I believe that Ellen Story’s letter on Monday, Oct. 8 unwittingly demonstrated why most staff nurses are voting “yes” on Question 1.
As a retired nurse, I have experienced similar situations many times: Someone calls in sick at the last minute, and no replacement can be found. What usually happens is that the nurse who did make into work has to do twice the work, or someone from the earlier shift is asked to do a double shift. In either case, the patients are the ones who suffer less attention, less immediate response to their needs.
The whole purpose of advocating for Question 1 is to ensure good, reliable patient care. Typically hospitals are understaffed, and equally typically patients are in the hospital for nursing care. Let’s give the nurses the tools and the staff required to make health care the priority of the hospitals.
Leslie Nyman
Amherst