National Nurses United

Nurses, community pack DC ratios hearing WASHINGTON, D.C. n the face of heavy-handed opposition by the $1.2 billion District of Columbia hospital industry, more than 150 registered nurses, patients, and other community leaders on Nov. 8 packed a DC Council Health Committee hearing to make a compelling case for improving public safety and protecting vulnerable hospital patients by enacting the Patient Protection Act. The bill would set specific limits on the number of patients RNs can care for (nurseto-patient ratios), with additional staffing required based on individual need, similar to limits on class sizes or minimum standards for clean air and water. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson, who introduced the bill, at the hearing compared the push for the law to concerns for limits on class sizes and caseloads for police detectives or juvenile justice workers. He called the proposed law "good public policy." Several community residents came to the hearing to support the bill, and relate their own experiences. Mary Neznek shared her story as a patient at Sibley Memorial Hospital when she came for a hip replacement. "The real pain and problems didn't come from my surgery as you might expect," said Neznek. "They came in the hours and days after my surgery, and it was exacerbated because my I NOVEMBER 2013 nurses were so clearly overworked. I could see that the nurses were running to get to all of their patients and I could tell they were trying their best, but it was also apparent that they could not do it all." Nurses, of course, had many stories to tell of how ratios are desperately needed. Washington Hospital Center RN Lori Marlowe called the Patient Protection Act "the only solution to the chronic problem of understaffing in District hospitals. Bedside nurses such as myself are the only ones in minuteby-minute contact with patients and are thus the only ones who can accurately assess patient acuity and need." LaKisha Little, RN and vice president of the District of Columbia Nurses Association, noted that in the neonatal intensive care unit at Children's National Medical 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 Center, "the patient load has been increased by 50 percent on many occasions. If one of the nurses on the unit is able to take a break, then another nurse has to care for five, and sometimes six babies. These are dangerous conditions in any hospital unit, but especially in a neonatal intensive care unit where we have our youngest and most vulnerable patients." The DC bill is modeled after California's successful ratios law that since its implementation nine years ago has saved thousands of patient lives, promoted improved overall quality of care, and helped keep the state's most experienced nurses at the bedside. DC's Patient Protection Act enjoys widespread community support from area labor, women's, senior advocacy, religious, and public policy organizations. —Staff report N AT I O N A L N U R S E 7

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