California Judge Rules for Immediate Compliance with Nurse-Staffing Ratios
By Christina Orlovsky, senior staff writer
The heated battle between the California Nurses Association (CNA) and California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger over nurse-staffing ratios came to a head on March 4 when a superior court judge ruled in the nurses’ favor. Eleven days later, she secured her ruling with an order of immediate compliance.
Sacramento Superior Court Judge Judy Holzer Hersher declared that an emergency regulation issued by the governor in Nov. 2004 to block stricter nurse-to-patient ratios was not valid and that the nurse-staffing ratio law, which went into effect on Jan. 1, 2004, must be upheld. The emergency order suspended the law requiring nurse-to-patient ratios to decrease from 1:6 to 1:5.
The decision came after months of dissention—including picketing and name-calling—between Gov. Schwarzenegger and the CNA, which sued the administration in Dec. 2004, claiming that the emergency order was without merit and that the governor overstepped his bounds.
“We were proven right, yet again, that the governor broke the law,” said Deborah Burger, RN, CNA president. “We have been to court twice over this law and have prevailed because, in reality, this law was the most closely scrutinized piece of legislation that California has ever passed. It took over 10 years to come up with the ratios and the reasons they are warranted.”
The California Hospital Association (CHA) and the California Department of Health Services (DHS) intend on appealing the judge’s ruling.
According to a March 4 statement from CHA President C. Duane Dauner, the ruling “jeopardizes access to hospital care for Californians” for several reasons.
“Given the dire shortage of nurses, hospitals have been forced to close beds, decline patient transfers, increase ED wait times and eliminate patient care services in order to comply with these regulations—actions that are directly contrary to patient care,” Dauner said. “Today’s ruling by the Sacramento County Superior Court, invalidating the emergency changes to the nurse ratio regulations, once again threatens quality patient care.”
Dauner concluded: “The California Hospital Association will appeal today’s court ruling when the order is formally filed. We expect that Gov. Schwarzenegger’s efforts to put the interests of patients ahead of the national organizing agenda of union operatives will ultimately prevail in the appellate process.”
On March 15, Judge Hersher issued a second order that required hospitals to immediately comply with the ratio ruling, causing concern among California hospitals about hiring 4,000 extra nurses to fulfill the shortage or shutting down units that can't fill positions.
The California Department of Health Services announced its intention to comply, but also to appeal the ruling.
Although the nurses union is aware of the impending appeal and
is set to fight it, Burger insisted that the judge’s ruling proved that the
decreased ratios are in the best interest of public health and safety—despite
the concerns of the CHA.
“While the nursing shortage was a compelling argument and the
possible hospital closings were a compelling argument, they are not valid, given
that legislation had already taken those factors into account. There is no new
evidence that could be provided that there is an emergency,” Burger said.
“The judge was clear that the intent of the ratios is that if
you are a patient in the hospital, you have the right to expect that you have
safe nursing care and access to a registered nurse,” she said. For more information, visit the California Nurses Association,
California Hospital Association or California Department of Health Services Web
sites. Related articles: California Administration Proposes Changes to Nurse-Staffing Ratio Regulations California Staffing Ratios Head to the Courts California Staffing Ratios Upheld © 2005. AMN Healthcare, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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