California Is Overriding Its Limits On Nurse Workloads As COVID-19 Surges

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I realize we live in unprecedented times. But time and time again hospital executives have proven they do not care about nurses and will kick us in the teeth every chance they get. I don't blame the nurses in California for protesting because I'm sure when it's all said and done, hospitals WILL fight to keep the mandated ratios from returning.

California Is Overriding Its Limits On Nurse Workloads As COVID-19 Surges

Specializes in Critical care, tele, Medical-Surgical.

 

California nurses held a press conference to warn new rule to let hospitals violate safe staffing standards will lead to more death and suffering of both patients and health care workers. The California Nurses Association held a virtual press conference Wednesday to warn that allowing hospitals blanket permission to violate California’s RN-to-patient safe staffing law under the cover of the Covid-19 surge will inevitably lead to more patient, nurse, and other health care worker infections and deaths. At a time when nurses are already overwhelmedand and at their breaking points, and Covid patients need much more intensive care than typical patients, overloading nurses with patient assignments will put countless lives at risk.

The California Hospital Association and its members, who have long opposed the state’s ratios law, are exploiting the pandemic to undermine California’s landmark safe staffing standards --which require minimum RN staffing levels for various hospital units. The state on Dec. 11 announced it will allow hospitals to submit “expedited waivers” that will let them dramatically increase nurses’ workloads “In a pandemic, that’s an open invitation to increase the risk of spreading the virus to other patients and other staff.” More than 59,000 California health care workers have been infected with Covid-19, and 228 have already died, as of Dec. 13, according to the California Department of Public Health. “Slashing safety standards will only increase the suffering and the death count,” Cortez warned.

California’s multi-billion hospital industry fought for years to block the state’s landmark safe staffing law, and then tried to overturn it, even though studies have shown the California law has resulted in up to 14 percent fewer patient deaths than in comparable hospitals, assured nurses more time to spend with patients, and kept nurses at the bedside far longer.Since February, noted CNA/NNU Executive Director Bonnie Castillo, RN, “nurses have been working under enormous strain, putting their lives and safety in jeopardy, without enough personal protection equipment, and without sufficient hospital engineering controls to reduce the spread of infection that have turned hospitals into Covid-19 hot zones.” “And now, the hospital executives want to double down at a time when nurses have no more to give. We simply can’t afford to lose more nurses and more patients,” Castillo said. Nurses who work at hospitals throughout California are planning various types of actions to fight back against this decision. Email [email protected] your media outlet to be included in our distribution list if it isn’t already.

 

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Specializes in ICU, trauma, neuro.

The work is already much, much harder with the extra efforts involved with Covid precautions. How could anyone reasonably expect people already overworked to take even higher patient ratios?   I know many "travel nurses" from Florida who work in California yes for the pay, but also primarily because they know that with the ratio laws their licenses are put in "less" jeopardy.  What's going to happen to these nurses? Most will likely go back to their home states when their current travel contract ends making California nursing shortage even worse.

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Specializes in ACNP-BC, Adult Critical Care, Cardiology.

I think the unions, in the interest of transparency, should make it known where these are happening.  There's a lot of discussions about it online but I have personally not witnessed it (work full time at a university hospital and per diem at a corporation that starts with a K, LOL).  I have also seen from official memos that some of the East Bay and South Bay Kaiser facilities have been on divert and not doing elective procedures.

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Specializes in Critical care, tele, Medical-Surgical.
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UC San Francisco Medical Center and California Pacific Medical Center cancel applications for waivers of safe staffing standards amid fierce challenges by union RNs

...   The decision followed protests by CNA members, including a planned Dec. 23 press conference and rally at UCSF. That day’s action has now been cancelled.

“Nurses understand that safe staffing and safe working conditions are critical to providing the highest standards of patient care, especially during the surging Covid-19 pandemic,” said UCSF RN Maureen Dugan, a board member of CNA. “The timely response by UCSF management to the demands of nurses to maintain nurse-to-patient ratios is a positive step toward addressing the challenges we face at this unprecedented moment.”

The CNA has coordinated a series of protests in recent days to urge reversal of the Dec. 11 state letter allowing hospitals to submit “expedited waivers” that would allow them to dramatically increase nurses’ workloads...

https://www.nationalnursesunited.org/press/uc-san-francisco-medical-center-and-california-pacific-medical-center-cancel-waiver-applications

https://www.facebook.com/calnurses/posts/3705026942886888

https://www.facebook.com/nationalnurses/posts/10159228796847973

https://yubanet.com/california/nurses-hospital-industry-attack-on-safe-staffing-putting-lives-of-patients-nurses-workers-at-risk/

https://www.MSN.com/en-us/health/medical/bay-area-nurses-battle-hospitals-over-how-many-patients-they-can-handle/ar-BB1bZhxG

https://www.pressreleasepoint.com/tri-city-medical-center-and-palomar-health-nurses-hold-solidarity-caravan-supporters-protest-layoffs

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Specializes in ICU, trauma, neuro.
1 hour ago, juan de la cruz said:

aww, (re: UCSF and CPMC)

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That's good news. Hopefully, other hospitals will follow suit. Perhaps the California nurses union could join forces with attorneys to bring class action lawsuits against those hospitals that persist in trying to roll back ratios. If anything else it could be argued that violating the ratio law creates a "presumption" of negligence on the part of the hospital while staying within the ratio law is something of a "safe harbor".  Make hospitals pay and they will care.  

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Specializes in Critical care, tele, Medical-Surgical.

“Deadly Shame: Redressing the Devaluation of Registered Nurse Labor Through Pandemic Equity” is a new white paper by National Nurses United (NNU) which provides an in-depth analysis of the devaluation of nurses’ care work and resulting inequities, their experiences on the pandemic’s front lines, and ways to redress these issues through collective action.

Key concepts in NNU’s white paper include: 

  • why moral distress and moral injury are happening to the most trusted profession in the United States;  
  • how the “care work” of registered nurses, a woman-dominated profession, is devalued by employers and government; and  
  • how to safeguard nurses by mitigating care work inequities during the pandemic.

In our capitalist system, which treats health care as a market commodity, “employers have taken advantage of every opportunity presented during the pandemic to maximize profits,” states “Deadly Shame.” Immorally, the corporate health system treats nurses and other health care workers as expendable.

Correcting this travesty against nurses is key to saving lives and beating back Covid-19. NNU calls on employers and the leaders of local, state, and federal governments to act now to miti­gate both the risks and the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on nurses and other health care workers.

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Deadly Shame Redressing the Devaluation of Registered Nurse Labor Through Pandemic Equity

https://www.nationalnursesunited.org/sites/default/files/nnu/graphics/documents/1220_Covid19_DeadlyShame_PandemicEquity_WhitePaper_FINAL.pdf

   CNA's 12 Year Campaign for Safe RN Staffing Ratioshttp://www.healthwatchusa.org/conference2007/downloads/Availability of Nursing Workforce in California.pdf

 

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Specializes in ICU.

Situation is different in SoCal for the UC System. 

Despite UC’s public comments stating they had no intention of applying for the ratio waiver with CDPH, on December 12th, UCLA Management was approved for such a waiver without informing the Union or the UCLA Nursing staff.  Additionally, UCI has now applied for a waiver. We are outraged that UCLA and UCI would take this position choosing to put the lives of our patients and communities in danger.  

Please consider writing emails:

https://www.nationalnursesunited.org/online-action#/84

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Specializes in Critical care, tele, Medical-Surgical.

Thank you! I sent emails.

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