Issue link: https://nnumagazine.uberflip.com/i/927372
10 N A T I O N A L N U R S E W W W . N A T I O N A L N U R S E S U N I T E D . O R G O C T O B E R | N O V E M B E R | D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 7 CALIFORNIA R egistered nurses who work throughout the VA San Diego Healthcare System, including the medical center, outpatient clinics, and residential care facilities, held a press conference Dec. 13 to draw attention to eroding patient care conditions, which include and contribute to chronic short staffing, high turnover, and low retention of newly hired staff. "San Diego VA nurses are urging management to make reforms that will ensure that our nation's heroes, the patients we serve, get the quality care that they deserve," said Erin McLeod, RN. "As VA nurses, many of whom are veterans, we are committed to improving the care through- out the San Diego VA because we know that the unique healthcare needs of veterans are best met through the VA system." Representatives of Veterans of Foreign Wars, Paralyzed Veterans of America, Veterans Democratic Club of San Diego, Iraq Veterans Against the War, Democratic Veterans and Veterans for Peace joined nurses to speak out about their concerns as VA patients. "Veterans know that registered nurses at the VA are our advocates. The quality of care we receive depends on nurses having the staffing levels and resources they need to do their job," said veteran, Sean McCrea, a member of Veterans for Peace. "We call on management to show respect for us veterans by listening to our RN advocates and imme- diately addressing the serious patient care issues they are raising." Chronic staffing shortages impact patient care and hospital safety in numerous ways. For example: • All three experienced infection control nurses left due to poor working conditions, and only one has been hired to replace them. A lack of adequate controls increases the chance of hospital-acquired infections. • A shortage of RNs and ancillary staff creates slowdowns in the timely cleaning and turnover of rooms between patients. This delays patient transfers from the emer- gency department and between units to the appropriate level of care, causing VA San Diego to have among the highest ED wait times in the VA system. • Shortages in ancillary staff can jeopard- ize safe patient handling and lifting, and increase the risk of patient and staff injury. • Short staffing has impacted food servic- es, including the timely delivery of meals to patients. As of October the hospital had 80 vacan- cies. RNs note that the staffing shortage is exacerbated by the VA San Diego's excruci- atingly slow hiring process. It often takes between three and six months for them to offer a position to an applicant who by then has already been hired by another employer. "We are speaking out to the public because management has refused to address our patient safety concerns and instead focuses on punishing the nurses that flag problems in patient care," said Carla Melgun, RN. "As patient advocates, it is our professional responsibility to monitor conditions and work to see problems recti- fied. We will not abandon our duty to protect our veterans as patients despite management's efforts to bully and intimi- date us into silence." —Staff report san Diego VA nurses, veteran patients decry eroding care News Briefs