Issue link: https://nnumagazine.uberflip.com/i/198549
NewsBriefs:October 2007 copy 12/27/07 1:01 PM Page 8 NewsBriefs SAFE STAFFING LEGISLATION COMES TO ARIZONA rizona rns are gearing up to submit the Arizona Patient Protection Act of 2008, groundbreaking legislation that can protect and promote RN practice and create a safer environment for nurses and patients alike. CNA/NNOC introduced the proposal to local RNs at a series of continuing education classes held in November in Tucson, Scottsdale, and Sedona, explaining how the bill would provide safe, uniform staffing standards and protect nurses' duty and right to advocate for patients. Modeled on California's precedent-setting RN-to-patient ratios law, the Arizona Patient Protection Act of 2008 sets minimum staffing mandates for all units and shifts of a hospital in order to ensure that staffing is based on individual patient acuity. It requires specific ratios as a minimum and also allows RNs to take scheduled rest and meal breaks. Most complaints received by CNA/NNOC from Arizona RNs relate directly to ratios, with some RNs reporting that ratios in medical-surgical units, for example, can reach as high as 7:1. "This is about patient protection and being able to deliver safe and therapeutic patient care," CNA/NNOC Chief Director of Nursing Practice and Patient Advocacy, Hedy Dumpel, RN, JD said. "The ratios allow RNs to provide care in the exclusive interest of their patients unencumbered by the revenue-generating schemes of their employers." The act further provides whistle-blower protections to RNs who speak out about unsafe patient care conditions. Whistle-blower legislation is especially necessary in Arizona, where the current whistle-blower law requires RNs to report problems to their own facilities, instead of regulatory or accrediting agencies. "It is, in essence, the fox watching the henhouse," one observer said. As expected, RNs who report problems to the internal corporate compliance department in their facilities rarely see any benefit from their actions. Many RNs report being pressured out of their jobs by disciplinary actions. The atmosphere in Arizona is anti-union, A 8 REGISTERED NURSE and while Arizona's RNs badly need patient ratios, there is little they can do to agitate for workplace improvements for fear of retaliation and being subjected to the whims of their employers. With legislation that guarantees both patient safety and whistler- blower rights, Arizona RNs stand a greater chance of fighting for the changes that they and their patients require. In addition to Arizona, similar statewide legislation is being fought for by RNs in Texas, Maine, Ohio, and Illinois. —staff report WRAP-UP REPORT Chicago, Ill. cna/nnoc registered nurses working for Chicago's Cook County Bureau of Health Services on Nov. 27 held a vigil to keep attention on the county's ongoing healthcare crisis. They are continuing to fight along with community activists to bring back more than 100 nursing positions and accountability to the system after budget cuts decimated services early this year. CNA/NNOC in November proposed an alternative "patients' budget" that would restore vital nursing positions cut from prior budgets and put the system under temporary trusteeship to ensure administrative decisions are based on serving patients, not furthering patronage. County Commissioner Larry Suffredin introduced this proposal as an amendment to the budget. All three of Chicago's major newspapers have endorsed the call for trusteeship, as have leading Democratic legislators, and the Rev. Jesse Jackson Jr. Los Angeles, Calif. on dec. 19, rns at Whittier Hospital Medical Center in the San Gabriel Valley voted in CNA/NNOC to represent some 300 nurses in a landslide victory. "What an incredible testament to the determination of the Whittier nurses to join together and with CNA/NNOC on behalf of their patients, their colleagues, and the nurses across California," said Geri Jenkins, RN, a member of the CNA/NNOC Council of Presidents, of the 87 percent vote. "I'm so proud of the W W W. C A L N U R S E S . O R G Whittier nurses, and of our phenomenal, ongoing growth in Southern California." A former Tenet hospital, Whittier was sold three years ago to the American Hospital Management Company. "CNA/NNOC will help bring a strong united nurse voice for patient care at Whittier," says post-partum care RN Irma San Luis. "We're very happy about this victory." San Bernardino, Calif. some 1,100 San Bernardino County RNs won an improved three-year contract in late November. A tentative agreement was reached on Nov. 9 after a strike vote authorization in October and a Nov. 6 informational picket at Arrowhead Regional Medical Center which attracted hundreds of nurses. The new contract includes nurse-topatient ratios, making violations of the ratios a grievable offense. Protections from medical technology were included as well as safe lifting contract language guaranteeing a safer workplace. Nurses also gained 12 percent raises over three years and an improved health plan that will save RNs up to $2,000 a year each. "We are extremely pleased with the agreement," said Rhonda Watts, an intensive care unit RN who was on the CNA/NNOC bargaining team. "County nurses united like never before in San Bernardino for our patients. We got ratios in the contract, and a safe patient handling policy." —staff report DECEMBER 2007