Honor Nurses Week with Call for Improved Patient Protection

Hundreds of registered nurses from across California will gather in Sacramento Tuesday, May 12 on the anniversary of the birth of Florence Nightingale to encourage state legislators to step up efforts to improve protections for hospital patients, and stop an attack on regulatory safeguards.

The RNs, members of the California Nurses Association/National Nurses United, will first meet at the Elks Tower in downtown Sacramento to discuss a legislative program for 2015 and hear from leading legislators. Then nurses will march on the headquarters of the California Hospital Association, lobbying arm of the state’s hospital industry and one of the biggest spenders in state politics, to protest its attacks on nurses and patients.

RNs will conclude the day with legislative visits to California lawmakers in the State Capitol followed by phone banking to California Congress members to urge their opposition to a trade deal pending in Washington that nurses say poses a danger to public health.

RN Sacramento Legislative Action Schedule

• Mass gathering – 9 a.m. to 12 noon, Ballroom, 2nd floor, Elks Tower, 921 11th St. (between I and J Sts.)
• March – beginning at 12 noon, from the Elks Tower to headquarters, California Hospital Association, 13th and K Sts.
• Visits to State Legislators – 12:30 to 3 p.m., State Capitol

In the morning session, the RNs are scheduled to hear from Sen. Jim Beall, author of a CNA sponsored bill, SB 483 to crack down on a growing abuse by hospitals that warehouse patients in “observation” status exposing them to health and financial risks, and Sen. Bob Wieckowski, who has led efforts to hold non-profit hospitals accountable on provision of charity care.

Assembly member Susan Bonilla, who is facing a State Senate election runoff May 19 against a candidate linked to the oil billionaire Koch Brothers, and Assembly member Sebastian Ridley-Thomas are also both scheduled to address the RNs.

After a picket in front of the CHA headquarters, the RNs will fan out around the Capitol to call on legislators to support:

Senate Bill 483 which would tackle one of the least reported problems in U.S. hospitals – the placement of patients in “observation” status, where they can be held for hours or days with less public oversight and fewer protections.

Hospitals can place patients in “observation” for long periods – to avoid admitting them to more specialized hospital care. Patients held under “observation” for the duration of their hospital stay who are then discharged to a nursing home or other long term care facility do not qualify for the same Medicare reimbursement, and can face mammoth out-of-pocket costs.  

SB 483 would limit the amount of time a patient may be held in observation status, require observation services to meet the same staffing standards of other hospital areas, and require hospitals to inform patients that they are being placed in “observation” status and how that may affect reimbursement for their medical services.

Assembly Bill 305, authored by Assembly member Lorena Gonzalez, which would address gender bias in workers’ compensation.

While current law states that workers comp claims can not be denied on the basis of gender, flaws in the system by which compensation claims are awarded, result in women increasingly receiving lower payments than men, even for the same conditions. AB 305 also addresses the problem of breast cancer survivors routinely being given very low compensation ratings. CNA is among major endorsers of the bill.

RNs will also ask legislators to oppose:

Assembly Bill 797, authored by Assembly member Marc Steinorth, that would require additional legislative review, and possible repeal, of major regulation that has already passed the Legislature, been signed by the Governor, and completed the comprehensive regulatory rule making process.

AB 797, say opponents of the bill, including CNA, is a back door attempt to permit minority parties, and conservative lobbying interests that fund them, to manipulate the regulatory process and overturn regulations, such as patient and worker protections opposed by special interests.

For RNs, who had to fight off an attempt by former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, at the behest of the CHA, to overturn the state’s landmark law requiring minimum nurse to patient ratios, after it had been extensively reviewed for three years by state regulators before being finally implemented, the threat posed by AB 797 has particular resonance.