hospital. Kirk Herbert, a north central Arizona nurse who now works in post-anesthesia care, said that conditions have not
changed since he worked in a skilled nursing
unit more than a decade ago and was responsible for as many as 25 patients on the
overnight shift. "We know that administration will do whatever it will do to make more
money," said Herbert.
RNs who attended the rally say that they
are fed up by the poor conditions and risk to
their patients, and are throwing their weight
behind the ratio bill. "This bill puts patient
MARCH 2008
advocacy back where it belongs, in the hands
of the registered nurse," said Lindy Abts, a
bedside RN from Phoenix. "We need to hold
the hospitals accountable and bring patient
safety back to being our number one priority."
Predictably, the Arizona Hospital and
Healthcare Association has been lobbying
heavily against HB 2041, arguing that the
minimum staffing requirements are inflexible and would somehow worsen the state's
nursing shortage. Fortunately, the experience of California RNs rebuts those scare
tactics.
W W W. C A L N U R S E S . O R G
"They love it," said Geri Jenkins, RN and
member of the CNA/NNOC Council of Presidents, of how nurses feel about ratios.
"Working conditions have improved dramatically, and we have more nurses in nursing
school and returning to the bedside. Guess
what? None of the things the hospital association said would happen did. Hospitals
didn't close, they didn't go bankrupt. In fact,
they've been making more profit than ever.
There's no reason not to implement this law
in Arizona and the rest of the country."
—staff report
REGISTERED NURSE
5
