SF Indy: Arnold vs the Nurses: The 2005 Nursing Crisis - California Style

[rainbow4321]

http://sf.indymedia.org/news/2005/02/1711146.php


On November 4th, 2004, two days after the GOP-dominated national elections, an emboldened Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger issued an “emergency” regulation to stop the 5:1 patient to nurse ratio law for three years. Interestingly, his “Finding of Emergency,” his official excuse for stopping the law, read as if it were copied from the hospital lobby’s web site. Was this a real emergency? Was the Governor protecting Californians from a real danger, or was he merely parroting the hospital industry’s propaganda and doing their bidding?

The closure of the tiny, 39-bed Santa Teresita Hospital in Duarte was hailed by the California Hospital Association (the hospital owner’s lobby) as the “tragic consequence of unrealistic nurse ratio regulations” and it figured prominently in Schwarzenegger’s “Finding of Emergency.” In reality, this failure was actually caused by years of “severe financial distress” and nurses who worked there reported they were “generally meeting the ratios without difficulty.” The real kicker to this story is this, the letter announcing the hospital’s closing is dated January 6, 2004. 5 days after the 6:1 ratios started. Now tell me, who, besides our Governor, would really believe that 5 days of intolerable 6:1 ratios caused the downfall of this poor little hospital? Santa Teresita became the “poster child” for the hospital industry’s anti-nurse crusade. Their letter (with the date) is proudly displayed on the CHA web site as if it were mathematical proof that ratios = evil.

The California State Office of Health Planning and Development reports that the year BEFORE the ratios started, 10 California hospitals failed. Unfortunately, the hospital owners had no one else to blame in 2003.

On March 4th, the Superior Court of California will hold a hearing in Sacramento to decide if the Governor acted in good faith when he declared a state of “emergency” and unilaterally delayed the ratio law. Will the “evidence” he presented in his “Finding of Emergency” prove that he acted in our best interests, or in the best interests of the special interests? Stay tuned.
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Edited for extra link


http://www.calnurses.org/?Action=Content&id=709

The nurses, retorted Schwarzenegger, "can't tear me down, because I am with the people." But he may not be able to make his get-tough position stick. The Sacramento Superior Court will hear arguments this week on the ratio issue in a lawsuit brought by the nurses' association. California's 1999 law, which took effect last year, is the first in the nation to mandate fixed nurse-to- patient ratios after takeovers of community hospitals by for-profit chains led to cutbacks. But two days after the November election, Schwarzenegger officials loosened nurse staffing requirements for emergency rooms and delayed until 2008 putting into effect a rule requiring a 1-to-5 nurse-to-patient ratio for medical- surgical units. "We don't have enough nurses--nor can the hospitals afford that," the Governor said. "Our hospitals are already closing down

Whatever happens in court this week, Schwarzenegger's butt kicking has hardly improved his image. According to a recent Gallup poll, nurses are more popular than he is. "The nurses care about patient safety," says state senator Sheila Kuehl, author of the ratio law. "The Governor insulted them. It was a big misstep."

[blondeatlast]

1. Is there a strong political group for nurses?

I've been hospitalized dozens of times, and my utmost respect and appreciation is for quality nurses. They are invaluable and I see an all-out, multi-pronged attack on them occurring now. I can't sit still and let it happen.

Good nursing care is crucial, and often the only medical care in rural areas.

I want to help--has anyone got links?

[mantis49]

2. The one I know about is the American Nurses Association.

They have chapters in all the states, too.

http://www.ana.org/gova/