State Staffing Plan Legislation- What do you think?

http://www.seiu.org/health/nurses/sa...eg_summary.cfm
I just found this link from 2005 while it appears to directly address Rn to patient ratio. It is vague as to what the LPN role will be. I for one believe as an LPN I also play a part in patient care and do not wish to be ignored as a viable member of the health care team in a hospital. I will support Rn's in their concerns.

Noticed they do not mention New York or Michigan- and only a passing mention to Minnesota. Those state Nurses Association's unions are proposing ratio legislation with mandated minimum numbers that are upwardly adjustable for acuity and other factors.

I do not have any experience with the various forms of the staffing committee/hospital association endorsed legislation which has been passed in a number of states, but can comment on my experiences with this issue in collective bargaining.

I have participated in many labor/management staffing committees that were mandated by contract and found them to be minimally effective at improving staffing.

The first problem is just getting the staff nurses to be able to attend the meetings as part of their workday. Many meetings are cancelled, because of- you guessed it- short staffing. These meetings never seem to be a priority when the staffing decisions are made. Management often expects the staff nurses to attend them on their own time and/or days off- now that's empowering!

The accuracy of the information often becomes a focus of disagreement. Management says there were 6 nurses and the staff reports that there were five. By the time the information is sorted out- it doesn't matter anymore- the damage has been done.

Management usually seeks a "range" or "staffing guidelines" type of agreement and will consistently staff to the lowest of number of nurses allowable- or violate the agreement altogether. Again, you can file a grievance and go all the way to arbitration- which may be heard 6 months to a year from when the "unsafe" conditions occurred.

If you do succeed at getting numbers in a contract- even a range- just agreeing on numbers for the staffing can take up many negotiating sessions- I don't think a year is an unusual amount of time.

But we still persist- because any improvement, no matter how small is still worth it.

So unless the minimum numbers are spelled out in the legislation, the process, as this article points out will take a very long time. And in some states, including Washington, management can still get out of staffing according to the plan they agreed to.

Seems like a big waste of time and effort in my opinion- and more importantly- a lot of time that unsafe conditions continue for nurses and the patients they care for. Legislation, must have the ratios spelled out, and be upwardly adjustable, in order to really address the issue of staffing.

I've had my fill of stall tactics- and so have my patients- thanks AHA and ANA!

AMEN!!!

Lindarn, RN, BSN, CCRN
Spokane, Washington