Press Coverage Ohio Patient Protection Act

[RN Power Ohio]

all,

yesterday the ohio national nurses organizing committee held its first media event to discuss the ohio patient protection act of 2008. we were very fortunate to be joined by linda fearer and steve cagan who told their personal experiences to the press. we were very well received! this is just the beginning of a long and uphill battle against the oha for safe hospital care in ohio. nnoc ohio rn's will spend the summer educating the public, gaining the support of community allies and visiting with legislators to increase support for this much needed legislation.

the ohio patient protection act would provide minimum mandated nurse to patient ratios that are unit specific. these numbers can be improved upon based upon patient need as determined the independent professional judgment of the registered nurse. in addition, ohppa would provide safe floating standards and much needed whistleblower protection.

below is just a sampling of the media coverage received:

columbus

nurses rally for smaller, safer ratio's

nbc news 4

http://www.nbc4i.com/midwest/cmh/politics.apx.-content-articles-cmh-2008-06-17-0017.html

nurses demand lawmakers force hospitals to ease workload

http://www.10tv.com/live/content/onnnews/stories/2008/06/18/nurses.html

cleveland

fox 8

http://www.myfoxcleveland.com/myfox/myfox/pages/sidebar_video.jsp?contentid=6790596&version=1&locale=en-us

kentucky post - covington,ky

ohio nurses call for action on hospital safety

last update: 6/17 8:44 pm

web produced by: ian preuth

contributor: kevin delaney

ohio nurses gathered with patients and lawmakers in columbus on tuesday to speak out about hospital safety.

the national nurses organizing committee spoke to reporters at the ohio statehouse.

the group wants legislators to make hospitals safer for patients and give nurses the ability to expose unsafe conditions.

a northeast ohio lawmaker plans to introduce a proposal to establish nurse-to-patient ratios for acute-care hospitals.

ohio nurses fight for patient rights

[color=#507d1e][color=#507d1e]author: [color=#507d1e][color=#507d1e]bruce bostick

people's weekly world newspaper, 06/17/08 21:53

cleveland - patients are dying because nurses are being mistreated and overworked," stated adrian zurup, a registered nurse from cleveland, as she kicked off a june 15 rally here by the national nurse's organizing committee.

the nnoc is supporting a bill in the state legislature, titled the ohio patients' protection act, which would raise the ratio of nurses to patients in hospitals.

"some nurses are forced to care for as many as 13 patients at one time. we say that this just cannot be safe for patients, said michelle mahon. "we work with the patients, we advocate for them and we said that we cannot do an adequate job for 13 patients at one time. we need standards that establish three to four patients per nurse."

"we have restrictions on the number of kids in a classroom, on the number of fish we can catch and on how many can ride a bus," said terry gallagher, another nurse. "but there are no standards on how many patients nurses can be assigned to take care of. our priorities are off."

linda fear of youngstown, spoke about her husband's death, after being released prematurely from the hospital. "the nurse on duty said that there was no way that he should've been released, but the hospital is interested only in the bottom line, not people."

when asked by a corporate media representative whether "passing the legislation would just lead hospitals to cut other jobs, michelle mahon replied that "the press should be asking hospitals what their spending priorities are. these are multi-million dollar hospitals that are providing inadequate care because they overwork and understaff but the top officials are becoming rich at our expense."

steve cagan, a recent hospital patient from cleveland, described how the overworking/understaffing of nurses affected him. "there is absolutely no shortage of nurses. there are plenty of nurses in ohio, but they are treated miserably by hospitals and don't stay."

"we'll face powerful corporate opponents when this bill is introduced, and we'll be attacked by them," said rhonda risner hanos, a registered nurse from dayton. "nurses will lead this fight and we'll have powerful friends, as well." it is expected that the ohio patient protection act will be introduced, with strong support from the afl-cio and others, within a month.