Many Leave Nursing Because Of Poor Staffing Conditions, Survey Says

Nurses Activism

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http://www.thebostonchannel.com/newscenter5/2277208/detail.html

Report: Nursing Shortage May Lead To Deaths

Many Leave Nursing Because Of Poor Staffing Conditions, Survey Says

POSTED: 7:19 a.m. EDT June 18, 2003

UPDATED: 4:06 p.m. EDT June 18, 2003

BOSTON -- Nearly 30 percent of the state's nurses report that understaffing has led directly to patient deaths at Massachusetts hospitals, according to survey released Wednesday by the Massachusetts Nursing Association.

The survey, which polled 600 of the state's 92,000 nurses, was presented to the Legislature to bolster the association's request for a law that would require all acute care hospitals to meet minimum nurse-to-patient ratios as a condition of licensure.

"If nothing is done, this situation will only get worse," said Julie Pinkham, executive director of the Massachusetts Nursing Association, which represents 22,000 nurses. "We are pushing the call button and we are waiting for the Legislature to respond."

About two-thirds of the nurses surveyed said that understaffing had led to an increase in medication errors while 64 percent said it had increased the number of complications.

Operating under the slogan "Safe Staffing Saves Lives," more than 500 nurses descended on the Statehouse Wednesday to lobby for the bill, which was the subject of a public hearing before the Health Care Committee.

In addition to establishing ratios for various hospital services, the bill would end the practice of assigning nurses to mandatory overtime or requiring them to serve in departments they may not be familiar with.

The survey, commissioned by the MNA, was conducted by Opinion Dynamics Corporation Inc., an independent research firm in Cambridge, between May 30 and June 8. According to the firm, it has a margin of error of plus or minus four percentage points. More than two-thirds of the nurses surveyed were not members of the association.

According to the Massachusetts Hospital Association, the state's hospitals have an average 10-percent vacancy rate for registered nurses. The American Nurses Association said the shortage of nurses in the Bay State will reach almost 30,000 by 2020.

The shortage has prompted area colleges in western Massachusetts to expand their nursing programs, in an attempt to attract more nurses to that part of the state.

Springfield Technical Community College plans to double its nursing program to 120 students in two years, and the traditional four-year program at UMass has more than double the applicants for 72 slots.

This year, all 41 members of the class that graduated from the STCC nursing program had a job awaiting them at graduation.

"It's awesome," Michael J. Kent, a STCC student who accepted a job at Baystate Medical Center, told The Republican newspaper of Springfield. "The door's wide open."

And area hospitals are trying to make themselves more attractive to nurses.

In Northampton, Cooley Dickinson Hospital has added a recruiter and specialists to provide training for nurses. It also wines and dines recruits, and may establish a concierge service for hospital staffers.

The approach appears to be working. The hospital has 278 registered nurses, and fewer than 20 vacancies.

The average annual salary is $59,948.

"What we're finding is that nurses at other hospitals, when they come to Cooley Dickinson and they start working here, they tell their friends," Craig N. Melin, president and chief executive officer, told The Republican.

Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.

recruitment, not retention. again. what else is new? when do they ever learn? sigh.....

One poster once joked to a new grad that said they had been wined and dinned by a prospective employer. "Enjoy the meal, it will be the last time you ever get a chance to eat."

Gee, what a surprise. How many more studies and surveys do they need to do to figure out that working conditions are poor? They've been doing these surveys since the 1980s!!! But since no one does anything about them, why bother? Oh, I guess researchers need some grant money, so they do yet another survy/study on the nursing shortage.

Bleech, I am getting sick of seeing these articles. They all act like it's a great revelation.

wHY DON'T WE HAVE A "duh" ICON?! ;)

I would agree that health care delivery in our country has its problems. Before I became a nurse I worked in the proverbial trenches first as an Emergency Medical Technician and then a Surgical Technician. I have been in health care for 23 years (I now work in Radiology as a PACS engineer). No job is perfect but some of us find those things that reward us emotionally or financially and pursue those opportunities as best we can.

I came to nursing with tremendous enthusiasm but left with great frustration. I won't bore you with the details but I did tire so of the negative stereotypes and poor working conditions I was subjected to for almost 12 years of my nursing career. I kept hoping for change that never came so I took action and pursued employment that offered me greater personal satisfaction. I am still in health care but not in nursing.

I wish you well (fellow RN's) in your endeavors. I really do. But I assure you that my experiences have been such that I have no regrets moving on

-HBS

Specializes in ORTHOPAEDICS-CERTIFIED SINCE 89.

I'm just waiting for the lawsuits since it's being acknowledged that staffing led to deaths. Must be the nurses' faults?

There has been lawsuits already P_RN, I am sure it will only continue since it is not getting better...only worse.

Originally posted by P_RN

I'm just waiting for the lawsuits since it's being acknowledged that staffing led to deaths. Must be the nurses' faults?

I have ; at $ 89 annually, it is a bargain.

My favorite emoticon :eek: ; not a "duh" but close enough.

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hbscott:

quote: I came to nursing with tremendous enthusiasm but left with great frustration. I won't bore you with the details but I did tire so of the negative stereotypes and poor working conditions I was subjected to for almost 12 years of my nursing career. I kept hoping for change that never came so I took action and pursued employment that offered me greater personal satisfaction.

I am following in your tracks. I do not see any improvements other then what I can do on my own terms whenever possible.

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I am glad this article is on the forefront becuase I feel the every day person is still not aware of the horrible workign conditions we often work under.

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