FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE/May 2, 1996 CONTACT: Joan Meehan [202/651-7020]; Sara Foer [202-651-7023] American Nurses Association Hails Introduction of Patient Safety ActRep. Hinchey introduces legislation to inform patients, protect nursesWASHINGTON, D.C. -- The American Nurses Association (ANA) today praised the introduction of the Patient Safety Act, federal legislation which aims to ensure that patients receive safe, quality nursing care in hospitals and other health care institutions, and to provide whistle blower protections for registered nurses (RNs) who speak out about patient care issues. The bill, H.R 3355, was introduced by Rep. Maurice Hinchey, (D-NY) on April 30. ANA, which worked closely with Rep. Hinchey's office on the bill, lobbied for this legislation as part of its two-year public education campaign to call attention to the current trend in which many hospitals seek to cut costs by substituting minimally-trained, unlicensed aides for educated, licensed professional registered nurses. The Patient Safety Act mandates that:
"Patients and nurses must be protected from those in health care who promote profits over safe, quality patient care," said ANA Executive Director Geri Marullo, MSN, RN, at a press conference held today at the Capitol. "Health care decisions are increasingly driven more by a quest for short-term cost savings and profit than by a commitment to safe, quality patient care. This legislation lifts the veil of secrecy that keeps hospitals' staffing and outcomes a mystery to patients, gives consumers access to information they need to make informed choices, and protects nurses who speak out on behalf of safe patient care." Cutting nursing budgets is a prime target of many hospitals to boost the bottom line. This is occurring despite record double-digit profits for the hospital industry for several years. Acute care hospitals generated a record-setting $13.8 billion in profits in 1994 according to the American Hospital Association. The 1994 figures show that hospitals' aggregate profits grew by 17.3 percent over 1993 earnings of $11.7 billion. The industry's total profit margin rose to 4.7 percent, the highest since 1986. (Modern Healthcare, March 25, 1996) Marullo noted in her statement that compromising safety by cutting nurse staffing in the name of cost-savings is "completely short-sighted." A nurse's median weekly salary is just slightly more that the median cost of one day in the hospital. With nurses' positive impact on patient outcomes and a significant correlation between high RN staffing and shorter lengths of stay, hospitals can actually save money in the long run by using highly skilled registered nurses in adequate numbers. In January, the Institute of Medicine's congressionally mandated Committee on the Adequacy of Nurse Staffing (IOM) released the findings of its 18-month study of these issues. According to the report, the IOM committee was "shocked by the lack of current data relating to the status of hospital quality care on a national basis," and called for a national research agenda on hospital quality, as well as the linkages between staffing and quality. "The committee is convinced that investigation of hospital quality of care warrants increasing and immediate attention." A decade of prior research demonstrates that when there are more nurses, there will be lower mortality rates, shorter lengths of stay, fewer complications and even lower costs. Yet, more and more hospitals are turning over a range of nursing tasks and functions, such as inserting urinary catheters, drawing blood, titrating and administering medication, interpreting EKGs and monitors, performing patient education, dressing wounds, and performing suctioning to minimally-trained, unlicensed aides, who do not possess the knowledge and education to detect critical changes in a patient's condition or to take appropriate action in a crisis situation. First-hand reports abound about incidents where patients have been harmed, and, in some cases, died due to inappropriate care by unlicensed personnel. In addition, with fewer nurses available, RNs report that they have insufficient time to spend with patients and that time is spent moving from crisis to crisis. "To ensure patient safety, new drugs must undergo rigorous testing before they can be approved and brought to market; the same is true for most medical treatments. Hospitals, however, implement new patient care delivery models in which RNs are moved away from the bedside and replaced with minimally-trained aides without any prior testing or data to back up their decisions," explained Marullo. In addition, because many hospital employees dress alike and employee name tags often fail to identify the credentials or licensure of patient care staff, patients frequently do not know which of their care givers, if any, is an RN. Further, since hospitals are not currently required to disclose information about staffing to the public, health care consumers are not aware of this growing trend, or how it could negatively affect the care they receive. Both RNs and aides serve important purposes in hospital settings; however, the skill, training, and education acquired in two to four years of higher education cannot be supplanted by a few weeks of on-the-job training. ANA and its state nurses associations have taken the lead in educating consumers about ways to evaluate nursing care through the "Every Patient Deserves a Nurse" campaign. Consumers may request a single copy of this brochure by calling 1-800-274-4ANA and request item NP-92. In addition, ANA has developed a large RN pin so that patients can easily identify their professional care givers. ANA is encouraging all registered nurses to wear this pin every day in their workplace, and, in particular, on May 6, " National RN Recognition Day," which marks the beginning of National Nurses Week, May 6-12. In addition to federal-level lobbying efforts, state nurses associations continue to lobby for the introduction of state legislation to address these issues. The Massachusetts Nurses Association has introduced a package of legislation that is designed to guarantee the public access to appropriate levels of nursing care in all health care settings, and to prevent unwarranted use of unlicensed personnel in the place of qualified professionals. Massachusetts Nurses Association members will call attention to these issues at a rally on May 6 at the state capitol.
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