For Immediate Release
Wednesday, January 23, 2002
United Nurses Association of California Applauds Governor Davis' Patient Ratio Proposal
POMONA, CA —The United Nurses Associations of California (UNAC), applauds Governor Gray Davis for the first of its kind regulations limiting the number of hospital patients assigned to nurses.
"There are three issues on the mind of every working nurse: staffing, staffing and staffing," said Kathy Sackman, RN, president of UNAC. "Governor Davis' regulations signal a new day for quality patient care in hospitals throughout the state."
UNAC worked closely with officials from the state Department of Health Services for more than two years developing the ratios, which were legislated in a 1999 bill (AB 394).
California already imposes staffing requirements in some hospital units, including intensive/critical care, well-baby nursery, neonatal intensive-care unit, intermediate-care nursery and the operating room. The proposed ratios cover all other areas of the hospital, including general medical-surgical wards.
Kaiser Permanente became the first major health care employer in the United States to voluntarily adopt the 1:4 nurse-to-patient staffing ratio on all medical and surgical units as proposed by UNAC and other labor unions. "With the Labor/Management Partnership, we created a new way to achieve real improvements in quality care and quality jobs — a new model in health care advocacy that delivers real change for workers and patients," said Sackman.
