Nurses Organize Lobby Day for Stalled Patient Protection Act

(Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO)With the Patient Protection Act “stalled in committee,” National Nurses United is organizing a  mass community meeting and lobby day tomorrow morning at the Wilson Building “to show the District Council and Mayor Gray that there is broad community support” for the bill, which would create mandated minimum nurse-to-patient ratios in DC. “Ten years ago, I had three patients at the most,” says Rajini Raj, an RN at the Washington Hospital Center. “Now, as people are living longer and coming in sicker and with more complex diagnoses, I have five. This means that some days I am forced into the impossible situation of having to choose between patients. How do I do that – how am I supposed to choose which patient deserves my help more?”  NNU says that safe hospital staffing “saves lives, cuts down on medical errors, decreases hospital-acquired infections, reduces pressure sores and the frequency of patient falls and injuries and minimizes hospital readmissions.“ - photo courtesy NNU