Michigan Votes Forum

 Nurses have been advocating for this type of legislation since the beginning of time it seems.  For paient safety, if there is an agreed upon need for a lower nurse to patient care ratio by the hands on care givers, why would provide anything less.  If patients are appropriately cared for in the hospital there are many benefits.  One of the greatest benefits would be that foreseeable events/problems can be prevented.  This alone would help greatly reduce future health care costs.  Another benefit would be a reduction in litigation.  Nurses would have more time with each patient and usually deters litigation because patient's feel better cared for.

This is a much needed law to assure the proper care for hospital patients. It should reduce malpractice lawsuits, and with better care, patients may have shorter stays in the hospital and better outcomes, thus reducing medical cost.

This bill should also reduce nurse attrition due do overwork.

 I concur that attrition of nursing is soley linked to poor staffing and nurse burn out.  I think that all the content of this bill is with excellent intent, however I am concerned about the amount of work that would need to be done per shift in order to meet the expectations of the bill.  This information that the bill is suggesting be required is important, however acuity changes both on an individual level and a census level; $10,000 maximum fee may be a lot for not being able to meet the demands of the bill.  Otherwise I am in full support of the legislation. 

 This has been proposed before.  It was stupid then, and is stupid now.  Here's why:

1.  Do you really want state legislature to micro-manage hospital administration?  How are they qualified?  Who came up with these numbers?  How were they determined?  Is the only way to do critical care 1 to 1 nursing?  How about 2 RN & an aide for three?  Or maybe, 2 RN for three?  Can remote sensing & monitoring reduce staffing?  Etc, etc.  Like the rest of the economy, medicine is too dynamic for the glacial pace of lawmakers to accomplish anything useful. 

2. This leave no room for improvement or change.  Health care will never get any better under this model. 

3.  Having a unionized workforce determine its needed membership is not a recipe for efficient medical practice. 

4.  RNs are professionals.  They have licenses and are responsible for the safety of their patients.  Good ones will stand up to administrators and refuse to staff at unsafe levels, as well they should. 

5.  The administration is responsible for the efficient running of the hospital.  Good administrators don't want multi-million dollar lawsuits as a result of saving $70K a year for a talented nurse.  Not a good business model. 

These kinds of micro-management laws harm our economy, our patients and our medical community.  They should be stopped cold wherever they are proposed.

This bill is anything but stupid. If one takes the time to read it, it is well thought out and very detailed. It includes both the hospital and the union nurses working together to develop a staffing plan, only mandating minimums. RN's are professionals, do have licenses, and their opinions on staffing should be respected, but they are still employees of the hospital and paid an hourly wage. Good ones have stood up to administrators, and either lost their jobs or were ordered to go back to work. This has contributed to the nursing shortage, and the replacing of them with less skilled and less educated employees.

What is harming our economy, our patients, and our medical community is the greed associated with a profit at all cost approach to hospital administration.

This is a good bill, and should be passed.

Dear Mike:  As a professional nurse for the last 10 years I can assure you that yes, the care that is provided for patients can improve with a mandate nurse to patient ratio. I have worked in long term care and in the hospital setting. Staff nurses are not allowed the option of taking on less patients if they feel the amount of patients for them is inadequate. You are given a number of patients and this becomes your assignment. I am assuming that you do not come from a medical background... if you did you would understand that each patient is unique and has their own set of needs. Some patients are so complex that they take up most of the nurses time.  For example one patient could have multiple needs at the same time. Most Americans do not understand or appreciate the role of the nurse. The nurse functions in several ways: we do more than administer medications, we are facilitators, educators, and much more. 

From all of the nurses in America... It is time to stand up and speak LOUD AND CLEAR so that we are heard. It is not safe to be given 30 patients in a long term care setting and expect this to be safe! We need to unite and become one voice.  Please reply...

Improved patient to nurse ratio decreases morbidity and mortality in the hospital setting and in long term care settings.

This was a last ditch union dog and pony show to impress RNs so they'd agree to a (desperately needed) dues increase.  

Is it Wednesday?  Then a union is bullsh!tting it's members.