The state’s powerful nurses union and several other health professional groups are gearing up to oppose a set of reforms that would make it harder for addicted or incompetent health professionals to work for years before seeing a license pulled.
Flickr photo by ulrichkarljoho
The proposed changes to state law came in reaction to stories by ProPublica and the Los Angeles Times that exposed bureaucratic inertia standing in the way of patient safety, as troubled nurses harmed patients time and again.
Reporters Charles Ornstein and Tracy Weber added to their coverage Friday, noting that the nurses union was opposing aspects of the law.
Of particular concern to the nurses, the article says, is a provision that would mandate employers to tell regulators if a worker has been fired for gross negligence, harming a patient or problems related to addiction.
It’s a modus operandi that already applies in 36 states and to California’s licensed vocational nurses. Here’s more back-and-forth on that provision from the ProPublica report:
The nurses association, with a membership of 86,000, said it opposes mandatory reporting because it could punish whistleblowers who believe they were unfairly dismissed by their employers.
"RNs are required by law to advocate in the sole interest of the patient, which many times puts them in conflict with their employers," union lobbyist Kelly Green wrote this week.
State officials say quickly learning about terminated workers is a key component of the bill, SB 1111, because it would greatly expand their ability to learn of problem caregivers. Such cases would still have to be investigated before any public action could be taken, said Brian Stiger, director of the state Department of Consumer Affairs, which oversees all 19 health licensing boards.
"All of our boards need to have a heads up about any licensee that may be harming consumers," Stiger said.
While the reporters didn’t revive anecdotes from prior reports to underscore why the reforms are needed, consider the first few paragraphs of a story that was named a Pulitzer finalist last week:
Nurse Owen Jay Murphy Jr. twisted the jaw of one patient until he screamed.
He picked up another one – an elderly, frail man – by the shoulders, slammed him against a mattress and barked, "I said, 'Stay in bed.' "
He ignored the alarms on vital-sign monitors in the emergency room, shouted at co-workers and once hurled a thirsty patient's water jug against the wall, yelling, "How do you like your water now?" according to state records.
Murphy's fellow nurses at Kaiser Permanente Riverside Medical Center finally pleaded with their bosses for help. "They were afraid of him," a hospital spokesman said.
Under pressure, Murphy resigned in May 2005. Within days, Kaiser alerted California’s Board of Registered Nursing]: This nurse is dangerous.
But the board didn't stop Murphy from working elsewhere, nor did it take steps over the next two years to warn potential employers of the complaints against him. In the meantime, Murphy was accused of assaulting patients at two nearby hospitals, leading to convictions for battery and inflicting pain, board and court records show.
Even Murphy, who has since taken classes to curb his anger, was surprised the board didn't step in earlier.
"The nursing board is there to protect the public from me," he said in an interview.
Mandatory reporting, it seems, may have stopped Murphy earlier.
But it’s unclear whether lawmakers will take steps today to head off future instances of repeated abuse during a hearing scheduled for 1:30 p.m. today at the Capitol.
An analysis of the proposed law, SB 1111, shows that a number of health worker groups oppose the bill unless it’s amended. They include dentists, social workers, psychiatrists and the powerful Service Employees International Union.
The state Senate's Business, Professions and Economic Development Committee chairwoman, Sen. Gloria Negrete McLeod, D-Chino, made no promises about pushing the bill closer to becoming a law.
"We just want to make sure that the consumer gets protected. That’s my issue, that’s my aim, that’s my goal," Negrete McLeod told ProPublica. "You can never make everybody happy. You just hope that you have the votes."
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