Issue link: https://nnumagazine.uberflip.com/i/447719
couldn't just let him gut it," said Burger. "Everybody's asking us now about how we defeated him, but we just followed our instincts to take this battle to the streets." On Dec. 1, 2004, thousands of CNA members from across the state convened on the steps of the Capitol to protest the governor's emergency order. A week later, Schwarzenegger met what many are calling his "Wa- terloo" in Long Beach when, in dis- missing CNA activists who crashed his speech in front of a women's con- ference, he told the audience that the nurses were special interests who were upset because he's "always kick- ing their butts." His crass comment sparked huge media attention, cata- pulting CNA and nurses into the limelight. Later that month, CNA filed a lawsuit challenging DHS' authority to roll back the ratios, and Sacra- mento Superior Court Judge Judy Holzer Hersher in April sided with CNA. As a result, the state's hospi- tals were immediately required to comply with the original ratio regu- lations. The Schwarzenegger ad- ministration appealed, however, so CNA knew the fight wasn't over. By this time, Schwarzenegger had begun raising money and col- lecting signatures for his slate of "re- form" initiatives which he vowed to put before the voters in a November special election. Nurses responded with more protests, and teachers, firefighters, police, other public workers, and all stripes of commu- nity activists were joining them. At one major demonstration of a Schwarzenegger fundraiser in San Francisco at the Ritz-Carlton hotel, protesters managed to shut down some streets, forcing donors to trudge up a hill and pass through a disapproving crowd to enter. Some never made it in at all. But a couple days later, Schwarzenegger with- drew a controversial proposal to pri- vatize state workers' pensions. In June, Schwarzenegger called a November special election and the battle was officially on to defeat his pet initiatives. Propositions 74, 75, 76, and 77 would collectively have consolidated power in Schwarzeneg- ger and wiped out dissenting voices by labor and the public in Califor- nia. Many political observers be- lieved that if these initiatives passed in the Golden State, other states would soon follow. For months, it was just one protest after another. Averaged out, CNA RNs staged one protest every three or four RATIO BASICS RN RATIOS. No RN can be assigned responsibility for more patients than the specific ratio at any time, under any circumstances, based on patient acuity and scope of practice laws. An LVN cannot be assigned overall responsibility for a patient. DHS RATIOS ARE MINIMUMS. Once DHS minimum ratios are in place, additional staffing must be assigned based on patient acuity. NO AVERAGING. The ratios are the maximum number of patients assigned to any one RN at all times during a shift. BREAK COVERAGE. A competent charge nurse, RN manager, or break RN must relieve an RN during breaks. THE RATIOS Intensive/Critical Care 1:2 Neonatal Intensive Care 1:2 Operating Room 1:1 Post-anesthesia Recovery 1:2 Labor and Delivery 1:2 Antepartum 1:4 Postpartum couplets 1:4 Postpartum women only 1:6 Pediatrics 1:4 Emergency Room 1:4 ICU Patients in the ER 1:2 Trauma Patients in the ER 1:1 Step-down Initial 1:4 Step-down in 2008 1:3 Telemetry Initial 1:5 Telemetry in 2008 1:4 Medical/Surgical 1:5 Other Specialty Care Initial 1:5 Other Specialty Care in 2008 1:4 Psychiatric 1:6 For more information, contact your Ratio Monitor, PPC member, nurse rep, or CNA labor rep. If your unit does not have a Ratio Monitor, please volunteer yourself or encourage a coworker to do so. C A L I F O R N I A N U R S E D E C E M B E R 2 0 0 5 5