Patient Safety Reform

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WSNA President Julia Weinberg:

When our patients are at risk, we somehow find just a little bit more to give. But there has to be a limit to what hospital CEOs ask of us and our patients… Read more...

It’s time to hold hospital CEOs accountable for putting patient care first, just like nurses do. We want to take care of our patients like we would our own families and we can’t do that when hospitals are rigging the system against us.

It doesn’t have to be this way. Here’s how we can make it better:

Patient Safety Standard Bill

We need a standard to hold hospital CEOs accountable for having enough nurses per shift. This bill sets a statewide standard so that patient care always comes before frivolous additions like fancy lobbies and inflated CEO salaries, and allows the standard to be locally customized so that staffing committees at each hospital, including nurses and managers, have the final say on what works for patients.

Real Rest Breaks Keep Patients Safe Bill

Nurses are heroes and we seem to always find a little more to give when our patients need us. But it’s not good for us or for our patients when we are forced to work 10, 12 or even more hours without breaks because hospital CEOs didn’t staff enough nurses. This bill requires that hospitals give nurses the uninterrupted breaks that nurses need to take care of our patients.

On-Call Nurses are for Emergencies Bill

It used to be that on-call nurses were our back-up plan, the ones that we called when a major accident happened. Now, the on-call nurses are more like a band-aid than a back-up, filling in for chronic shortages because hospital CEOs just don’t hire enough nurses to cover a shift. We end up with a few overworked nurses and no back-up plan in an emergency. This bill says that on-call nurses are for emergencies, not chronic staff shortages.

Dear Nursing Colleagues,

I love being a nurse. Over 20 years ago, I entered our profession because I wanted to care for my patients, just as I would my own family.

Recently, it’s been tougher for me to do the job I love. Like so many nurses, my first response was to try harder. I struggled to work harder, faster, longer hours to try to make sure my patients have what they need. But as president of your union and association, I have talked with nurses across our state who are saying the same thing over and over: it’s not nurses who are falling short. Hospital CEOs are rigging the system against nurses and our patients. They’re reducing staffing so much that we can’t do the jobs we love and our patients are suffering. We already put our hearts, sweat and backs into this job. When our patients are at risk, we somehow find just a little bit more to give. But there has to be a limit to what hospital CEOs ask of us and our patients.

It’s time to hold hospital CEOs accountable. We can take the strength and hard work and heart that we offer to our patients and, together, make real change happen. That’s why we are proposing the Patient Safety Reform Package. Because nurses are the heart of patient safety and it’s time to stand up and take back our ability to do the jobs we love. I know that this is a different kind of patient care: it means talking to our representatives, instead of talking to our patients’ families and doctors. But we can and we must do it. We must tell the truth about what is happening in our hospitals. It may or may not be happening on your unit, but it’s happening in enough hospitals now that we need a statewide solution to this problem.

We have the power to make a change. This packet can help you tell your legislator why we need these bills to make sure that nurses – who are the heart of patient safety – have the ability to do the jobs we love.

Nurses are the most trusted professionals and our representatives know it. When we come together, we can do anything, including taking back the jobs that we love and the ability to care for our patients as our own.

— Julia Weinberg, RN, WSNA President

FAQs

Is it the role of the government to set standards in our hospitals?

When hospital CEOs spend money on frivolous additions like fancy lobbies and inflated CEO salaries instead of having enough nurses to care for patients, we need our representatives to stand up for us. We need the Patient Safety Reform Package to make sure that patient care comes first.

Isn’t this too expensive for hospitals to implement?

Actually, the shortsighted staff cuts are costing hospitals more than adequate staffing would, but that’s not why the Patient Safety Reform package is important. The real cost of these cuts is the danger it poses to our patients. When hospitals have enough money for fancy lobbies and inflated CEO salaries, they can afford to have enough nurses on staff, give real breaks so that nurses can be sharp and focused, and save on-call nurses for emergencies.

Shouldn’t these issues be addressed in collective bargaining and nurse staffing committees?

No, these issues are about basic patient safety and CEOs aren’t listening to their nurses, or the union, or their frontline team. Even if this isn’t happening on your unit now, it could, and it is happening in enough hospitals that we need a statewide solution to this problem.

This isn’t happening in my hospital, why do we need a law?

In too many hospitals, CEOs are spending hospital money on frivolous additions instead of patient care. Even if this isn’t happening on your unit now, it could and it is happening in enough hospitals now that we need a statewide solution to this problem.