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California Governor Nixes Lifting Teams and New Staffing Ratios

In two separate actions, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) has demonstrated his support of the hospital industry at the expense of nurses. On Sept. 22, Schwarzenegger vetoed state legislation that would have required most hospitals to establish lifting teams to help health care workers lift and move patients. Members of lifting teams would have received training on equipment and lifting techniques that have been shown to reduce the risk of back injury. Schwarzenegger said he believes existing laws and regulations are adequate to protect workers and that he did not want to "impose additional costly burdens" on hospitals that are already financially stretched. According to Bureau of Labor Statistics data for 2002, nursing aides, orderlies and attendants had the greatest number of reported musculoskeletal disorders; nurses ranked sixth by occupation, resulting in an annual median number of six days away from work due to injuries of this kind.

In another move that has the potential to negatively impact patient care, on Nov. 4 Schwarzenegger issued emergency regulations that will delay for three years the implementation of the next step of mandatory reduction of nurse-to-patient ratios in medical-surgical hospital units. The regulations apply to both public- and private-sector hospitals in the state.

The emergency regulations come almost one year after California's groundbreaking nurse-to-patient staffing ratios took effect. Under the current law, signed by then-Gov. Gray Davis, the maximum number of patients assigned to one nurse was to be reduced on Jan. 1, 2005, to five. Under the emergency regulations, the nurse-to-patient ratio would remain at one nurse to every six patients until 2008.

To demonstrate their appreciation for the governor's actions, the trade group representing the hospital industry ran a television ad — characterized by nurse groups as "deceptive" — that featured a nurse with a stethoscope around her neck, thanking Gov. Schwarzenegger for relaxing nurse staffing levels. The California Healthcare Association has aggressively opposed the staffing ratios since they were first proposed several years ago.

United Nurses Associations of California/ AFSCME is protesting the changes.

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