Working people across the United States have stepped up to help out our friends, neighbors and communities during these trying times. In our Service & Solidarity Spotlight series, we'll showcase one of these stories every day. Here’s today’s story.
Registered nurses in Michigan, who are members of National Nurses United (NNU), are pushing for legislation known as the Safe Patient Care Act that would set safe limits on the number of patients nurses can be assigned, curb excessive mandatory nurse overtime, and require hospitals to disclose their RN staffing levels. The goal of the legislation is to keep patients safe in Michigan hospitals, and build and retain a strong nursing workforce across the state. “Health care is in crisis because of years of hospital understaffing. Every year, the situation gets worse. We have reached the point now where almost 40 percent of current nurses say that they are planning to leave within the next year,” said Jamie Brown, a critical care nurse and president of the Michigan Nurses Association. “Hospital executives have failed to fix the problem for over a decade. The only way to keep patients safe is through meaningful action that will hold corporate executives accountable.”