About 15,000 Minnesota Nurses Association nurses held a 3-day strike across 15 hospitals this week, including Essentia Health St. Mary’s Medical Center (Duluth, MN and Superior, WI) and St. Luke’s (Duluth, MN). Questions have come up about how it came to this, what this means for these local health systems, and the state of labor negotiations. Dr. Jannifer Gregory David, Interim Associate Dean and Associate Professor of Human Resource Management at the Labovitz School of Business and Economics at the University of Minnesota Duluth is available as an expert on the topic.
Jannifer Gregory David, Ph.D.
“The three day MNA strike sends a clear signal to the affected hospitals that their nurses need the working situation to improve. Nationwide nurses are reporting higher levels of burnout than before the COVID-19 pandemic. This has resulted in historically high turnover levels. Staffing stress from high turnover means lower overall staffing or staffing with a larger number of new nurses who may be less familiar with hospital procedures. These two factors may create higher risks to patient safety. Nurses do not take the decision to strike lightly. They highly value the safety of their patients and recognize the costs of this strike to everyone involved. However, years of working under pandemic conditions have pushed the MNA nurses to this action.”
About Dr. David
Jannifer Gregory David serves as the Interim Associate Dean and is an Associate Professor of Human Resource Management at the Labovitz School of Business and Economics at the University of Minnesota Duluth. She teaches in the areas of employee staffing, international human resource management, and labor history. Her research projects have studied the role of work passion in employee recruiting and selection and the use of contingent workers and how they affect the work relationships of others within organizations. Her work has been published in Personnel Review, Human Resource Planning, Journal of Leadership and Organizational Studies, and other human resources related outlets. She received her Ph.D. in Labor and Industrial Relations from Michigan State University.
Contact
Jannifer Gregory David, Ph.D.
Interim Associate Dean | +1 218 726 8692 | [email protected]
Labovitz School of Business and Economics