Nurses are Protesting Dangerous Staffing Conditions that have Prompted Hundreds of Reports by Nurses of Unsafe Conditions for Patients

BOSTON, March 14, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ --  The following was released today by the Massachusetts Nurses Association:

The nurses of Tufts Medical Center will hold an informational picket and rally on March 16 from 4 – 6 p.m. to call for desperately needed improvements in patient care conditions at this major Boston-based teaching hospital.

The nurses have serious concerns about recent cuts in RN staffing levels and other changes in how they deliver care that has resulted in nurses being forced to care for more patients at one time on nearly every unit. Those changes transformed this hospital from being one of the best staffed hospitals in Boston to the worst staffed hospital in the city. To compensate for chronic understaffing, TMC is using mandatory overtime and is forcing nurses to "float" from one area of the hospital to another where they might not be competent to provide appropriate care.

These practices have led to the filing of more than 600 reports of incidents that jeopardized patient care in the last 14 months. Issues that are occurring from larger patient assignments include; delays in nursing assessment, delays in the administration of medications and tests, nurses missing significant changes in patients' health status, poor patient outcomes, patients falling due to lack of assistance with getting up and moving around and patients being left in soiled beds for hours at a time.

The 1,200 RNs at TMC, who are currently in negotiations for a new contract, are seeking contractually guaranteed safe staffing levels, and prohibitions against forced overtime and the inappropriate floating of nurses — all of which are needed to ensure that patients at Tufts Medical Center receive the safe care they deserve.

SOURCE Massachusetts Nurses Association