National Nurses United

Heartbreaking testimony in support of D.C. ratios legislation DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA n 2011, tina trowell's 82-year-old mother was admitted into Washington Hospital Center in the nation's capital for complications related to a urinary tract infection. There, Trowell said, the hospital was so understaffed with registered nurses that they did not have time to properly clean or turn her mother and, as a result, she developed deep, painful, horrendous bedsores covering her entire backside. "My mother suffered," said Trowell, an accountant, on June 13 to a gathering of over 130 D.C.-area nurses and labor and community activists. The group came together to rally and lobby in support of a bill, the Patient Protection Act, which would establish safe RN-to-patient staffing ratios for the city's hospitals. Many of them cried when they heard Trowell's story. "There was no one to change her dressings when she was incontinent or apply antibiotics in a timely fashion or even give her regular pain medication when the pressure ulcers had grown out of control. One time, I had to wait I 4 N AT I O N A L N U R S E two hours while my mother moaned in agony for a nurse to have time to bring her pain medication." Trowell did not blame the nurses. She saw how hard they worked and their dedication to the patients. She said there were simply too few of them to adequately care for the number of patients they were assigned. "If the Patient Protection Act had existed two years ago, my mother would not have spent the last several weeks of her life in misery," said Trowell. "The hospitals will not police themselves. It is the responsibility of W W W. N AT I O N A L N U R S E S U N I T E D . O R G the government to set standards of care and enforce those standards." The Patient Protection Act enjoys the support of 38—and growing—community, labor, faith-based, and advocacy organizations in the district. From HIV/AIDS activists to mental health providers, district residents have come together behind the bill out of widespread concern for patient safety in their city. Earlier this year, the Patient Protection Act, modeled after California's successful safe staffing ratios, was introduced by numerous members of the District of Columbia City Council with much enthusiasm. Since the legislation has been introduced, however, the city's hospital industry has come out in full force against it. In the face of this industry opposition, the bill's momentum through the legislative process has slowed, and nurse, religious, labor, and community members visited councilmembers' offices that day to get the bill back on track. "It will probably surprise many people how little regulated our city's hospitals are," said Nikki Lewis, executive director of DC Jobs With Justice. "Inspections by district regulators are few and far between. And even then, there are no standards in current law on how many nurses there should be to take care of patients. Given the life and death decisions that are made every minute of every day in the hospitals, we think that's just wrong." So appalled by her mother's lack of care, Trowell eventually filed a complaint with the District of Columbia Department of Health against the hospital. Three of her allegations of negligence by the hospital were confirmed. The ones that were not were related to staffing, and Trowell said that the department cited lack of a law setting staffing standards as a reason her claims could not be substantiated. In addition to establishing staffing ratios, the legislation would also provide whistleblower protections for RNs and other healthcare workers, and ban mandatory overtime for RNs. District residents and nurses are continuing to employ various tactics such as community walks, petitioning, and further lobby visits throughout the summer to urge the council to move forward on passing the bill. "This bill won't bring my mother back, but hopefully it will stop another daughter from having to watch her mother suffer the way I did," said Trowell. —Staff report JUNE 2013 RICK REINHARD NEWS BRIEFS

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