Action Update - Issue 92 : : March 13, 2007

Unions try to Recruit Texas Nurses

HB 1707 will promote chaos and the AFL/CIO mentality

By Janelle Shepard, RN

nurses

As union bosses across the nation look for fresh pockets to pick, Texas nurses are being harassed to join the California nurses union. House Bill 1707 has been introduced as the Texas Hospital Patient Protection Act, yet much of it is already in Texas law and it is a divisive bill directed at only a portion of professional nurses.

"Nurses and nursing stakeholders in Texas – not California – worked collaboratively in 2002 to get the current nursing staffing rules adopted by the Texas Department of State Health Services. They require that a hospital has a staffing plan that meets set standards, that the plan results from the direct input of a staffing committee that includes direct care nurses, and that the plan demonstrates measurable, research-based outcomes. Acuity of patients and the education and experience of nurses are important considerations in the plan."

Clair Jordan , MSN, RN, executive director of Texas Nurses Association states: “The bill is very broad and far reaching and promises to create bedlam among Texas registered nurses and patients,” she explained.

“The bill,” pointed out Jordan, “would create an environment where all registered nurses are not afforded the same rights and protections when advocating for the safety of their patients. This just goes against ethical standards of the profession.”

(Houston Chronicle 2/25/07)

"Mandatory staffing levels that California union officials are trying to import to Texas would run the risk of jeopardizing patient care in our state," said Elizabeth Sjoberg, an RN and associate general counsel for the Texas Hospital Association. "California is the only state in the nation to attempt mandatory staffing ratios, and the reason for that is clear: They don't work. California's mandated ratios have contributed to financial problems and even closure of some medical units and hospitals there."

The THA instead is calling for more funding for nurse-training programs.

"Solving the crisis in our nursing schools is where we should focus our efforts," Sjoberg said.

Texas nurses and patients do not need what the unions did for Detroit automakers!

Don’t change what has worked well in the past

by Royal Masset voting

There is a lot of talk about moving the Texas primary from March 11 to February 5, 2008.

According to last Thursday’s Dallas Morning News “At least 19 states have moved or are considering moving their primaries to the first Tuesday in February – just after the traditional kick-off states of Iowa and New Hampshire…”

The Morning News quoted Rep. Helen Giddings, D-Dallas "Right now, primary elections are like spectator sports in Texas," said. "Let's put Texas in the game, on the floor. It's the only way we can score." Other legislators voiced similar concerns that Texas needs to "have more sway in choosing presidential nominees.” In The Quorum Report buzz last Wednesday Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer D-San Antonio says "But when it comes to selecting the major parties’ nominees, the state does not have a prominent voice."

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TYC Reform Must Go Beyond Ending Abuse young prisoner

by Marc Levin, Texas Public Policy Foundation

Besides installing new management and ending the abuse, more fundamental changes are needed. TYC suffers from a 48 percent annual employee turnover rate, producing youth/staff ratios nearly twice the nationally recommended maximum of 12:1. The result has been bedlam. Youths flooded a dorm and threw computers at the Evins facility in McAllen, which is now under a Department of Justice investigation.

One out of seven TYC workers file workers' compensation claims, at a cost of $6 million. Many youths go weeks without the rehabilitative programs that are supposed to be provided, likely due to the staffing ratios.

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