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Pembroke Dad Joins Nurses' Rally at State House ; Lawmakers Urged to Pass Legislation on Nurse-to-Patient Ratios

BOSTON – No magic number of nurses will bring back his little girl. But John McCormack, the crusading Pembroke father whose baby Taylor died in 2000, believes more nurses will mean fewer men like him: a “father with a broken heart.”

In front of the State House on Tuesday, McCormack told hundreds of nurses rallying for higher nurse-to-patient staffing ratios that Taylor’s death “was very preventable” and partly the result of improper care at a hospital he claims was understaffed.

Thirteen months old at the time, Taylor died at Children’s Hospital in Boston after doctors postponed surgery to relieve pressure on her brain, the result of a health condition. McCormack and his wife sued; the hospital settled out of court for an undisclosed sum.

McCormack was among a cast of speakers, including the singer and actress Patti LaBelle, who called on lawmakers to pass the Patient Safety Act.

The president of the Massachusetts Nurses Association, Beth Piknick, said the proposed law, which directs the Department of Public Health to set nurse-to-patient ratios, would cut down on medical errors and patient neglect. “Every day we let pass, a patient lies in a hospital bed in severe pain, pressing a call button,” Piknick said.

Last week, the state committee that oversees health care financing gave the bill a favorable review. The House is expected to debate it later this month.

Lawmakers have considered similar bills, but they all failed.

Hospitals oppose the measure as overly restrictive and extremely expensive, estimating the measure could cost $250 million to $500 million to put in place.

Mandatory nurse ratios in California have financially damaged hospitals there, and they could lead to layoffs of other health care professionals here, they say.

“If adopted, minimum staffing ratios will most certainly lead to the self-inflicted economic, political, and social destruction of the nursing profession,” Peter I. Buerhaus, a professor of nursing at Vanderbilt University, said in a statement issued by the Massachusetts Hospital Association.

He said there is no evidence the ratios improve hospital care.

State Rep. Christine Canavan, D-Brockton, and Sen. Marc Pacheco, D-Taunton, cosponsored the bill, which would also outlaw mandatory overtime for nurses.

(c) YellowBrix 2008

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