Nurses Release Report Documenting Understaffing

Monday, May 12, 2014

Nurses Release Report Documenting Understaffing(Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO)Registered nurses and community allies on Monday -- International Nurses Day -- released a new 24-page patient care report documenting scores of incidents of understaffing at District hospitals and government agencies over the past 15 months. The report was prepared for the DC City Council, which is currently considering the Patient Protection Act, a bill the nurses say would sharply improve safety in District hospitals through requiring minimum numbers of nurses/ratios per patient.  Presentation of the report, which was filed with the Health Regulation and Licensing Administration for the DC Department of Health and to the Mayor and Council members, followed a rally by DC RNs outside the John A. Wilson Building where the nurses called on the Council to pass the Act. “Every nurse here can tell you that short staffing too often puts our patients at risk,” said Sandra Falwell, RN, a 43-year nurse at Children’s National Medical Center and Vice President of National Nurses United. “With ER patients at Providence Hospital sometimes waiting for more than 12 hours to be seen, or three or four hours to even be triaged, it is not uncommon for their conditions to get worse,” said Providence Hospital orthopedic nurse Rose Farhoudi, RN.
- photo by
Jay Mallin

 

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