both sides say the other won't come to the table for more negotiations.

Many nurses go back to work as soon as Sunday.

MNA says before another strike can happen, there would have to be another round of negotiations.

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