I am a registered nurse who works at Cooley Dickinson Hospital. After working for years in direct patient care in an emergency department, intensive care, and burn unit, I now use my clinical skills to help design, improve and integrate Cooley Dickinson’s electronic medical record system.
I am opposed to Question 1 which, if passed, will result in mandated ratios of patients per nurse. I initially thought that the patient-to-nurse ratios in Question 1 sounded like a good idea. But when I actually read the ballot initiative, I quickly realized that it is a very poorly thought-out bill that could bankrupt hospitals in Massachusetts and will definitely lead to a less-safe health care environment for our patients. I am also very concerned that the people who support Question 1 are portraying this question as if a “yes” vote indicates you are pro-nurses and a ‘no’ vote makes you anti-nurse.
Let me tell you, as a nurse — it is the exact opposite. As a nurse, my number one priority is always my patient’s safety. A “yes” vote on Question 1 will immediately put patients in a dangerous situation by mandating staffing ratios that hospitals will not be able to properly support for years to come, if ever. Question 1 will require hospitals around the state to hire 5,000 more nurses in a market where we are already woefully short. We will have to hire nurses with less experience and less training. Additionally, in order to meet the very stringent ratios in Question 1, we will have to keep patients waiting for care longer than they are now. In the emergency department nurses will be in the uncomfortable position of having to decide to treat a patient or keep them waiting so as not to risk a $25,000 fine to the hospital. This is an unreasonable position to put nurses in and it is unsafe for patients.
This proposal is unnecessary, unhelpful and unaffordable. As a nurse, I beg readers to research and understand this bill as it will immediately make patients in Massachusetts less safe. Please join me in voting “no” on Question 1.
Lorin Baumgarten
Florence