LANSING, Mich. (WLNS) — Next week is National Nurses Week but many Michigan nurses are at the Capitol today, meeting with lawmakers to put an end to what they’re calling a “care crisis.”
The Michigan Nurses Association says nurses across the board are dealing with excessive overtime, lack of hospital transparency and too many patients to handle.
More than 100 nurses are at the Capitol, talking with their state representatives about current bedside conditions that have been a rising concern.
Many nurses say their concerns can be addressed with the Safe Patient Care Act, a package of three bills that would allow for safer working conditions.
The bill package would set minimum nurse to patient rations, allow for more transparency from hospitals on their staffing levels and end mandatory nurse overtime.
The Safe Patient Care Act was originally introduced in 2017 but it has never made it to a full floor vote.
Members of the Michigan Nurses Association say it’s due to hospitals trying to protect their bottom line, often saying “there aren’t enough nurses.”
But Jamie Brown, president of the Michigan Nurses Association, says that’s not the case.
“One-third of Michigan’s licensed nurses are not working at the bedside anymore. There is not a shortage of nurses like the hospital association is saying, there is a shortage of nurses willing to work at the unsafe conditions that the hospital is placing on us,” Brown said.
The Safe Patient Care Act is pending reintroduction in the current legislative session.
