“This landmark staffing bill is the first of its kind in the country and will hopefully pave the way to address short staffing in every state,” says OFNHP President Jonathon Baker. “The only way we won such a massive victory is by organizing our members directly from the shop floor and ensuring that our state’s legislators were able to hear our voices. When healthcare workers come together and speak up, we are incredibly powerful.”
The addresses the following issues: establishment of minimum nurse-to-patient ratios, wall-to-wall staffing committees, investigations and enforcement when hospitals fail to follow the law, and the elimination of the “buddy break system,” which causes nurses to have double the patient load when another nurse takes a break. While the new legislation makes great improvements to working conditions for some frontline caregivers, nurses and clinicians believe there is much more to be done.
“ONA’s fight for safe staffing doesn’t end with the passage of this law. Our nurses and caregivers know what patients need at our hospital and care settings,” says ONA Executive Director Anne Tan Piazza. “We will continue to fight for improvements in our collective bargaining agreements and in Oregon law.”
The legislation addresses the following issues: establishment of minimum nurse-to-patient ratios, wall-to-wall staffing committees, investigations and enforcement when hospitals fail to follow the law, and the elimination of the “buddy break system,” which causes nurses to have double the patient load when another nurse takes a break. While the new legislation makes great improvements to working conditions for some frontline caregivers, nurses and clinicians believe there is much more to be done.