Hoag nurses weigh in on Arnold

Elia Powers

Despite recent protests and public displays of indignation among

state nursing officials over some of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s

policies, Hoag Hospital officials have kept a low profile in making

their voices heard.

Rick Martin, the hospital’s chief nursing officer and vice

president of patient care services, said he was pleased to hear that

Schwarzenegger had withdrawn a proposal last week to abolish a host

of public boards -- including the Board of Registered Nurses -- that

provide professional oversight.

“We didn’t want it going away,” Martin said of the regulatory

nursing board. “We wrote the governor and called the office to let

them know our feelings. [The board] helps maintain quality.”

Martin said hospital officials held one staff meeting to compile a

list of concerns to share with state officials.

The California Nurses Assn. has taken a different approach. Last

week, it took out a full-page advertisement in the New York Times,

expressing disapproval of what it described as the governor’s

inadequate policies on patient safety.

Hundreds of registered nurses have participated in rallies and

protests in Sacramento, wielding signs and confronting Schwarzenegger

at public venues.

Much of their consternation stems from the governor’s decision in

November to delay until 2008 a requirement for adding nurses in

hospital medical and surgical units. Schwarzenegger cited concerns

from hospital administrators that they would be unable to hire the

adequate personnel to be in compliance with the law.

The statewide law went into effect in January 2004, mandating a

minimum ratio of one nurse for every six patients in the

medical-surgical ward.

The current ratio is part of a 1999 law sponsored by the

California Nurses Assn., which requires separate nursing ratios for

various hospital departments.

The California Nurses Assn. sued Schwarzenegger late last year,

seeking a reverse to his order to delay phase two of the law, which

would have demanded a minimum ratio of one nurse for every five

patients by Jan. 1, 2005.

California Nurses Assn. President Deborah Burger said a Superior

Court hearing is scheduled for March 4 to determine whether

Schwarzenegger can continue to delay the implementation of the law.

While Burger was pleased to hear of the governor’s decision to

keep the regulatory boards, she said the organization’s fight is far

from over.

“The main thrust of our work now is to get the ratio reinstated,”

she said. “It’s vital for our nurses to be able to provide adequate

care. The only way to ensure that is to have it in law.”

She said she is dedicated to changing the governor’s policy of

allowing emergency room administrators to decide when to adhere to

the ratio rule.

According to a Los Angeles Times survey, about 36% of hospitals

inspected by the state’s Department of Health Services were in

compliance with the law as of last winter.

Hoag Hospital’s Martin said the ratio decision doesn’t affect the

Newport Beach health facility.

As of Jan. 1, Martin said the hospital already met the 2-1 mark.

“We are complying with the rule either way,” Martin said. “This

way, it makes it easier to take care of our patients.”

He said nurses at the hospital have expressed appreciation for the

extra money spent to recruit and hire new nurses.

“They are pleased with the moves, despite what the governor has

been saying,” Martin said. “We have the money and were able to add

staff. We understand that other hospitals don’t have that luxury.”

He said it’s unreasonable to expect all hospitals to meet an

“arbitrary” standard.