A Victory for Patient Safety at Garden Grove

September 2012

We have some important news that every Garden Grove RN needs to know!

Earlier this month, we were informed by management that they planned to begin including LVNs in ICU staffing. This raised serious concerns regarding patient safety, quality and continuity of care, RN workload and the prospect of even more cancelled hours.

In response, last week a delegation of ICU RNs along with our Union Representatives, met with management to present our deep concerns about patient safety. Each RN spoke frankly and honestly about the reality of staffing ICU with LVNs. LVNs cannot do patient assessments, create care plans, manage IV drips or take full responsibility for critical patients. Replacing RNs with LVNs in a Critical Care unit puts our patients in harm’s way, our licenses in jeopardy and our facility at risk.

As health care professionals, we respect and appreciate the valuable contribution LVNs make in the appropriate healthcare setting. Many of us have been LVNs at some point in our careers. However, having the appropriate education, skills, and experience immediately available in the appropriate setting is often the determining factor in being able to save our patients’ lives. 

We are pleased to inform you that after we raised these concerns, management decided to suspend their decision for now to staff LVNs in the ICU!  (We must remain ever vigilant.)

This is an important victory for our patients and our license. All the RNs in ICU should be recognized for their strong advocacy in patient care and for standing up together. They made a difference!

Garden Grove Registered Nurses Association Officers,

Helen Bouman, RN
Majella ‘Lindy’ Grecia, RN
Laury Teodoro, RN
Tess Kua, RN
Merry Recor, RN

Download a leaflet with this information to share with co-workers