Click here to download a PDF version of this Action Call.
In July, we sounded the alarm with a Safe Staffing Now InfoAlert. It’s now time to take action.
Safe staffing is a major concern that USW and health care workers across our country face. Chronic understaffing leads to workplace violence, undue risk of injury or illness, chronic fatigue, and mental health strain.
These are all issues that impact both the health and safety for workers and the patients they care for.
Sarah Hardnett, of USW Local 9201-01 in Alabama, is very familiar with the reality of having unsafe staffing ratios.
"Working understaffed has negatively impacted myself and other employees physically, mentally, and emotionally,” says Hardnett, a CNA at Magnolia Ridge, a long term care facility in Gardendale, AL.
The Time to Speak Up is Now!
Share how understaffing has made an impact on you, your family, and your job. Your comments will be used to ensure that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) establishes a safe staffing standard.
"We are expected to provide an outstanding quality of service, despite being understaffed. This has led the employees to be overwhelmed. They're missing much-needed breaks and not providing the best possible service that we all desire and know that the residents deserve,” she says.
Sarah and her colleagues also struggle with the thought of letting down her patients and family.
“I feel all residents we serve are entitled to the best care possible,” she says.
Hardnett says that the staffing regulations being recommended by the Biden administration for nursing homes are not only a health and safety issue for workers, but a moral issue for patients.
“A law change is much needed and will not only ensure that the residents receive the quality of care their families were promised ,but it will also assist with creating a more productive work environment for all employees,” she says. “It’s the right thing to do.”