Hundreds of Nurses From Hospitals Across the State To Rally for Patient Safety Outside the State House on May 21, says MNA/NNU

Urge Legislators to Pass "Patient Safety Act" and "Hospital Profit Transparency & Fairness Act"

Launch Final Petition Drive to Place Both Measures on the Ballot

News provided by

Massachusetts Nurses Association/National Nurses United

May 15, 2014, 09:00 ET

BOSTON, May 15, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The following is being released by Massachusetts Nurses Association/National Nurses United:

When: Wednesday, May 21 at 11 a.m.

Where: Outside the State House
(The rally will be held in front of the State House on the Boston Common side of Beacon St.)

Hundreds of nurses, joined by other health care advocates and policy makers, will hold a rally outside the State House on two critically important issues affecting the health care of every resident in Massachusetts, as the deadline for legislative action draws near for two ballot initiatives that garnered more than 200,000 signatures from Massachusetts voters last fall. In addition to calling for legislative action, the nurses are using the event to launch the final round of signature gathering needed to place the issues on the ballot in November.

The Patient Safety Act will dramatically improve patient safety in Massachusetts' hospitals by setting safe, realistic, and prudent standards on the maximum number of patients that can be safely cared for by hospital nurses at any one time. Dozens of research studies have provided irrefutable evidence that Massachusetts' low standards for patient safety and the lack of safe maximum patient limits for nurses are the key reason Massachusetts ranks 42^nd worst in the nation for avoidable hospital readmissions, which wastes more than $700 million annually, according to the state's Health Policy Commission.

The Hospital Profit Transparency & Fairness Act will guarantee the taxpayers' right to know exactly how their healthcare dollars are spent by hospital administrators. The transparency act requires that hospitals receiving tax subsidies disclose in a timely and fully transparent manner how large their profit margins are, how much money they hold in offshore accounts and how much compensation they pay their CEOs. When hospitals like North Adams Regional Hospital are closing while others are closing pediatric, detox and psychiatric units, policymakers have the right to know if tax dollars are being spent to benefit patient safety or hospital CEOs. To ensure access to needed services by all patients, the act also provides enhanced funding options for hospitals serving poorer populations. For information on both measures, visit: www.PatientSafetyAct.com

Who: Nurses from different areas of the state will be available for interviews by local media. They will rally at the state house, demand action by legislators and gather signatures on petitions.

Founded in 1903, the Massachusetts Nurses Association/National Nurses United is the largest professional health care organization and the largest union of registered nurses in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Its 23,000 members advance the nursing profession by fostering high standards of nursing practice, promoting the economic and general welfare of nurses in the workplace, projecting a positive and realistic view of nursing, and by lobbying the Legislature and regulatory agencies on health care issues affecting nurses and the public. The MNA is also a founding member of National Nurses United, the largest national nurses union in the United States with more than 170,000 members from coast to coast.

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SOURCE Massachusetts Nurses Association/National Nurses United