View Telegram & Gazette letter to the Editor here
Saturday, March 26, 2011
Focus for nurses is quality patient care
I have been a registered nurse for 28 years. I’m proud to have practiced 25 years at Saint Vincent Hospital. Also, I’m a proud member of the Massachusetts Nurses Association. Although we have never been the highest paid in the city of Worcester, and may never be, the St. Vincent nurse does not emphasize salary. Our focus has been on the quality of care we deliver to our patients. We have always taken pride in the care we deliver to our patients every day and want to continue to deliver the level of excellence the community is accustomed to receiving at our hospital. However, this cannot be achieved without improved staffing guidelines for bedside nurses.
The health care environment has changed since our staffing guidelines were established eleven years ago. Technological advances coupled with increasing complex diagnostic testing and treatments make it more challenging to deliver optimal care to each patient. Acutely ill patients are hospitalized for shorter lengths of stays, requiring discharge education at a rapid pace. Staffing guidelines established when the nurses bargained with Tenet Healthcare need to be adjusted appropriately to ensure each patient at St. Vincent Hospital receives the highest level of care and has the best outcome from their hospitalization. Vanguard Healthcare administrators need to bargain in good faith with the nurses of St. Vincent to ensure our hospital nurses continue to deliver the best care possible to every patient that requires health care.
CHRISTINE DONOHUE
Worcester
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