For Immediate Release
August 16, 2011

Nurses Rally Thursday, August 18, 11:30 am
“Level of staffing in our unit is inconsistent with the hospital’s own policies.”
 
El Paso - Registered nurses, members of the National Nurses Organizing Committee-Texas/National Nurses United, the largest professional association and union of registered nurses in the country with 170,000 members, will hold a rally outside Las Palmas Medical Center in El Paso on Thursday, August 18, at 11:30 a.m., to put before the public serious patient care issues at the hospital.

Nurses have raised issues repeatedly -- related to adequacy of staffing and the treatment of nurses -- with Las Palmas management. These issues, in particular on staffing, remain largely unresolved with hospital management and have been placed on the bargaining table management. Management to date has rejected those proposals.

Nurses believe, as a matter of professional responsibility, that these key issues, all related directly to patient care and safety, should be made known to the public.  
 
“We’re concerned because the level of staffing in our unit is inconsistent with the hospital’s own policies,” says Carmen Yazdi, an RN in the telemetry unit at Las Palmas.   “Having too many patients prevents us from delivering the kind of care we want to give to our patients and to the El Paso community.”     

What: Las Palmas RN Rally for Patient Safety and Patient Care
When: Thurs., Aug. 18, 11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
Where: 1801 N Oregon St, El Paso, Texas 79902 (On Mesa in front of the ER parking garage)

Included on Thursday’s agenda:

• In the Neo-Natal Intensive Care Unit—where the most critically ill babies are cared for—we believe that staffing standards are not consistent with the hospital’s policy.   
• In the Telemetry unit—where adult patients are monitored and cared for—a similar situation exists, where staffing ratios are below hospital standards.  

“I care for the sickest babies,” explained Lucia Adams, an RN in the neo-natal intensive care unit.  “Because they are so small, a downturn in their condition can have an immediate impact on their lives. When we have too many babies to care for at the same time, it’s difficult to catch critical situations. We simply want staffing at a level that is consistent with the hospital’s care plan.”