This press release was sent today from SEIU California…

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

April 20, 2021

Sacramento, CA - The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) California released the following statement upon the Assembly Health Committee’s approval of AB 1422 (Gabriel), which will protect patient safety by allowing impacted nurses to participate in the California Department of Public Health’s (CDPH) review before waivers to nurse-to-patient ratios are granted. The bill will also give nurses a voice to advocate for their patients’ safety and better standards of care, preventing hospitals from exploiting a loophole in minimum staffing requirements for nurses. The following may be attributed to Dr. Nina Wells, President of SEIU Local 121RN and an Executive Board Member of SEIU California:

“Instead of investing in patient care, profit-driven hospitals used the pandemic as an excuse to put more and more patients under the care of each nurse and evade the life-saving safe staffing standards that keep patients safe. AB 1422 gives nurses a crucial role in patient advocacy by requiring notice when hospitals seek changes to safe staffing standards, and ensures patients know when hospitals have stretched nursing assignments beyond minimum guidelines. We applaud the Assembly Health Committee for standing with us and our patients and protecting nurses at risk of costly injury and burnout, especially as our state recovers from the pandemic.”

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