The Ohio Nurses Association

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8eglsLered nurses are on Lhe fronL llnes of paLlenL care each and every day and Lhe Chlo nurses AssoclaLlon ls proud Lo
represenL Lhese lndlvlduals As a professlonal membershlp assoclaLlon for 8ns CnA promoLes and proLecLs Lhe pracLlce
and quallLy of llfe of reglsLered nurses ln Chlo Lhrough advocacy educaLlon pracLlce membershlp and collecLlve
bargalnlng for lLs members 1hrough our charlLable arm Lhe Chlo nurses loundaLlon we supporL nurslng educaLlon aL
all levels Lhrough scholarshlps and research granLs
1he nurslng professlon ls lncredlbly demandlng and employs Lruly remarkable and compasslonaLe people llrsL and
foremosL reglsLered nurses are commlLLed Lo paLlenL safeLy and provldlng quallLy care CnA ls able Lo supporL nurses
and Lhelr paLlenLs Lhrough collecLlve bargalnlng agreemenLs wlLh healLh care faclllLles 1hese agreemenLs go beyond
wages and compensaLlon and focus on lssues whlch proLecL paLlenLs and Lhe nurses who provlde Lhelr care Some
examples of Lhese workplace lssues are
O safe nurse sLafflng
O safe paLlenL handllng
O medlcaLlon errors/adverse evenL prevenLlon and
O malnLenance of a safe envlronmenL for paLlenL care
CollecLlve bargalnlng agreemenLs are deslgned Lo address Lhe unlque clrcumsLances aL each faclllLy 1herefore Lhe
agreemenLs vary addresslng Lhe lssues mosL relevanL Lo Lhe needs ln LhaL parLlcular faclllLy 8egardless of Lhe lssues
lncluded ln Lhe conLracLs collecLlve bargalnlng provldes a process LhaL ls Llme and cosLeffecLlve for all parLles whlle
proLecLlng paLlenLs and nurses
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Cne of Lhe mosL lmporLanL lssues addressed ln collecLlve bargalnlng agreemenLs beLween reglsLered nurses and
hosplLals ls Lhe need for safe sLafflng plans Safe nurse sLafflng plans ensure enough reglsLered nurses are on duLy ln
each unlL Lo provlde safe paLlenL care 8esearch has shown LhaL cuLLlng Lhe number of nurses asslgned Lo a unlL leads Lo
poor paLlenL ouLcomes
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CulLe slmply Lhe hlgher Lhe number of care hours provlded by reglsLered nurses Lhe beLLer
healLh care ouLcome for Lhe paLlenL SLafflng cuLs may be a sLraLegy Lo reduce cosLs buL cuLLlng nurse sLafflng Lo
lmprove Lhe boLLom llne ls a rlsky fallacy uecreaslng nurse sLafflng lncreases Lhe rlsk LhaL paLlenLs wlll have

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needleman ! 8uerhaus MaLLke S SLewarL M Zelevlnsky k (2002) nurse SLafflng Levels and Lhe CuallLy of Care ln
PosplLals New oqlooJ Iootool of MeJlcloe 346(22) 171322

