Supporting Our Nurses
Nursing is a developing field, and it takes a certain kind of individual to handle it. The work may be unglamorous and exhausting, but it is profoundly gratifying. As a nurse, you hold patients’ lives in your hands and make a real difference. It requires long hours and boundless knowledge. Though, can it be too demanding? Some nurses do not receive an opportunity to stop and take a break during their long twelve-hour shifts, whether it is to rest or to eat a meal. Current nurse-to-patient ratios do not allow nurses to provide the best patient care. Studies show that working multiple twelve-hour shifts in a row causes fatigue in individuals. With how demanding it is, one would assume that hospital management would support nurses. Nurses are being treated unethically, overworked, and underappreciated by hospitals. They need help, and there is a solution.
Every patient over four assigned to one nurse in a medical-surgical unit could increase mortality by 7% per patient. Keeping nurse to patient ratio down will allow nurses to take better care of their patients.
Reliable tests have been performed to prove fatigue in nurses who are overworked. Blank test multiple nurses working a single twelve-hour shift vs. nurse working three twelve-hour shifts within three days. Nurses working multiple twelve-hour shifts in a row showed a significant decline in reaction time and lapses of attention. It slows their movements and thinking patterns a considerate amount, making it a higher chance for mistakes. Working in the medical field, a small accident can have significant consequences. A mistake could potentially mean a patient’s life. Many of these studies had been done within one week. One could only imagine the results scientists would find from nurses working cumulative twelve-hour shifts in a row for weeks, months, or even years.
Our nurses need someone to stand up for them, and a nursing union is just that. Nursing unions have acted to make better working environments for nurses and safe patient care. A strong contract between the union and hospital helps ensure that patients receive the best possible care.
Saint Joseph Hospital is the first hospital in Arizona to be unionized. When word first came around about voting for a union, they tried to persuade employees not to unionize. Hospital management threaten their nurses if there was any talk about forming a union that they would fire those individuals, which the hospital had fired nurses when they out spoke about supporting the union.
On September 20, 2019, Arizona had its first-ever registered nurse strike. The hospitals involved were St. Joseph’s Hospital and St. Mary’s located in Tucson, AZ. The 24-hour strike also included hospitals from California, Florida, and Illinois. Thousands of nurses went on strike that day. Their goal was to push for better patient care by demanding better work conditions and better pay. Many nurses went on strike. The hospitals tried to bribe many of the nurses not to strike. They had even paid nurses from Phoenix to come down to Tucson on buses. Having a strong union helps nurses keep patients safe. When usually the hospital would staff the nurse with an 8-10 nurse to patience ratio, when the nurses went on strike, the hospital staff the hospital with nurse staff with a 2-3 patience ratio. Just so, there would not be a commotion while the nurses are on strike.
There is a chance that a nursing union will not resolve all the problems. A nursing union is only as strong as the contact that they have with the hospital. Some hospitals are against unions because it could cost them more money. I agree it could cost the hospital money, but a nurse’s health and overall well-being is more important than a budget.
We need to support and take care of our nurses, so they will be able to take care of our loved ones properly.
Sara's Blog 