Support Our Nurses With Our Hearts and Deeds
May 10, 2010
We don’t often think about nurses until we need them. But we should, because by then we probably need the care they provide, and it’s too late to wonder if they’re getting all the help they need.
During National Nurses Week (May 6 – also known as National Nurses Day – through May 12, Florence Nightingale’s birthday) we should honor these front-line caregivers not only with our thoughts, but by urging our state lawmakers to support efforts to improve nurse-to-patient staffing ratios.
Making that a reality in California is AFSCME’s affiliate, United Nurses Associations of California/Union of Health Care Professionals (UNAC/UHCP). Representing more than 19,000 registered nurses and other health care professionals, UNAC/UHCP has played a key role over the past decade establishing that state’s mandated staffing ratios.
It has paid off. A newly released study by the Health Research and Educational Trust shows that those ratios are significantly associated with better patient outcomes than in states without such requirements. It also improves nurse retention and job satisfaction. It’s a win-win situation for everyone.
Kathy J. Sackman, RN, president of UNAC/UHCP and an AFSCME International vice president says the study’s conclusions “make us very proud to have fought so hard for state-mandated staffing ratios. As a union of RNs representing RNs and other health care professionals, we know what it takes to improve the quality of patient care – more nurses at the bedside – and what it takes to keep nurses working in hospitals: the ability to deliver great care with less workload stress.”
AFSCME nurses support federal legislation (H.R. 2273/S. 1031) that would establish similar staffing ratios across the nation.
In addition to celebrating its success improving patient care, UNAC/UHCP will observe National Nurses Week by donating $15,000 to Doctors Without Borders to support their Haiti relief operation. You can donate to them here.
AFSCME International donated $25,000 to the AFL-CIO Solidarity Center Earthquake Relief for Haitian Workers fund. Donations to the fund can be made here.
Another priority for AFSCME nurses is the Nurse and Health Care Worker Protection Act. (S.1788 /H.R.2381). It would require the Department of Labor to issue standards designed to reduce injuries to patients, nurses and all other health care workers by requiring the use of mechanical lifts and similar devices when moving patients. It would also require facility operators to establish a safe patient handling and injury prevention plan and maintain a data system to track and analyze injury trends.
AFSCME represents more than 360,000 health care workers (including more than 60,000 nurses) across the nation.
Read more about National Nurses Week here. Also, learn more about AFSCME nurses and health care workers.
