Please Tell Us If You Are Contacting Legislators/ANA, etc. Re: Nursing Concerns

Hello again! I hope you all are continuing to email and write the legislators. Please keep documenting at work!!! I have found that if you are to report anything to a watchdog type of agency, they want specifics... dates, shifts, whether persons involved are RN,LVN, assistants etc., floats, etc. Keep a log of your efforts to tell your administration of the dangerous situations, so they can't deny knowledge of it later. Our facility hasn't decided whether to give our critical care nurses an increase in the pay differential (which another hospital nearby has done), and although they hope no one will leave, they seem to be putting us off and counting on us not leaving. Our hosipital was even quoted in the local newspaper as having already given us the increase! Quite presumptious on their part. It gauls me to see how the administrations figure they can LIE to the paper and 'John Q. Public' will believe it. Yet, these are the same administrators that have watched almost 2 dozen staff leave this unit in 1 1/2 years, and they still don't think anyone will leave!? Everyone has their own battles to fight, but please let's keep up our efforts to bring this situation to the attention of 20/20. I think we are at that point. If not now, when would the time be right? When med errors are made on a daily basis? When 2 more people per week develop bedsores? When situations such as the one described by a nurse on another thread (situation where her father rec'd horrible care and wound up dying)happen to each of our families? What do you think? Let's get some facts together and call Sylvia OK? Sophie

Joyful news all.....

Received word today my Assemblyman has introduced a Bill here in NY State to limit the max. hours a nurse can work in one shift to 16....For those of you newbies, I am employed by a hospital that mandates housewide 20 hr shifts when staffing is short. (I am an ER nurse there - put one and one together and obviously you have a dangerous situation.) The ENA (Emergency Nurses Association) is helping research info re: optimum shift lengths so I can pass it along to my Assemblyman. For those of you here in NY, PLEASE become active in support of this pending legislation! and for those of you still trying to write to the ANA and your State Nurses' Assoc. - don't be disappointed when they give you lukewarm responses. Write your local and state political figures and tell them it could be them or their loved ones on our dangerously understaffed units....also write to your individual specialty associations (ENA for example in my case), I have found the most support from them.
Everyone keep their fingers crossed and pray this Bill passes.....Thanks!

barton, I also have another site I go to called RNHEARTALK@listbot.com There are a lot of nurses with the same concerns and desires as us so I e-mailed them this site, hospital.hub and policy.com I figure the more nurses we get involved the better for all of us especially those under our care


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If Ya' Don't Love The Blues, Ya' Got A Hole In Your Soul

I am so very relieved that I have found you guys!! I am in need of information like you have been discussing. I have been keeping track of staffing. I write incident reports and cite unsafe staffing. I often use the expression that the Patients are at risk for injury. I need help with my co-workers. They are afraid or "getting fired". I keep telling them that they do not have to take the assignments, but they do and do their best. The other night, I started with 7 patients. I work on a busy Telemetry unit. I am not whining. I can usually handle 7 patients.{not give them GOOD care, just barely adequite care.} But, to make a long story short, I immediatly told the CN and Super that I would not take any more patients. Several hours later, my CN told me I was getting my 8th. With a dope gtt. and all! I told her "no, call in help or have the super take it. I am not able to handle any more. I have seen some of my patients only once as it is." Her reply was to storm off and call the super. I told the super the same thing and she said for me to call Day shift and find someone to come in early!! Now, you guys tell me....If I dont have time for my patients, How do I have time to make phone calls? This is becoming the typical night!!! Someone help me here!!!!!!!!!!

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Cyn...stiring the mix

I just received notice from the ANA N- Stat group that the Patients Bill of Rights is now being considered by Congress The Congress is in recess till April 11 On April 9 Clinton and Gore and members of Congress will participate in events calling for this legislation. We as nurses and pt advocates need to make sure that a stong bill gets passed This strong bill is S.6/H.R.358 It not only includes whistleblower protection for nurses and doctors but also ensures that treatment decisions are made by health professionals and not insurance companies. The Republican version S.300 and H.R.448 do not provide any of these provisions. You should contact your reprsentatives and senators now to Support S.6 and H.R.358 (the Real Patient Bill of Rights) You can also sign on line by going to ANA site www.nursingworld.org or www.familiesusa.org.Time is running out. We must do this for our patients Write or call today. Thanks

Martha CarnesRN
MCarnes811@aol.com

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Martha

I just received notice from the ANA N- Stat group that the Patients Bill of Rights is now being considered by Congress The Congress is in recess till April 11 On April 9 Clinton and Gore and members of Congress will participate in events calling for this legislation. We as nurses and pt advocates need to make sure that a stong bill gets passed This strong bill is S.6/H.R.358 It not only includes whistleblower protection for nurses and doctors but also ensures that treatment decisions are made by health professionals and not insurance companies. The Republican version S.300 and H.R.448 do not provide any of these provisions. You should contact your reprsentatives and senators now to Support S.6 and H.R.358 (the Real Patient Bill of Rights) You can also sign on line by going to ANA site www.nursingworld.org or www.familiesusa.org.Time is running out. We must do this for our patients Write or call today. Thanks

Martha CarnesRN
MCarnes811@aol.com

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Martha

I too like just about everyone else in the nursing profession is frustrated and very afraid what the future of healthcare if we do not do something. In the last several weeks I have experienced probably the darkest period of my career because of understaffing and poor morale because of not being able to provide the quality of care we want to. I have always wanted to be a nurse and still do love nursing. But I hate the crap that I have to put up with to do my job. Lately I sometimes dread going to work and am sometimes in tears the whole way to work. It is difficult to deal with what else to do with you life when being a nurse is what I want to do but I feel like the cost to me is too high. I began checking web sites like this one to network with other nurses who feel the same way I do and to find out what I can do to help bring about a change to healthcare system. I will be writing and emailing legislators, ANA, etc. I will also continue to post on web sites like this and continue to read what others are doing. I want to be part of the solution. If we do not stand together and make our voices heard all hope is lost. Maybe one letter or email won't make a diffence but if each of us writes or e mails, our voice will have to be heard. Talk to you soon.