Senator Walsh,
It has come to the attention of the nursing community that you have a misunderstanding of our careers. Maybe it was the media, like a good old fashioned TV show about a funny nurse, or maybe you just recently visited a senior home, in which the residents play cards.
For whatever reason, you believe that nurses get breaks, they play cards for a majority of the day, and the bills that are trying to get passed to benefit nurses (and in return, the patients) are not worth your time and support.
You recently issued an apology, saying it was "taken out on context". You were simply trying to describe the difference between urban and rural hospitals. It does not matter where you are. Hospitals are understaffed with nurses.
Yes, some may have fewer patients. That also means fewer nurses. Therefore, their workload may be the same as a nurse in an urban hospital, just on a different level. Don't you dare try to put down rural hospital nurses. You are still demeaning nurses as a whole.
We are a community and we work everywhere: Rural AND urban hospitals, community, group homes, senior homes, schools, clinics, the military, and so much more. We ALL have hefty workloads.
Nurses are not babysitters. They are not "playmates". They are not "gamers". They are not lazy.
I can tell you, however, what nurses are.
They are sisters, brothers, mothers, fathers, your actual life savor, the person who will get you through labor, the person who will explain every medication to prevent another heart attack, the person caring for your loved ones, the person who will teach you how to live again, the person you can trust, and the person who will comfort and support you in the worst of times.
They are NOT a profession you have any right to devalue, insult, degrade, or disrespect. No profession ever should feel that way.
SHB 1155 is such an important piece of legislature. You argue that you should not be able to regulate things like uninterrupted meal and rest breaks and mandatory overtime protection. It should be up to the hospital. Senator Walsh, don't you think that if we were able to do that, we would have already?
Your argument about rural hospitals is just inaccurate. How do they have time to play cards, when they are comforting patients and their families, giving medications, giving personal care, documenting everything, teaching, counseling, and all the other aspects that make nurses, nurses?
It doesn't matter where you are. You still have all of those aspects and more. Even if they do get breaks, why not ensure that is the case? When you degrade those nurses, you degrade all of us. The nursing community has come to YOU and YOUR profession to help us and support this bill, and you have failed us.
Now, let me educate you. Here are two scientific, evidence-based research articles that support this bill you are fighting us on. I dare you to find evidence that goes against these statements. I dare you.
"The evidence is overwhelming that nurses who work longer than 12 consecutive hours or work when they have not obtained sufficient sleep are putting their patients' health at risk; risk damaging their own health; and if they drive home when they are drowsy, also put the health of the general public at risk. Nurses, nurse managers, nursing administrators, and policymakers need to work together to change the culture that not only allows, but often encourages nurses to work long hours without obtaining sufficient sleep." (Rodgers, 2008)
This article is from 2008. This isn't new evidence.
"They found nurses had over three times the odds of making an error when working 12 or more hours, compared with 8.5-hour shifts...the risk for patient care errors almost doubled when critical care nursing shifts lasted longer than 12.5 hours. In addition, more than 40 hours per week increased care errors by 46%" (Caruso, 2015)
"Hospital staff nurses were completely free of patient care responsibilities during a break or meal period less than half the shifts they worked reported having only 25.7 minutes break during their entire shift. Nurses working the longest hours were least likely to receive appropriate breaks. Research demonstrates that overworked, tired nurses make more errors. They are more likely to make a medication error and they are less able to think critically. They may fail to catch the subtleties in a patient's case that indicate a serious problem, leading, eventually, to failure to rescue" (Henderson, 2010)
There are plenty more out articles, studies, personal events, and other evidence to support this cause.
Nurses have many roles and I am sure that senators do, too. I cannot say anything about your profession since I do not know what your day-to-day life is like.
I would invite you to visit one of our many many locations (A.K.A the MILLIONS of us that exist in this world in which there is still a shortage), but due to your ignorance, I doubt you would attend. Therefore, you have no acceptable argument to SHB 1155.
Love,
The Nurses
