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<DIV><FONT face=Tahoma size=2>-----Original Message-----<BR><B>From:</B> Diane
Scherrer [mailto:dscherrer@mnarn.org] <BR></FONT><FONT face=Arial
size=2><FONT face=Arial size=2><o:p><SPAN class=330595613-25102007><FONT
face="Bradley Hand ITC" size=3><SPAN class=588594414-25102007><FONT
face="Courier New"
size=2> </FONT></SPAN></FONT></SPAN></o:p></FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><FONT face=Arial size=2><o:p><SPAN
class=330595613-25102007><FONT face="Bradley Hand ITC" size=3><STRONG>Thank you
to all Western Massachusetts Activists who fight for patient safety in
Massachusetts hospitals! A special thank you to the nurses and coalition members
who journeyed to Boston yesterday and lobbied the legislators to support H 2059,
The Patient Safety Act.</STRONG></FONT></SPAN></o:p></DIV>
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style="FONT-SIZE: 9pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><FONT face="Times New Roman"
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<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><o:p><FONT
face="Times New Roman" size=3> </FONT></o:p><B><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 24pt; COLOR: #752222; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt">Nursing
ratios eyed in Boston<o:p></o:p></SPAN></B></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 8.5pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Thursday, October 25,
2007<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><B><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 9pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">By DAN
RING<o:p></o:p></SPAN></B></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><B><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 8.5pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><A
href="mailto:dring@repub.com">dring@repub.com</A><o:p></o:p></SPAN></B></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><B><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 8.5pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></B></P>
<P><st1:City w:st="on"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">BOSTON</SPAN></st1:City><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"> - Wildfires forced her <st1:City
w:st="on">San Diego</st1:City> neighborhood to evacuate, but Karin J.
Berntsen, a registered nurse in <st1:State w:st="on">California</st1:State>,
was in <st1:City w:st="on">Boston</st1:City> yesterday to help launch a new
effort for mandatory nurse staffing levels in <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">Massachusetts</st1:place></st1:State> hospitals.
<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Berntsen and other
<st1:State w:st="on">California</st1:State> nurses from both sides of the
issue testified at a hearing at the Statehouse that would set minimum staffing
numbers for nurses in <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">Massachusetts</st1:place></st1:State> based on specialties.
<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P><st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">California</SPAN></st1:place></st1:State><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"> was the first state to mandate
staffing limits for nurses. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">"Though it's terrible in
<st1:City w:st="on">San Diego</st1:City>, we know every day patients die in
this state," said Berntsen, who testified before the Committee on Public
Health during a hearing attended by about 600 people, including about 100 from
<st1:place w:st="on">Western Massachusetts</st1:place>. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Berntsen, who is a
director at <st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Alvarado</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType
w:st="on">Hospital</st1:PlaceType> in <st1:City w:st="on">San
Diego</st1:City>, said she didn't know the condition of her 3,500-square-foot
home on a mountain in <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">San
Diego</st1:place></st1:City>. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">After she left <st1:City
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">San Diego</st1:place></st1:City> on Monday, her
husband, Alan, an engineer, was given 24 hours to evacuate. He and other
neighbors were barred from returning, she said. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Fires in <st1:State
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">California</st1:place></st1:State> have burned
about 400,000 acres and forced 500,000 people to evacuate since Sunday.
<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Berntsen told legislators
the <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">California</st1:place></st1:State> law is saving lives. Since the
law took effect in March 2005, nurses and patients are more satisfied and
patient care is more efficient, she said. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">The Massachusetts Nurses
Association, the state's largest nursing union, has long pushed for approval
of the bill to regulate nurse-to-patient ratios. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">The Massachusetts
Hospital Association in <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">Burlington</st1:place></st1:City> opposes the bill, saying it would
take away the versatility managers need to provide good patient care.
<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">"There is a nursing
shortage," said Deborah S. Morsi, of Wilbraham, a registered nurse and a vice
president at <st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Baystate</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceName
w:st="on">Medical</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType
w:st="on">Center</st1:PlaceType> in <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">Springfield</st1:place></st1:City>. "We need flexibility to meet the
demands of patients." <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Another <st1:State
w:st="on">California</st1:State> registered nurse, Jill C. Furillo, a director
for the California Nurses Association, said she came to <st1:City
w:st="on">Boston</st1:City> even though fires are threatening her four-bedroom
home in a canyon in Tujunga near <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Los
Angeles</st1:place></st1:City>. Fires were just about 10 miles away from her
home yesterday. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Furillo didn't know the
fires would be so severe when she left the West Coast last week and stopped in
<st1:City w:st="on">Chicago</st1:City> before <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">Boston</st1:place></st1:City>. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">She said mandatory
staffing levels attracted 60,000 registered nurses back to their jobs in
<st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">California</st1:place></st1:State>.
She said the law is helping the state cope with the fires, saying it would be
"completely chaotic" at certain hospitals without the law.
<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Michael D. Jackson, a
registered nurse at the <st1:PlaceType w:st="on">University</st1:PlaceType> of
<st1:PlaceName w:st="on">California</st1:PlaceName> in <st1:City w:st="on">San
Diego</st1:City>, which is crowded with burn victims, said he came to
<st1:City w:st="on">Boston</st1:City> because he believes that <st1:State
w:st="on">Massachusetts</st1:State> needs a law similar to the one in
<st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">California</st1:place></st1:State>.
He said his colleagues at the <st1:City w:st="on">San Diego</st1:City>
hospital urged him to keep his commitment to testify in <st1:City
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Boston</st1:place></st1:City>.
<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Meanwhile,B.J. Bartleson,
a chief nurse at Shriner's Hospital for Children in <st1:City
w:st="on">Sacramento</st1:City>, and Frank Maas, director of emergency
services at Little Company of <st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Mary</st1:PlaceName>
<st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Providence</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType
w:st="on">Hospital</st1:PlaceType> in <st1:City w:st="on">Torrance</st1:City>,
<st1:State w:st="on">Calif.</st1:State>, traveled to <st1:City
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Boston</st1:place></st1:City> to testify
against the bill. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">The <st1:State
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">California</st1:place></st1:State> law sets a
limit of a maximum of five patients for each nurse in medical and surgical
units, which have the most patients. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">"They are not working for
us," said Bartleson said of the staffing limits in <st1:State
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">California</st1:place></st1:State>.
<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P><st1:place w:st="on"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Maas</SPAN></st1:place><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"> said the strict ratios force some
patients to wait longer for care. Hospitals don't have the freedom to manage
nurses to help sicker patients, he said. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">The bill for <st1:State
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Massachusetts</st1:place></st1:State> doesn't
mandate specific ratios. The bill calls for legislators to establish a
commission to set those numbers. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Registered nurses from
Western Massachusetts who came in support of the bill included Christine M.
Folsom, of Holyoke; Diane P. Michael, who works at Providence Hospital in
Holyoke; Patricia E. Healey, of Northampton; Irene D. Patch, of Belchertown;
and Gail S. Bean, of Westfield. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Last year, the state
House of Representatives approved a bill to establish mandatory staffing
levels, but it died in the Senate. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Lynn B. Nicholas, of
<st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Lexington</st1:place></st1:City>,
president of the Massachusetts Hospital Association, said there is room for a
compromise on the issue. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">"The most important thing
is to get something done on this issue this year in the best interests of our
patients," she said. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
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style="mso-special-character: line-break" clear=all><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">©2007 The
Republican<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
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style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">© 2007 MassLive.com All Rights
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