Waiting for care: Too many patients, too little staff

by Susan Trossman, RN

More and more hospitals nationwide are hanging out the "no vacancy" sign, causing ambulances to be diverted to other facilities and forcing some patients to wait for beds on critical care and other units.

The state of health care -- with some ERs, ICUs, psych units and maternity wards filled to capacity -- is no surprise to RNs. Neither is the nursing shortage, which even has required some hospitals to temporarily close their doors to new admits house-wide. Registered nurses, for years, have been sounding the alarm that staffing cuts, reorganizations, deteriorating working conditions and other "bottom-line" measures would ultimately hurt patient care.

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U.S. Nursing Corp. comes under fire

Strikebreakers prolong labor disputes, endanger patients

When Martha VanVliet, RN, a U.S. Nursing Corp. strike-replacement nurse working at the Washington Hospital Center (WHC), called the District of Columbia Nurses Association (DCNA) Oct. 2, she was both angry and worried. Angry because she had been switched from radiology to a medical-surgical unit with which she was unfamiliar. And worried because the hospital was not following supervisory procedures.

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