Here is where you can be heard. ANA has all the emails set up and you just fill out the form and it gets sent to your representatives. It's a start.
You can edit your message. I added that nurses need to be protected from administration for expressing concerns about patient safety. I think that is very important. Nurses also need to be protected if they feel it is unsafe.
I just noticed that there has been 46 replies out of 800+ views.....kinda sad....
I know... I must admit I'm kind of disappointed at the non-response, too. And many of those 40-something replies are from the same people.
I mean, submitting the ANA letter is "solidarity lite". If nurses can't even form that kind of solidarity, how can they band together for more difficult kinds of solidarity? Not to sound provocative... although if that works in engendering response, so be it...
Re-pasting the link to the submittable ANA letter:
Why don't doctors join in with addressing unsafe staffing levels for nurses?
I have found that over the years the doctors have more respectful and caring towards the nurses and do address our acuity when they write orders for patients and make decisions. There are some that will never look at us as important people, but I think the respect has improved. There have been issues where doctor abuse has been addressed and nurses got together and it improved. Had we not fought for it, we wouldn't be seeing the change that I believe we are seeing. It is the same with this. We need to stay on it and never give up.
I can only hope that the people that have viewed and not responded here have went to the link. If not, they have only themselves to blame for not seeing change. It is a very easy step to take and even if it doesn't work, it is worth taking. Even if the MNA offers better representation, it still needs to go to the reps.
The best time to get the politicians to listen to us is election year. I managed to get a city wide problem that had been ignored for over 40 years by hitting it hard in an election year. Multiple people tried to get the problem resolved and everyone passed the buck. I hit it hard on election year and went to different city officials and they supported me every step of the way. I got the news involved and we got the problem taken care of. It was something that needed to be taken care of for 40 years and several people tried getting it done for the last 15 years. If I went to them now, my mission would be WEAK because it is not an election year. Even if we don't succeed this year, we keep on it and keep on it. Things have gotten so bad that even new grads are noticing it immediately in their early days in the field. They are being pushed into our state early on in their careers. That says a lot!
Just stay on it. Keep this to the top. I talked to a union rep today about the plan to address this. The unionized hospital has already addressed patient/nurse ratios and they do try to protect their nurses even though they have a long way to go. They have acknowledged the chronic problem. We have them on our side even if you are not in a union environment.
CALIFORNIA DID IT!!! IT CAN BE DONE!
They are trying to get the union in another hospital. I believe they will succeed.
In this field there are too many people that will complain about the issues but when they are given a way to do something about it they back down. I don't understand. This link will not affect anyone's lives or jobs in a negative way. If it is successful, it will make our jobs easier. This is the most that I have seen our patient safety issue addressed and the public figures have started the mission. They are blocked by politicians that say they need MORE PEOPLE. Then we need to give them the MORE PEOPLE.
I was part of a movement to change our lifting policies and get lifting equipment and limits into this field. Look at how many years nothing was done about that. It did change. It is not hopeless. If ANA and MNA and other unions are addressing it - it is coming. Again...California did it. It did not get done by nurses being quiet or being afraid to do something. Illinois is working on it. I will be digging up what I can and bringing it here. I will look for easy things to do. This is easy.
It was a nurse like you who originally got through to me. That made me eel even semi comfortable calling for anything. I still when I get a new nurse, feel embarrassed calling. Sometimes even when I am told to call for something or tell them something I don't.
For instance I had my wisdom teeth out on Thursday. I had met this doctor twice. One of them about 12 years ago and then a few weeks before she removed them. She said TELL ME if you feel any pain. When I did I said nothing but she just knew, and asked me if it hurt and I was honest. Sometimes though I just say no and suck it up.
I do these things because I do not want to look like a complainer.
Also your replies made me cry. You are the type of nurse I LOVE having. :icon_hug:
Back atchya - getting a little misty here myself.
TRUST ME when I tell you that we nurses have an uncanny way of knowing who the complainers are.
And like BrokenRNHeart, I too will strongly emphasize anticipating needs for your type, the suffer silently kind, in report.
But you know, even though I always feel very stressed and like I run for a full 12+ hours at work, there are still nurses who somehow (it's beyond me how) manage to sit around at the nurses station fairly often. Of course, I guess it's not that hard to imagine too when I hear things from patients like I did the other night.
I had to stop in the middle of this patient's assessment and when I came back to resume, he said that this had been the most thorough examination he'd had since being there for the past few days. The scary thing is that I was really only maybe halfway through my assessment!!
So Meg, here's my advice to you and all patients. Once you identify those "just there for a paycheck" nurses and you happen to have them, get on that call light just as often as your pretty little fingers can press it please so we can drive 'em outta there!
Add me to the count of course!!! More to add to this thread tomorrow. 3 nights in a row where I work will make ya brain dead so let me recover 'cause I got a lot to say on this subject as many of you might know.
One last quick reminder...Michael Moore might still have time to whip up a brief documentary before the election! Hey, whatever it takes!
TRUST ME when I tell you that we nurses have an uncanny way of knowing who the complainers are.
And like BrokenRNHeart, I too will strongly emphasize anticipating needs for your type, the suffer silently kind, in report.
But you know, even though I always feel very stressed and like I run for a full 12+ hours at work, there are still nurses who somehow (it's beyond me how) manage to sit around at the nurses station fairly often. Of course, I guess it's not that hard to imagine too when I hear things from patients like I did the other night.
I had to stop in the middle of this patient's assessment and when I came back to resume, he said that this had been the most thorough examination he'd had since being there for the past few days. The scary thing is that I was really only maybe halfway through my assessment!!
So Meg, here's my advice to you and all patients. Once you identify those "just there for a paycheck" nurses and you happen to have them, get on that call light just as often as your pretty little fingers can press it please so we can drive 'em outta there!
That's cute.
I know what you mean about finding time to sit. I see some people at the desk for what seems to be 11 out of 12 hours. I wonder if that makes our workload more intense because we are out there working. I know that when I have a patient that shares the room with a patient of a nurse that doesn't round, the other patient seems to pick up on my sincere concern and I get hit up for their needs as well. There have been times when I felt that I had twice the load because of it. I also wonder if that is the picture that caused us to have a heavier load. Because there are people that make it look like it's not that busy. I usually find something to do. I can't stand messy rooms so if I am not busy (which is rare) I will clean a room or stock or reorganize a stock area (they get out of control). I just feel that we are never caught up and there is always something that can be done.
My last group was basically ALL hard workers. We all made decisions to stay because of that. I couldn't take it any more when the tech production changed and I couldn't say anything about it. I knew it was going to be a LONG time before that got better. The techs that did work their little hearts out couldn't keep up. It was hard on them. They needed breaks and help. Then you would get those that didn't try and it upset the balance. We lost very good techs just about over night.
Add me to the count of course!!! More to add to this thread tomorrow. 3 nights in a row where I work will make ya brain dead so let me recover 'cause I got a lot to say on this subject as many of you might know.
One last quick reminder...Michael Moore might still have time to whip up a brief documentary before the election! Hey, whatever it takes!
I dated a Michael Moore...wonder if that would help.
medsurgrnco, BSN, RN
539 Posts
This great article discusses the cost-effectiveness of staffing levels:
http://www.massnurses.org/News/2005/08/new_study.htm
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