Hospital Finances Are Blamed for Nursing Woes

Regarding “U.S. Nurses Not Alone in Their Frustration” (May 7): It is time that Pamela Thompson of the American Hospital Assn. and others of her ilk in the hospital industry realize that hospitals were created for patients to receive nursing care. Rick Wade of the AHA went so far as to say that patients expect a hospital to operate at peak ability around the clock. Well, Mr. Wade, that’s what hospitals should do. That’s what you would want them to do for your loved ones. That’s what they can do with proper staffing levels.

Unfortunately, the decisions about patient care and nursing staffing are determined with the financial bottom line being the most important part of each equation.

There is no quick fix, but a start is low patient-to-nurse ratios, so that nurses can really do their jobs of caring for, assessing and educating patients with kindness, compassion and joy. For those institutions that claim they can’t afford these low nurse-patient ratios, I say it is no longer acceptable for nurses to bear the financial burden of ensuring their investor profit and inflated CEO salaries.

EMILY KRUEGER

Santa Barbara