[xtypo_dropcap]I[/xtypo_dropcap] In an ongoing effort to demand improved patient care conditions in hospitals, as many as 25,000 registered nurses (RNs) from California and Minnesota plan to strike on June 10, announced the California Nurses Association and the Minnesota Nurses Association, all of whose nurses belong to National Nurses United (NNU), the largest union for RNs in the country.
On May 12, more than 1,000 RNs gathered in Washington, D.C., to rally for patient care reform. The event was sponsored by NNU. They support legislative bills S 1031/HR 2133 and S 1788/HR 2381, as reported in a press release from the California Nurses’ Association. Bill S 1031 will ensure that enough nurses are on duty to take care of patients through the establishment of minimum nurse-to-patient ratios in all U.S. hospitals, while S 1788 will help reduce patient accidents by establishing safe patient lifting and handling policies. The NNU plans to institute collective bargaining standards to reach agreements.
Bill S 1031 was modeled after a California law that is already in place in the state. A study by the University of Pennsylvania released in April said the law can reduce postsurgical patient deaths by 14 percent in New Jersey and 11 percent in Pennsylvania, reported the California Nurses Association. NNU co-President Deborah Burger said the study showed “what California nurses have seen everyday at the bedside since passage of the law—safer care conditions, an enhanced quality of life for patients, and as an added bonus, reduced burnout for nurses, which mitigates the nursing shortage.”
The proposed S 1788 will help prevent nurses from suffering injuries while transferring patients. The U.S. Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis, who addressed a conference held during the nurses’ visit to the nation’s capital, said that the 2008 Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that more than 36,000 health care workers were injured while lifting and handling patients. She said 12 percent of nurses who plan to leave the profession cite back injuries as one of their reasons for departure.
The NNU gained more support when around 1,300 RNs from the University of Chicago Medical Center (UCMC) joined the union in response to “management resistance” to improved patient care conditions, reported the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) on May 21. The Chicago nurses sought minimum nurse-to-patient ratios and an end to mandatory shift rotations.
The AFL-CIO said studies revealed that fatigue and reduced attentiveness from alternating between working on days and nights can result in “performance deficits” and “medical errors.”
On May 28, the California Nurses Association announced that RNs in California and Minnesota will conduct a one-day strike on June 10 to demand sufficient nurse staffing in U.S. hospitals. Nurses in Minnesota have been pushing for minimum nurse-to-patient ratios to be enacted into law. NNU co-President Karen Higgins, however, said that hospitals in Minnesota “just absolutely do not, have not, and would not talk about this issue.”
Nurses also want to guarantee enough staffing during meal and rest breaks, because even if “it’s not for long periods of time, putting patients at risk is not acceptable,” said Higgins.
Minnesota Nurses Association President Linda Hamilton explained why there is a need for a strike in a news report released by the AFL-CIO today: “Twin Cities’ hospitals are dangerously understaffed, and our patients are needlessly suffering and sometimes even dying as a result.” But, as there are still several days before the proposed date of the strike, Higgins conveyed that the nurses are hoping to find a resolution to the issue in lieu of a strike.
Nurses in California, on the other hand, want to “strengthen enforcement of the ratios and guard against politicians and the industry who seek to roll them back,” reported the California Nurses Association.
According to Higgins, NNU ultimately hopes there will be a federal mandate for minimum nurse-to-patient ratios because she says this is a struggle nurses face everywhere in the nation. “It shouldn’t be that you have to go to California to know that there’s a limit of how many patients a nurse is going to be taking care of … and that nowhere else in the country can you be assured that’s going to happen. It shouldn’t be that we pick and choose states. It needs to be done on a national basis.”
In regards to the health care reform bill, Higgins said, “It’s one thing to provide health insurance; it’s another thing to actually provide safe care. They go hand in hand.”
On May 12, more than 1,000 RNs gathered in Washington, D.C., to rally for patient care reform. The event was sponsored by NNU. They support legislative bills S 1031/HR 2133 and S 1788/HR 2381, as reported in a press release from the California Nurses’ Association. Bill S 1031 will ensure that enough nurses are on duty to take care of patients through the establishment of minimum nurse-to-patient ratios in all U.S. hospitals, while S 1788 will help reduce patient accidents by establishing safe patient lifting and handling policies. The NNU plans to institute collective bargaining standards to reach agreements.
Bill S 1031 was modeled after a California law that is already in place in the state. A study by the University of Pennsylvania released in April said the law can reduce postsurgical patient deaths by 14 percent in New Jersey and 11 percent in Pennsylvania, reported the California Nurses Association. NNU co-President Deborah Burger said the study showed “what California nurses have seen everyday at the bedside since passage of the law—safer care conditions, an enhanced quality of life for patients, and as an added bonus, reduced burnout for nurses, which mitigates the nursing shortage.”
The proposed S 1788 will help prevent nurses from suffering injuries while transferring patients. The U.S. Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis, who addressed a conference held during the nurses’ visit to the nation’s capital, said that the 2008 Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that more than 36,000 health care workers were injured while lifting and handling patients. She said 12 percent of nurses who plan to leave the profession cite back injuries as one of their reasons for departure.
The NNU gained more support when around 1,300 RNs from the University of Chicago Medical Center (UCMC) joined the union in response to “management resistance” to improved patient care conditions, reported the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) on May 21. The Chicago nurses sought minimum nurse-to-patient ratios and an end to mandatory shift rotations.
The AFL-CIO said studies revealed that fatigue and reduced attentiveness from alternating between working on days and nights can result in “performance deficits” and “medical errors.”
On May 28, the California Nurses Association announced that RNs in California and Minnesota will conduct a one-day strike on June 10 to demand sufficient nurse staffing in U.S. hospitals. Nurses in Minnesota have been pushing for minimum nurse-to-patient ratios to be enacted into law. NNU co-President Karen Higgins, however, said that hospitals in Minnesota “just absolutely do not, have not, and would not talk about this issue.”
Nurses also want to guarantee enough staffing during meal and rest breaks, because even if “it’s not for long periods of time, putting patients at risk is not acceptable,” said Higgins.
Minnesota Nurses Association President Linda Hamilton explained why there is a need for a strike in a news report released by the AFL-CIO today: “Twin Cities’ hospitals are dangerously understaffed, and our patients are needlessly suffering and sometimes even dying as a result.” But, as there are still several days before the proposed date of the strike, Higgins conveyed that the nurses are hoping to find a resolution to the issue in lieu of a strike.
Nurses in California, on the other hand, want to “strengthen enforcement of the ratios and guard against politicians and the industry who seek to roll them back,” reported the California Nurses Association.
According to Higgins, NNU ultimately hopes there will be a federal mandate for minimum nurse-to-patient ratios because she says this is a struggle nurses face everywhere in the nation. “It shouldn’t be that you have to go to California to know that there’s a limit of how many patients a nurse is going to be taking care of … and that nowhere else in the country can you be assured that’s going to happen. It shouldn’t be that we pick and choose states. It needs to be done on a national basis.”
In regards to the health care reform bill, Higgins said, “It’s one thing to provide health insurance; it’s another thing to actually provide safe care. They go hand in hand.”
