We support the RN Safe Staffing Act (S. 58/ H.R. 876) because we believe that is important for patient safety, adequate care and work satisfaction. This bill, instead of establishing a set nurse-patient ratio, allows for RNs to make the decision on safe ratio based on patient acuity, patient number, resources available and ancillary support services. As future RNs, we understand that while mandatory ratios are helpful, they are rarely sufficient. We have experienced first hand that only nurses who are actually on the floor of a unit understand the need for more staff and how to accommodate. Also, research has shown that poor staffing causes nurse burn out, job dissatisfaction and turnover, and poor patient outcome. Obviously as future RNs, job satisfaction and providing safe care are important components of a future career. Another huge component of this bill is addressing the concern with patient safety. Studies have shown that the consequences of not having adequate staffing are unsafe with multiple detrimental outcomes and that adding RNs to unit staff eliminates almost 1/5 of hospital deaths. The number one goal of the nurse is to provide safe, therapeutic, adequate care to patients, and current ratios are making this difficult. These are the main reasons that this bill has our full support.
The first step in our political action plan is to get in touch with legislators who support this bill to express our support and receive feedback on the current status of the bill. These legislators including Senator Daniel Inouye, Representative Lois Capps, Representative Steven LaTourette, Karen Daley, president of ANA, and Delegate Vivian Watts. We’re also going to e-mail all of the students in the nursing department with the link to our blog to promote awareness and gain support.
QUESTIONS AND RESPONSE
- Does the Bill take in to consideration the budget cuts most hospitals are experiencing?
- Was there any talk of adding an amendment on to the bill to cover some of the additional costs in order to maintain adequate staffing?
- How is the bill, if it becomes a law, going to be effectively enforced if some hospitals are incapable of paying the nurses required to meet the staffing ratios?
- How will patient acuity level and RN acuity level be measured to determine staffing?
Initially, if this bill becomes a law, hospital costs will be increased because of increased nursing staff. However, costs in the long run will be sufficiently decreased. According to a recent research study, “increasing the number of RN can yield a cost savings of almost $3 billion – the result of more than 4 million avoided extra stay days for adverse patient events such as infection and bleeding occurring in the hospital.” This bill is not establishing a mandated nurse-patient ratio, but instead suggesting that the number itself is set at the unit level with the RN input. Therefore, patient and RN acuity level would be evaluated by the RNs on the floor. This system is even more efficient and effective than a computer system, since the RNs have first hand knowledge and input on the situation.
Our group agrees with you in supporting the RN Safe Staffing Act. It is extremely unsafe to have nurses who are assigned to too many patients because there are not enough nurses working on the floor. This leaves lots of room fro error. Nurses become mentally drained after long hours and adding more patients than is safe only cause mental errors to turn into medical errors. As nurses we are to provide the best patient care possible, and this is nearly impossible to do when an assignment consists of too many patients. If the RN Safe Staffing Act was passed it would definitely cut down on the amount of medical errors caused by nurse to patient ratios that are too high.
ReplyDeleteThe RN Safe Staffing Act addresses several significant issues, and our group agrees with you on why we need to support this bill. This is an issue that all of us newly graduating nurses should be aware of because any problems with regard to patient safety and care that may arise from staffing shortages will all soon be under our own licenses. We would like to see that this is placed to make our work environment a better place, and to ensure that the ones who matter most (the patients) are being provided the best care possible. As group 7 commented, all these issues leave a lot of room for error, and that is scary in a field where we should not be allowing for much error at all.
ReplyDeleteOur group could not agree more with your stance on the passage of this bill. The statement that “the number one goal of the nurse is to provide safe, therapeutic, adequate care to patients,” could not be more accurate. Nurses should have the opportunity to provide the best care that they can possibly give to a patient and not be forced to pick and choose who receives the best care based upon a tight time schedule. Obviously as future nurses we are extremely biased toward the passage of this bill; however the evidence is so strong and conclusive in this field that we believe it would be hard for the public to disagree with our stance. The facts are simple, when there are less nurses in a hospital, more people will die. This fact alone should be persuasive enough to pass this bill. The thing that concerns us about this bill in the future involves the imminent nursing shortage in the United States. Even if this bill passes and the country agrees that we should have more nurses working on fewer patients, that does not change the fact that before long there will simply not be enough nurses to go around. It is scary to think about what the future of healthcare might bring, especially when presented with the facts about how poorly patients respond in an environment with a lack of trained nurses. This topic is something that will greatly affect the future of healthcare and we are excited to continue reading your blog to see where it goes from here!
ReplyDeleteThe effects of understaffing are undeniable; the threat of job dissatisfaction and less than optimal patient outcomes are reasons for serious discussion on the potential benefits of legislation which would improve staffing issues. What is your group’s opinion on why there are currently staffing issues? For example, is this a problem that has been escalating over the past years or decades, and if it has why do you think the problem has gone on for so long?
ReplyDeleteThis is a very interesting issue, especially with the current economic situation. I really found the content very informative. The question of whether you can afford to sacrifice some on safety for a more profitable business transaction is a really important issue that needs to be addressed bluntly, especially thinking about the report "To Err is Human" that lists the number of deaths per year due to human error. Is part of that really because nurses are overworked? How much? But you also focus more on the nurses themselves and how they are handling the workload, and nurse turnover is a problem.
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