Margaret McRae
Nurses bring vast amounts of knowledge and expertise to all medical settings, supporting patients and their communities throughout the continuum of life and care.
Nurses make a difference by influencing and shaping health policy decisions that ensure quality, affordable patient care for all. Their skills for doing this are based on the nursing process, which is the foundation of nursing.
Central to the delivery of care is the ability to assess, plan, implement and evaluate patient conditions and needs. This includes determining the optimal nursing assignments that meet the patient’s needs. Nursing processes enable nurses as professionals to make staffing decisions that consider each patient’s unique needs and urgency.
There is currently a bill LD1639 — “Law to Address Unsafe Staffing of Nurses and Improve Patient Care” — If passed, this most trusted profession and the patients and communities they serve will will have an adverse effect on
LD 1639 takes away the autonomy of nurses to make the decisions necessary to provide safe, effective and quality care. It essentially reduces all patients and all nurses to mere numbers by mandating a nurse-to-patient ratio. These ratios are not evidence-based and do not take individual patients into account.
Supporters of the bill say it will solve the nurse shortage.
Establishing ratios does not increase the number of nurses, but it limits access to care.
If hospitals are unable to meet these ratios, their only option is to reduce bed capacity and refuse patients to meet regulations. Recruitment of more nurses requires a focus on human resource development and capacity building of educational institutions.
Proponents also argue that mandating ratios improves quality. There is no evidence to support that claim. Today, the health care provided in Maine is recognized as being in the top quartile in the nation for quality and safety. In contrast, California, the only state with a mandatory ratio, ranks in the bottom quartile for quality and safety.
As a nurse with over 40 years of experience and qualifications in both critical care and emergency nursing, I rely on the skills I have developed and my ability to utilize the nursing process to best meet the needs of my patients. rice field. Throughout my career, I have been fortunate to work with medical teams and not reduce the number of patients I care for to just a few.
Members of the Senate and House of Representatives must oppose LD 1639 so that health care providers can continue to provide access to the care communities need.
Margaret McRae of Lewiston is Vice President of Outpatient Care Services. MaineHealth Medical Group.
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