by dcjwjeditor | Apr 30, 2013 | Campaigns, Patient Protection Act
The Patient Protection Act is legislation before the DC Council to ensure that patients get the best care possible when they need it through safe staffing. Please join DC nurses, patients and community allies to encourage the Council’s Committee on Health to schedule a hearing for May 16 for the Patient Protection Act, and a mark-up soon after. Please call Health Committee Chairwoman Yvette Alexander’s office to urge her to schedule the hearing on Thursday, May 16. Her number is 202.741.0910. The message should be: We appreciate your leadership on the Patient Protection Act. As you know, NAME OF ORGANIZATION strongly support the Patient Protection Act, and we know that this legislation will drastically improve patient care and save the lives of DC residents. In order for the bill to get marked up and through the full council by the July 15 recess, we are counting on you to exercise leadership by scheduling the hearing on the bill for May 16, and scheduling a mark-up by early June. This is a life and death matter for tens of thousands of DC residents who need to have safe patient care when they or a loved one is in the hospital. Reinforcing calls to Bonds, Grosso and Orange would also be helpful to encourage them to weigh in with Ms. Alexander as soon as possible. Thank you again for your support for this landmark piece of legislation. We are going to need to redouble our efforts to make sure our elected officials move swiftly to pass the bill into...
by dcjwjeditor | Feb 4, 2013 | Actions & Events, Projects
Patient Protection Act Proposed for DC Hospitals Survey: 57% of District Hospital Nurses Cite Inadequate Staffing Registered nurses joined with District of Columbia Council members and community supporters in a press conference today to announce the introduction of the Patient Protection Act to dramatically improve care in DC hospitals to protect patients. Speaking to a room packed with some 200 DC RNs, Council Chairman Phil Mendelson called the bill “common sense, today’s version of the 8-hour day.” It is intended, he said, to address “the short change of healthcare due to the bottom line, ensure an adequate number of nurses on duty and eliminate (nurse) burnout.” Opening the press conference, Washington Hospital Center RN Rajini Raj explained the bill would establish mandatory minimum nurse-to-patient ratios by hospital unit, augmented by additional staffing based on individual patient needs. It is “modeled on a successful California law that has dramatically improved patient safety, brought 130,000 additional nurses back to the bedside, and has helped keep experienced nurses taking care of patients.” The Patient Protection Act, Mendelson emphasized, “provides a minimum number of nurses on duty by specific unit at all times” The bill is prompted in part by an autumn 2012 NNU survey of DC area nurses which found: 57 percent of DC nurses say staffing is inadequate always or almost always; 64 percent said they have less time to care for patients; 60 percent say changes in their workload have led to worse outcomes for patients; 88 percent say they have had to work through meal and rest breaks because of inadequate staffing; 87 percent say that mandatory nurse-to-patient...
