HARTFORD – Randi Weingarten, president of the 1.7 million American Federation of Teachers, joined medical professionals and government officials Monday to call for more staff and better safety measures during nurse fires and the number of patients threatening patients. and the same stick.
During an hour-long news conference at the Legislative Office Building, Weingarten said Hartford is about nurses and patients who are threatening hospitals’ ability to improve patient outcomes.
“Hartford Health can’t do the right thing,” Weingarten said. “We need to have ethical laws to force them to do the right thing. We need to take action locally, legally and in our communities to deal with unsafe workers.” He said that although better measures are needed to encourage people to go to the hospital, the current format, with overtime and the number of nurses to patients that prevents one-hour visits during the hospital, is harmful.
“Why would anyone go to this job that saves lives when they hear what’s going on every day?” Weingarten said to a room full of protesting nursing staff. “Because of the number of fires, the problem is getting worse and worse.”
State Sen. Saud Anwar, D-South Windsor and State Rep. Cristine McCarthy Vehey, D-Fairfield, chairwoman of the Public Health Legislation Committee, said she is preparing legislation that aims to bring more health workers into the profession, while encouraging hospitals to solve staffing problems that cause former nurses to quit because of burnout.
“We have to realize that in order to achieve this, we need to get hospitals,” Anwar said. “Because of the problems of health workers, there is an urgent need, like yesterday we have to intervene and take care of people right now. We support and encourage our existing workers to continue working and realize that you are not alone and that you are not alone. We will fight for you.
“I can tell you from my experience that a good nurse is the difference between life and death,” said Anwar, a doctor, who said the bill pending in parliament would create a long-term nursing practice, using a long-term approach. AFT report to find out. “Insurance companies in the last year, most of them, according to those who have their assets, have doubled their profits. You know on whose backs? The backs of the workers. This is not a sustainable model. Yes, everyone should benefit, but not at this pathological level.”
Sherri Dayton, a 48-year-old registered nurse who is the vice president of health care for AFT Connecticut and works at Backus Hospital in Norwich, said over the past five years, the culture has worsened, while overtime has stretched the workforce. lacking to the point where standards of care are compromised. Patients falling and sores in bed because nurses can not always visit and rehabilitate patients on their beds are becoming “violations” defeated.
“I’m tired of seeing the work I love being destroyed and people leaving in droves because of this,” said Dayton, stressing that the shortage of nurses means that patients are frustrated and violent incidents are increasing. “I hear experts say, when they report to somebody, ‘no one died today.’ That’s the new goal we have to go with? The goal is to heal them;
During the question and answer session of the press conference, the union leaders confirmed that there are high level of complaints.
A request for comment from Hartford HealthCare was not immediately returned. Jennifer Jackson, CEO of the Connecticut Hospital Association, agreed that teamwork is the key to developing and supporting nurses.
“Patients need a strong medical workforce, and hospitals and health systems are working with their partners in government, education, and health care to educate, train, and retain more nurses and other health professionals in Connecticut,” he said. Jackson said in his speech. “This includes safety considerations, both for patients and for the medical staff who care for them.”
But Mr Jackson warned that registered nurses would “stop the work” needed. “On the contrary, the numbers of workers can increase the problem, which can lead to delays in care and raising costs and the organizations that work with nurses who can benefit from them. Instead, let’s look at solutions for patients and medical workers, let’s set aside policies like staffing that can harm patient care, and work together to advance laws that support recruitment, retention, and safety.”
US Senator Richard Blumenthal, who protested with nurses on picket lines in Connecticut, said he plans to pass legislation in Congress on labor unions and combating workplace violence. While he said he is confident he can get enough support in the Senate to bring the bill to the floor, he is not sure the bill will pass the US House of Representatives.
“At the end of the day it’s about the patients,” Blumenthal said.
kdixon@ctpost.com Twitter: @KenDixonCT
