Petition supports two fired nurses

Wednesday, Aug. 1, 2001 | 10:57 a.m.

Supporters of two nurses fired from Sunrise Hospital for refusing patient assignments have gathered more than 500 signatures on a petition demanding that the workers be rehired.

The nurses were fired July 17, two days after refusing to accept assignments they said would have compromised patient safety.

The incident arose July 15, when a nurse on the cardiac unit called in sick, and hospital officials told the other nurses, who normally care for six patients at a time, that they would each have to care for an extra patient.

When two nurses refused the assignment, the night shift workers remained to care for the patients until replacement nurses could be found.

The nurses' union, Service Employees International Union Local 1107, distributed the petition supporting the fired nurses.

"We'll go as far as necessary to get them back to work where they belong," said union spokeswoman Maryanne Dawicki. "The nurses' actions were consistent with their professional principles, and they shouldn't be penalized for that."

The petition, which includes signatures from nurses and other hospital staff, was presented Tuesday to Dee Hicks, Sunrise's director of nursing. Hospital spokeswoman Ann Lynch confirmed receipt of the petition and said administrators are in the process of verifying the signatures.

"We will respond in a timely manner," Lynch said Tuesday.

Sunrise officials say the nurses refused the assignment without hearing reports about the patients' conditions from the night shift staff.

"These nurses may assert that this action was taken in the interest of patient care," Hicks wrote in a memo to Sunrise staff. "The fact is, this refusal to accept their assignments ignored the interests of our patients."

The United States is in the midst of a nursing shortage, and Nevada has the worst nurse-to-patient ratio in the nation, with just 520 nurses for every 100,000 people. The national average is 789 nurses for every 100,000 people.

In a May report the SEIU Nurse Alliance said hospitals nationwide haven't taken responsibility for contributing to the nursing shortage.

"The industry created the shortage by cutting staffing levels to the point where nurses -- increasingly unable to meet the needs of their patients -- began to leave hospitals for less demanding and more rewarding jobs," the report said.