HR Pulse - Winter 2008 - (Page 22)

[ASHHRA ADVOCACY] A Case Study in Raising Voices motherhood and apple pie—who could argue against increasing patient safety, right?” But she and her colleagues felt strongly that they needed to take an active role to defeat the legislation. While they acknowledged that there are times when Maine’s hospitals need more nurses, MSHHRA members did not want an artiﬁcial formula to determine what was “appropriate” in terms of stafﬁng. Rather than a static ratio governed by numbers alone, they wanted to retain the ﬂexibility to determine stafﬁng based on patients’ actual needs. Joining Forces “Obviously, this issue was one that was very near and dear to our hearts. We wanted to ﬁght the perception that health care employers were not doing everything possible to address the nursing shortage—training, growing our own, implementing ﬂex schedules, and more,” explains Morin-Scribner, who is just ending her term on the ASHHRA board as chapter ofﬁcer director. “We knew if we did nothing and the ratio became a reality that it would have a dramatic impact on every organization in the state.” The MSHHRA board consulted its members to gather information that went into a white paper the chapter presented to legislators and the testimony Morin-Scribner gave before the Joint Standing Labor Committee at the state capitol in Augusta. Board members also recognized that there was strength in numbers and in combined expertise, so they collaborated with two other entities that wanted to defeat the bill: the Maine Hospital Association (MHA) and the Organization of Maine Nurse Executives. Morin-Scribner credits 22 HR Pulse Winter 2008 “I knew what would resonate most with committee members would be to hear from the nurses themselves; that they would lend the allimportant voice to the issue.” hen a bill was introduced in the Maine State Legislature in 2007 that would regulate nurse-to-patient ratios, health care organizations across the state were alarmed. Most hospital leaders believed that the kind of mandated staffing ratios that became law in California were not the solution to the workforce shortage in Maine. The bill was titled “An Act to Increase the Safety of Hospital Patients.” “It sounded like a sexy issue,” says Nicole Morin-Scribner, immediate past president of the Maine Society for Healthcare Human Resources Administration (MSHHRA). “It sounded like W >>

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of HR Pulse - Winter 2008

HR Pulse - Winter 2008 Contents Pulse Points Executive Director’s Letter President’s Message HR Leader Profile: Karmen Reid Advocacy is for Everyone A Case Study in Raising Voices Diversity Management Measuring What Matters Bullying as Gender Harassment Combat Workforce Changes Hardwiring Accountability Immigration Frustration HR and Education Making Exit Interviews Count Management Styles that Enhance Intrinsic Motivation Backup Care Fact or Fiction 10 Ways to Lose Your Best People Advertisers’ Index

HR Pulse - Winter 2008

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