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AMERICAN NURSES ASSOCIATION APPLAUDS RELEASE OF ECONOMIC POLICY INSTITUTE STUDIES FOCUSING ON NURSING AND DELIVERY OF QUALITY CAREThe American Nurses Association (ANA) today applauded the release of two studies focusing on the pivotal roles of registered nurses (RNs) in the delivery of quality health care. The Economic Policy Institute (EPI), a Washington-based think tank, will announce the studies -- Sharing Care: The Changing Nature of Nursing and Committing to Care: Labor-Management Cooperation and Hospital Restructuring -- at a February 10 National Press Club briefing. The Minnesota Nurses Association, a constituent member of the ANA federation of state nurses associations, cooperated in the studies, which were performed at hospitals in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area. The studies were supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Independence Foundation.ANA President Beverly L. Malone, RN, PhD, FAAN, stated, “The most positive impact of the studies is that they continue to shine the public policy spotlight on the critical role of the RN in the provision of safe, quality patient care.” Malone commented that ANA has not had the opportunity to formally evaluate all the studies’ recommendations. However, she noted, “Certain recommendations are stand-outs and support the results of the ever-growing body of research which shows there is no substitute for the RN.” She singled out as particularly significant a statement in Sharing Care [p. 32] that, “Overall, we find that as more tasks, even the seemingly routine ones, are pushed down to lower-skilled workers, the quality of information gathered for decision making diminishes.” Malone said, “This supports what we have long known -- while unlicensed assistive personnel (UAP) can serve as important adjuncts to registered nurses in the provision of care, they lack the education and knowledge base needed to ensure safety and quality. A task-oriented unlicensed individual, however dedicated, affords no safe substitute to patients for the assessment abilities of an RN.” Minnesota Nurses Association (MNA) President Katheren Koehn, RN, stated, “The studies’ results speak to the advantages of the education and experience-based skills RNs possess. The studies offer evidence to confirm the importance of coordination and communication between health care professionals and workers in different roles, and the benefits to patients of RNs’ controlling decision-making with regard to delegation of care to UAP.” A set of nurse staffing principles approved by ANA’s Board of Directors in December notes that one size does not fit all when setting nursing care staffing levels. The panel of experts which developed the staffing principles discarded the simplistic notions of using nurse-patient ratios or the needs of “average” patients to determine baseline standards for minimum safe staffing, stating that no scientific evidence for ratios exists and that the needs of “outlier” patients must be taken into account. The panel determined that critical factors to be considered in determination of appropriate staffing include number of patients, levels of acuity of patient illness/injury, the geographical and architectural setting in which health care is provided (including available technology), and the levels of preparation and experience of all health care providers. Malone also supported EPI’s emphasis on the importance of nursing workforce-management relations and communications, noting that “ANA applauds the integral role the Minnesota Nurses Association has played in the EPI reports. MNA has had a rich tradition of sophisticated labor-management relations for over half a century.” Malone said, “ANA looks forward to reviewing the studies’ findings in greater depth. Meanwhile, we commend EPI for helping ensure continued focus by policymakers on the role of RNs in assuring positive patient outcomes. As the health care professions’ premier patient advocates, RNs will continue to insist on a strong public policy focus on delivering the safest, highest quality care to the American people.” Journalists may contact the Economic Policy Institute directly at (202) 331-5530, or e-mail: Contact: Brian Lustig. EPI’s web address is www.epinet.org.
The Minnesota Nurses Association may be contacted at (612) 646-4807, ext. 161. or e-mail jrabbers@mnnurses.org. Contact: Jan Rabbers. MNA’s web address is www.mnnurses.org. The American Nurses Association is the only full-service professional organization representing the nation’s 2.6 million Registered Nurses through its 53 constituent associations. ANA advances the nursing profession by fostering high standards of nursing practice, promoting the economic and general welfare of nurses in the workplace, projecting a positive and realistic view of nursing, and by lobbying the Congress and regulatory agencies on health care issues affecting nurses and the public.
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