compllcaLlons many of whlch can ulLlmaLely lead Lo deaLh 1he burden of such compllcaLlons on paLlenLs and famllles ls
obvlous 8uL Lhese compllcaLlons can also slgnlflcanLly lncrease Lhe cosL of care for a paLlenL exacerbaLlng Lhe exlsLlng
problem of skyrockeLlng healLh care cosLs lor example hosplLal acqulred pneumonla lncreases a hosplLal sLay by days
and Lhe cosL of care for a paLlenL by 84 percenL accordlng Lo Lhe uS ueparLmenL of PealLh and Puman Servlces
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Slmply puL safe paLlenL handllng ls Lhe use of equlpmenL devlces and processes Lo provlde a more secure process for
llfLlng Lransferrlng or reposlLlonlng paLlenLs whlle safeguardlng agalnsL ln[urles LhaL can be deblllLaLlng for nurses
Accordlng Lo Lhe 8ureau of Labor and SLaLlsLlcs reglsLered nurses have one of Lhe hlghesL raLes of workplace
musculoskeleLal ln[urleseven greaLer Lhan LhaL of consLrucLlon workers
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1hls lssue whlle lmporLanL for nurses
addresses a crlLlcal aspecL of paLlenL safeLy 1he poLenLlal for paLlenL ln[urles such as broken bones and laceraLlons from
a fall LhaL ls a consequence of a manual handllng mlshap ls greaLly reduced by uslng safe paLlenL handllng equlpmenL
CollecLlve bargalnlng provldes an efflclenL process Lo address Lhls lssue of slgnlflcanL lmporLance Lo nurses because lL
keeps nurses safe and proLecLs Lhelr paLlenLs CnA has successfully addressed safe paLlenL handllng ln mulLlple faclllLles
dlrecL care nurses are now lnvolved ln selecLlon of llfLlng equlpmenL and developmenL of proLocol for movlng paLlenLs
CnA also ensures LhaL faclllLles provlde Lralnlng on safe llfLlng Lechnlques and proper use of paLlenL llfL equlpmenL Lo
reduce ln[ury Lo boLh paLlenL and careglver
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1he ablllLy Lo negoLlaLe collecLlve bargalnlng agreemenLs whlch address Lhe unlque lssues and needs aL lndlvldual
healLhcare faclllLles ls lmporLanL Lo creaLlng a safe work envlronmenL Lo ensure nurses can provlde safe quallLy care
CollecLlve bargalnlng agreemenLs provlde CnA nurses wlLh Lhe rlghL Lo parLlclpaLe ln hosplLal safeLy commlLLees and
oLher forums deslgned Lo address safeLyrelaLed lssues As a resulL Lhls enabled CnA Lo address deflclencles ln a
hosplLal's dlsasLer preparedness plan 8ecause of CnA's advocacy Lhe hosplLal revlsed lLs plan Lo conform Lo naLlonal
lnsLlLuLe of CccupaLlonal SafeLy and PealLh recommendaLlons and was requlred Lo comply wlLh requlremenLs Lo provlde
approprlaLe personal proLecLlve equlpmenL and properly flLLed face masks necessary proLecLlons for healLhcare workers
carlng for vlcLlms of a chemlcal or pandemlc dlsasLer WlLhouL proper workplace precauLlons ln a paLlenL care seLLlng
nurses are puL ln a slLuaLlon where Lhey musL elLher endanger Lhemselves or reduce Lhe quallLy of nurslng care Lhey are
able Lo provlde Lo a paLlenL A reducLlon ln nurslng care lncreases Lhe llkellhood of poor paLlenL ouLcomes
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Some collecLlve bargalnlng agreemenLs negoLlaLed by CnA ensure LhaL nurses have a place Lo resL when Lhey are
requlred Lo remaln on duLy for mulLlple consecuLlve shlfLs Allowlng nurses Lo have a resL break lmproves paLlenL safeLy
by reduclng Lhe llkellhood of medlcal errors whlch lead Lo poor paLlenL ouLcomes and someLlmes even deaLh lacLors
such as nurse faLlgue sLress and sleep deprlvaLlon have a dlrecL lmpacL on paLlenL ouLcomes 1he number of hours

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uS ueparLmenL of PealLh and Puman Servlces Agency for PealLhcare 8esearch and CuallLy PosplLal nurse SLafflng and CuallLy of
Care lssue 14 March 2004

8ureau of Labor SLaLlsLlcs uSuL 071741 nonfaLal occupaLlonal lllness and ln[urles causlng days away from work unlLed SLaLes
ueparLmenL of Labor news 2007
worked by 8ns ls an lmporLanL facLor ln Lhe raLe of medlcal errors Cdds of maklng an error durlng a shlfL of 123 hours
or longer are over Lhree Llmes as greaL as durlng a shlfL of 83 hours or less
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Rogers, A.E., Hwang, W., Scott, L.D., Aiken, L.H., Dinges, D.F. (2004). The Working Hours of Hospital Staff Nurses and
Patient Safety. Health Affairs, 23(4), 202-12