The day is here! Today, Florence Nightingale’s birthday, nurses are taking to the steps of the nation’s capital to make our voices heard and advocate for our patients and our profession! I can’t think of a better way to honor one of the founders of modern nursing! I am so proud to belong to a profession that is willing to fight for the safety of their patients as well as their right to practice their craft safely.

The Rally

Nurses and patient safety advocates are rallying to pass legislature that would make federally mandated nurse to patient ratios. This would mean a nurse could only legally take a certain number of patients based on their type of unit.  I proudly stand with the nurses in DC today and advocate that safe staffing SAVES lives! I send my sincere appreciation and thanks to all the nurses and supporters who are at the rally in DC, and everyone who is in this fight with us! You are all so AMAZING! Proposed Ratios Include:

• Intensive/Critical Care/CCU/Burn 1:1
• Step Down 1:3
• Telemetry 1:4
• Medical/Surgical 1:4
• Psychiatric 1:6.

You can also follow the rally with a live stream from Show Me Your Stethoscope starting at 9:30a Eastern Time today! Go to their YouTube Channel to see the stream! I will be tuning in!

Nurse Burn Out

The high nurse to patient ratios are leading to burn out of the good nurses! To many times have we sat in our car after a twelve hour shift (okay, more like 13 or 14 hour shift) and cried because we feel so overwhelmed and we just could not get everything done. We have driven home and been filled with anxiety all night over what we have forgotten to chart or what we didn’t do. I have woke up in the middle of the night to call the nurses station to tell them something I forgot, only for them to tell me to stop worrying and get some sleep! We just want to provide safe and competent nursing care to our patients! We want to be able to hold their hand when their scared and talk to them when they need us. We want to be able to safely administer medication and treatments. We want to assess them thoroughly and be up to date on their condition. We not only want these things, but need these things! Lives are in our hands and this is not something we take lightly. Safe staffing will mean better patient outcomes and safer patient care!

ALL Nurses Must Help

We need nurse managers and administration who are willing to help. On weekends at my facility, we have the most amazing nurse manager! She will take vitals, call in labs to the doctor, and if a patient is going south she is right by your side! She is a manager, but she is first and foremost a hands-on nurse! If you need an IV hung, she will do it without complaint! She is not afraid to jump in and help. All nurses, whether floor nurses or management, are first and foremost there for the patients. We all need to be willing to jump in and help when needed! I understand that people outside the bedside have important work that needs to be done and they should do that work. But if a patient wants a cup of ice water, give it to them! If someone needs a urinal emptied, empty it! It will be even quicker than hunting down the tech or nurse to tell them it’s needed, the patients needs are being met, and you are helping out an already overwhelmed nurse or tech. Win-Win!

We also need floor nurses who are willing to work together! I get it, we are all stressed, at times overworked, and overwhelmed. However, negative attitudes are not going to help anything! We need to work together and help each other. Nurses are uniting for change in staffing and this is an amazing first step! We also need to be reuniting in the work place to help each other through the hard times and bring even more unity to our amazing profession. I am blessed to work with some amazing nurses and CNAs who are always willing to help, and I can truly say it makes the biggest difference even during the worse shift.

Show Your Support

If you are like me and not at the rally, it’s okay! We can still do our part to help! Show Me Your Stethoscope is asking nurses everywhere to wear their stethoscopes today to show support and stand with the nurses in DC. You can also email or call your congressmen to tell them to support safe staffing ratios and WHY it is important. A quick Google search will help you find their email and phone numbers. I emailed mine last night! You can help to educate the public as well, nurse or not! I was surprised to find out how many nurses were not aware of this rally and legislature. We need to change this! Safe staffing effects EVERYONE, not just nurses. Share my blog posts, paint your car, talk to people! Social media is a big factor in this movement and I encourage everyone to Tweet, Instagram, and Facebook my safe staffing posts and your support with the hashtags #NursesTakeDC! Do whatever you can to get the conversation going! This rally is only the beginning!

If you missed it, please read my previous post on Safe Staffing and learn more!

THANK YOU all for reading and joining in this fight with us! Nurses are United! Together, we will bring change! Please share and keep the information going! I love you guys! 

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