> > [I forwarded Mark Rickling's recent comments to the CNA press person,
> > Chuck Idelson, who responds...]
> > 1- on the ratio law. in California, in 1999 in the final days of the
> > legislative session, SEIU lobbyists went into legislative offices with
> > Kaiser to lobby legislators to vote against the bill, they wanted them
> > to vote it down.
> I have seen this verified by multiple sources (not just CNA). If it is
> true, SEIU is engaging in political action that directly endangers
> public health, and as such, the fewer members that are recruited into
> this union, the better. See Mark 8:36.
I must confess this predates my time at SEIU, so I don't know this story forwards and backwards. So I stuck the words "seiu kaiser rn" into google to see what it would pop out. Below is the first hit. Clearly, something is amiss with your story:
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0EIN/is_2001_July_19/ai_76633270
Media Statement: CHA Responds to Kaiser Permanente's Support Of SEIU'S Proposed Nurse Ratios; New Federal Report Calls Into Question Impact of Ratios on Patient Care Business Wire, July 19, 2001
Business Editors/Health & Medical Writers
SACRAMENTO, Calif.--(BW HealthWire)--July 19, 2001
The following is a statement by C. Duane Dauner, President, California Healthcare Association:
Kaiser Permanente today announced their endorsement of a proposal by the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) regarding the establishment of nurse staffing ratios, as required by a new state law (AB 394, 1999) set to take effect Jan 1, 2002. Kaiser's endorsement of the SEIU proposal stems from a labor partnership agreement between the two organizations.
The issue of legislating specific nurse staffing levels in California's hospitals has been the subject of much discussion in the past few years. Under the new staffing mandate, hospitals that can't meet the predetermined ratio of nurses to patients could be forced to reduce services, close units or shut down the entire hospital.
The California Department of Health Services (DHS) has been charged with adopting minimum nurse-to-patient ratios. DHS has yet to issue the specific proposed regulations required to implement the new law. The task they face in determining the ratios is far from easy, since California is the first state in the nation to require RN staffing ratios and research on staffing ratios is limited.
Stakeholders -- including the California Healthcare Association (CHA) and SEIU -- have provided recommended nurse staffing ratios to DHS. CHA believes it is in the best interest of patients to base staffing decisions on the actual needs of patients at any given time. Patients' conditions often change by the hour, and hospitals face a continual turnover of patients with diverse medical needs, all of which impact staffing requirements. Nurses on the scene are best able to determine the needs of their patients. State staffing ratios should be the "floor" from which actual staffing based on patient acuity is determined.
The proponents of nurse staffing ratios, including labor unions such SEIU, claim that simply increasing the number of nurses automatically results in improved patient care. However, a newly released report by the federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) calls that assertion into question.
AHRQ, a research arm of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that looks specifically at the issues related to improved patient outcomes and quality of care, concludes there is "insufficient evidence" that nurse staffing ratios lead to improved patient outcomes.
The AHRQ report (www.ahrq.gov/clinic/ptsafety/ chap39.htm) goes on to state that the results of a number of documented studies "are conflicting as to whether richer nurse staffing has a positive effect on patient outcomes."
The study also indicates that "...implementing any increase in RN staffing (in California) may be very difficult" because of the significant shortage of registered nurses.
Statewide, California hospitals currently are operating with a more than 15 percent RN vacancy rate -- meaning that more than one out of every 6 nursing jobs goes unfilled because hospitals can't find the nurses to hire.
California ranks 49th in the nation in terms of the number of RNs per capita. We currently have 585 RNs per 100,000 population -- compared to the national average of 798 RNs per 100,000 population. Only our neighbors in Nevada have fewer RNs per capita.
There also are important financial implications to consider. According to the report, "...at least 40% of California hospitals may see a negative financial effect because of the need to increase staffing." This comes at a time when California's health care system is already nearing a financial meltdown. More than 60 percent of California's hospitals -- two out of every three -- are operating in the red.
CHA urges the Department of Health Services to establish baseline staffing ratios that preserve hospital nurses' ability to use their professional judgment about what is in the best interest of patients, rather than adhering to rigid rules that are unrelated to quality of care.
COPYRIGHT 2001 Business Wire COPYRIGHT 2001 Gale Group