[herring_RN]

Nurses seek more help, fewer patients
July 18, 2008

A local group of nurses is part of a movement supporting proposed legislation that would set a mandated ratio of nurses to patients in Texas.

Members of the Corpus Christi chapter of the National Nurses Organizing Committee held a news conference Thursday outside the Nueces County Courthouse to discuss issues of patient care and safety....

http://www.caller.com/news/2008/jul/...ewer-patients/

[Dolce]

Good for them! I hope they are successful.

[CHATSDALE]

nurses standing together is the only way that there will be a solution to the problem

[mdfog10]

Amen Chatsdale !!! For too long we Nurses have stood by and complained as our "leaders" ignored the real issues. We can take our profession back and change the course of healthcare's future. From the small to big issues , united we can succeed.

[RN Power Ohio]

Great Job Texas! Keep up the good work.

[herring_RN]

Working conditions worry nurses, weaken quality of care

There is more to the nursing shortage than meets the eye, say Judy Lerma and Diana Pirzada, two San Antonio registered nurses who are speaking up to help bring nurses' working conditions into the ongoing nursing-shortage discussion.

Texas won't solve much by throwing money at the expansion of health-care and nurse-training facilities, says Lerma, whose insight is based on more than 30 years — and a master's degree — in nursing.

To be sure, nurses face the same pay issues as other Americans who are struggling with rising food and fuel prices. But working conditions are a far greater concern for many bedside nurses, conditions that are eroding the quality of hospital care and lessening the likelihood of good patient outcomes, they say.

“We've said this over and over: There is no other reason to go to a hospital than to be taken care of by a nurse, 24 hours a day,” Lerma says. “If you need surgery, most of it can be done with day surgery; if it's a prescription, you can go to the office. But you go to a hospital to be cared for by nurses.”…

http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/working_conditions_worrynurses_weaken_quality_of_c are100.html