National Nurses United

NEWS BRIEFS Massachusetts nurses deliver signatures for ballot measures MASSACHUSETTS n dec. 4, a delegation of Massachusetts Nurses Association nurses and patient advocates from across the Commonwealth delivered nearly 200,000 ballotrelated signatures to the Secretary of State. The signatures were in support of two ballot initiatives: one that will dramatically improve patient safety in Massachusetts hospitals by setting a safe maximum limit on the number of patients assigned to a nurse at one time and another that will ensure that taxpayer healthcare dollars are dedicated exclusively to patient care and needed community-based hospital services. After a short press conference at the Massachusetts State House, nurses wheeled stacks of signatures on a hospital gurney O over to One Ashburton Place while they chanted, "What do we want? Safe limits! When do we want them? Now!" Once at Ashburton Place, the nurses submitted the signatures to the Secretary of State's office, completing a key step in the process of placing these initiatives before voters on the 2014 ballot. "For years, the nurses of Massachusetts, joined by more than 100 other advocacy organizations, have been pushing the public policy 'call button' for legislative action on the issue of safe patient limits," said Donna Kelly-Williams, RN and president of MNA. "That is why we are here today: to take the next step in getting registered voters to say 'yes' to safe maximum patient limits so that when their loved ones push that call button, a nurse is there." RNs and advocates gathered and submitted more than 114,000 signatures for the Patient Safety Act, a ballot initiative that will establish safe minimum staffing ratios for Massachusetts hospitals. They also submitted more than 100,000 signatures in support of the Hospital Profit Transparency and Fairness Act, a ballot initiative that will require hospitals to be transparent about their financial holdings and other activities, limit CEO compensation as well as limit and claw back excess profits to ensure that taxpayer dollars are dedicated exclusively to safe patient care and necessary services for all communities in the Commonwealth. This second measure was proposed in response to dramatic changes within the Massachusetts hospital industry driven by state and national healthcare reform, including the merger, consolidation, and conversion of nonprofit hospitals into larger, multibillion-dollar corporate networks. "Every hospital, whether it's nonprofit or for profit, gets, on average, 60 percent of its money from public funds, namely the taxpayers, via Medicare and Medicaid to provide healthcare for the residents of the Commonwealth," explained Karen Higgins, RN, former MNA president, and current copresident of National Nurses United. "Yet there is no way for the public and policy makers to accurately understand how those taxpayer dollars are being allocated. This initiative is needed to ensure that the public and the communities served by these hospitals have a clear picture of the financial health of the hospitals that serve their needs. Furthermore, it will serve to ensure that patients are getting the care they need with the resources that are available to these hospital administrators." —David Schildmeier On Nov. 6 and 7, Michigan nurses gathered in University Center and Dearborn to attend NNU continuing education classes that discussed how healthcare corporations' attempts to redesign the nursing care delivery model are undermining RN autonomy, independent judgment, and advocacy. 6 N AT I O N A L N U R S E 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 DECEMBER 2013

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