L.A. County nurses say
hospitals aren't abiding by
new staffing law
The Associated Press
Last Updated 7:39 am PDT
Thursday, July 15, 2004
LOS ANGELES (AP) -
Contending that patient
health is at risk, nurses
staged a protest to demand
Los Angeles County hospitals
abide by a state law that
set nurse-to-patient staff
ratios.
Twenty-five nurses
wearing their hospital
scrubs held a brief sit-in
Wednesday at the downtown
offices of county
supervisors.
The law that took
effect in January sets
staffing requirements of one
nurse for eight patients. In
some hospital units, the
ratio is a nurse for every
two patients.
However, Cynthia Mitchel
said there were only two
nurses for 50 patients
Tuesday night in the
emergency room of the
County-USC Medical Center.
"Why don't you come down
here on a Friday night when
we've got five or six
patients rolling in the door
and there aren't enough
nurses?" Mitchel asked an
aide to Supervisor Zev
Yaroslavsky. "Anyone could
be in an accident at any
time, and if they need
trauma care, guess what?
They're coming to us."
Hospitals have complained
that they cannot hire enough
nurses to meet the
requirements because of a
nationwide shortage.
The county's five
hospitals have 3,350 nurses
but need 1,204 more to
comply with the law.
Supervisors wrote Gov.
Arnold Schwarzenegger in
December and February,
asking the state to waive
sanctions for violating the
law.
The county got no
response, said John Wallace,
a spokesman for the county
Department of Health
Services.
"Our goal is to be
compliant," Wallace said.
"But unfortunately, because
of the nursing shortage,
we're not able to be."
The California Healthcare
Association, a hospital
trade group, surveyed 300
medical centers after the
law took effect and found
that 85 were in violation at
times. The problems occurred
mainly when nurses were not
replaced during short
breaks, association
spokeswoman Jan Emerson
said.
The state Department of
Health Services said it had
received 130 reports of
violations statewide and
required corrections in 19
cases.
