[autimom4ever]

federal legislation on nurse- patient ratios.....

Hello all...

My name is Becky. I'm a nurse and a Graduate Student in Maryland. Our group (in school) is currently working on promoting a federal legislative bill on Mandatory Nurse-Patient Ratio's in Medicare facilities (See Federal Bill HR 3656)...We need as many nurses as possible to support us... The more the better.... If you want to help, please print the following letter, which is a form letter found on the ANA website, and sign it (you don't have to sign your full name if you are uncomfortable), place RN after your name and write what state you live in... I will take care of sending it to your legilators...

Send it directly to me...

Becky Marcengill
P.O. Box 776
Olney, Maryland 20830-0776

ALL HELP IS GREATLY APPRECIATED.....

At the end of May, I will return to let you all know how many responses I got

Below is the letter

March 10, 2004

Dear Sir/Madam:

I am writing to urge you to cosponsor S 991/HR 3656 the "Registered Nurse Safe Staffing Act of 2003." This legislation seeks to ensure that patients receive safe, quality nursing care in hospitals and other health care settings.

Research demonstrates that when there are more registered nurses (RNs), there are lower mortality rates, shorter lengths of stay, reduced costs and fewer complications. This bill requires the establishment of a staffing system that ensures a number of RNs on each shift and in each unit of the hospital to ensure appropriate staffing levels for patient care.

The bill also provides public reporting of staffing information. Hospitals must post daily for each shift the number of licensed and unlicensed staff providing direct patient care, specifically noting the number of RNs.

The complexity and variability of today's hospitals necessitate that staffing patterns be determined at the hospital and unit level, with the input of the RNs caring for patients at those institutions.

I urge you to cosponsor this important piece of legislation.

Thank you,

[Judyd]

I work in Kansas and our hospital just provided us with copies of the 108th Congress 2d Session H.R. 4316 I believe this is part of the same bill? I got on the computer and came directly to this site to see what I could find out, about this bill. I have been told by the hospital that Clifornia Nurses and Nevada Nurses are already working with this standard. I was told by Sr Management that in California. the sick people are driving around in cars because they can not find a hospital with an open bed, due to lack of enough nurses to open the beds they already have. We on the other hand have a staffing and acuity level so high we are not able to give quality care, and they are shoving more pts at us before the beds are even empty, and we are considering the need for a holding and triage area on our floor, where we will not be able to monitor or care for them for sometime anyway. I WILL write as soon as possible. I knew I would find informed nurses on this site.. Yea Ultimate Nurse...

[JeannieTaylor]

The answer to this problem is not just promotion of this field but BETTER pay for Nurses in general.

I read a study that (perhaps it was the Labor Dept) said that Engineers (which are typically male) and R.N.'s (which are typically female) are in the same category as far as schooling and skill level for their relative fields yet R.N.'s are paid HALF of what the typical Engineer is paid.That's food for thought.
Why would a young woman or man want to be in a field that doesn't pay very well and is full of stress and bodily danger? The risk of death and disease scares many away (even though the reality of it can be remote).
PAY PAY PAY
RESPECT RESPECT RESPECT (this would translate into better working conditions)

The average person has NO idea what Nurses do and when in the Hospital environment it is difficult to tell who are the RN's and who are the CNA's. That seems to say that there isn't enough recognition of RN's.

I wish that lady came back to let us know what happened with that Bill

[LeahNTexas]

Dear Nurses,
October 16, 2004

Greetings! My name is Leah L. Logan. I am a CNA in the Dallas, Texas area. I am writing you, because today after watching thousands of people walk for the Susan B. Coleman Breast Cancer fund, I cried!

I first cried because back in 1996, my mother, Linda L. Logan, at the age of 41 died from breast cancer.

Then I cried because of all of the people walking that wanted to help.

Then from shame, I cried because since my mother died, I have done nothing to honor her or give to the Susan B. Coleman Breast Cancer Foundation.

After 8 years since mom died, I have decided to do what ever I can to raise money for this program.

My goal is to raise $10,000 over next 12 months for the Susan B. Coleman Breast Cancer Foundation.

I have a plan in place, but I can’t do it alone. If any of you are willing to help me, please write to me with your name and phone number, and I will contact you soon. Please don’t be afraid to reach out. And please remember to do your own self-exams and get your mammograms!

Here is the address:

teamnewvision@yahoo.com

[medi]

Leah please don't spam all the threads with off topic posts! Start a new thread, make ONE post about it, then leave it alone except to respond to replies ok??

[LeahNTexas]

Well, how do I create a new thread? I certainly don't want to be accused of spam! By the way, does anyone care about breast cancer?

Leah L. Logan

[medi]

Leah we ALL care about breast cancer very much. Ok, if you go back to the main section you're in, which in this case is "Nurses Union Talk", you'll see a tab at the top of the page that says "Post". Click that and you can begin a brand new thread (topic) within this forum, or any other. It's easy!

[nursinghumor]

Hello Becky,

Can you give us an update on the bill, where it is being discussed (house of representatives, the senate).

How close is it to being signed? or has it been defeated?

Andrew Lopez, RN
http://www.4nursing.com

[denver health]

does anyone out there know anything about Kaiser in the Denver area? Specifically would you recommend working for Kaiser as a RN?

[Jamielj]

Does anyone ever know what happened with this bill? Just curious....seems like this thread sorta got a little hijacked, lol.