Nurses and Other Healthcare Workers Request Government Investigation Into Staffing at Riverside Community Hospital and West Hills Medical Center
Posted on: Thursday, 29 June 2006, 21:00 CDT
WEST HILLS, Calif., June 29 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Registered Nurses and other healthcare workers from HCA/ Riverside Community Hospital and HCA/ West Hills Medical Center announced that they have reported to the Department of Health Services nearly 60 incidents in which they believe unsafe working conditions put patients at risk over the last six months. Many of the incidents involved potential violations of the state Nurse to Patient Ratio law as well as situations in which RNs were forced to treat patients despite reporting exhaustion after full shifts. Today, Registered Nurses are also filing a formal complaint with the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO), a national hospital accreditation agency, to urge them to take action.
"Registered Nurses are speaking up about the unsafe working conditions at HCA-owned hospitals in California because we see the repercussions first hand. For example, one night a patient got up to go to the bathroom and fell and broke her wrist. She was just a sweet lady who needed to use the restroom, but we were so understaffed there weren't enough people to assist her or properly monitor her. Now, in addition to her other health issues, she has a broken wrist. As healthcare workers, we have no other choice but to report the unsafe conditions we are working in," said Katherine Hughes, a Registered Nurse at Riverside Community Hospital.
Over the past six months Registered Nurses reported the approximately 60 incidents on Assignment Despite Objection (ADO) forms, a standard form used by caregivers to inform the hospital and appropriate government agencies about unsafe working conditions and patient care risks. Many of the situations described in these ADO forms appear to have posed serious risks to both patients and caregivers. The primary issues documented in these complaints include staffing below the minimum nurse-to-patient ratios, not maintaining the minimum nurse-to-patient ratios at all times, not staffing appropriately for acuity of patients, and assigning insufficient support staff, including the absence of Charge Nurses.
"As the Chair of the Assembly Health Committee, I am shocked by how frequently patients may have been unnecessarily put at risk at Riverside Community Hospital and West Hills Medical Center. It is my understanding that the 60 incidents that these RNs reported to the California Department of Health Services during the last six months could have been avoided if management had adequately staffed hospital floors. I hope a speedy and thorough investigation by the California Department of Health Services will help remedy the problems," said Assemblywoman Wilma Chan.
Last week, HCA/Riverside Community Hospital management sent a letter urging a Registered Nurse not to use ADO forms to report serious patient care incidents to the California Department of Health Services (DHS) or other government agencies. Despite the 60 ADO forms recently submitted by RNs, management at HCA owned hospitals have regularly denied that short staffing and involuntary overtime occur. Healthcare workers say both are regular practices and see evidence that staffing levels are the product of profit driven policies set at the Nashville, Tennessee headquarters of corporate parent, HCA.
"Seniors are counting on safe and reliable patient care when they have to visit a hospital. But what is safe and reliable about violating the California Nurse to Patient Ratio laws? And what is safe about being treated by nurses who are forced to work 15 or 20 plus hours in a row? I commend these nurses for watching out for me and my loved ones by speaking out about unsafe working conditions," said Hank Lacayo, State President of the Congress of California Seniors and Commissioner of the California Commission on Aging, in a written statement.
"Study after study show that for profit hospitals suffer from more quality problems than their non-profit competitors. Health Access is fighting for quality healthcare in all communities in California. We stand here today united with front line caregivers as they stand for their patients and for high quality healthcare," said Norma Martinez.
Contact: Thea Lavin c. 510-520-7732
SEIU United Healthcare Workers-West
CONTACT: Thea Lavin of SEIU United Healthcare Workers-West,+1-510-520-7732
Web site: http://www.seiu-uhw.org/
Source: PRNewswire
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