Valley nurses want improved conditions

[herring_RN, ASN, BSN]

valley nurses want improved conditions

a california-based nurses organization hasn't given up the fight to improve working conditions and nurse-to-patient ratios in texas hospitals, and local nurses have taken up the cause....

...it comes down to whether we want to keep our job or keep our nurse's license," said laura dominguez, committee member and intensive care nurse at valley baptist medical center-brownsville.

...the committee is encouraging texas lawmakers to file a bill in the 2009 legislative session that would require hospitals to abide by strict nurse-to-patient ratios.

the bill would call for a 1-to-5 nurse-to-patient ratio on a hospital's regular medical floor, a 1-to-2 ratio in intensive care and a 1-to-4 ratio in pediatrics. these are the same ratios california adopted in 1999.

"research shows that patients do better (with lower ratios)," said joanne thompson, a registered nurse in houston and member of the national nurses organizing committee....

...opponents of the legislation say they agree nurse-to-patient ratios make a difference in patient care, and that hospitals have a shortage of nurses, but that mandated ratios aren't the answer....

http://www.themonitor.com/articles/conditions_17560___article.html/improved_nurses.html

legislative summary is attached