Press Statement May 9, 2002

National Citizens' Coalition for NURSING HOME REFORM	Diane Menio, President Elma Holder, Founder Donna R. Lenhoff, Esq., Executive Director
1424 16th Street, NW, Suite 202 Washington, DC 20036-2211	Phone: 202-332-2275 FAX: 202-332-2949 nursinghomeaction.org
For Release: May 9, 2002	For More Information Contact: Donna Lenhoff or Janet Wells

Consumer Coalition Petitions Congress To Mandate Nursing Home Staffing Levels
(printable pdf version)

The National Citizens’ Coalition for Nursing Home Reform today presents Congress with the names of almost 100,000 voters from 49 states and the District of Columbia who are asking their Senators and Representatives to “put enough nurses in nursing homes!” The names were collected by grassroots consumer advocates and nursing home staff throughout the country from individuals who support a federal law setting minimum nurse staffing levels in nursing facilities.

“This is a proud moment for our members, friends, and colleagues who worked so hard the past year-and-a-half to spread the message and get the petitions filled out,” said Diane Menio, president of NCCNHR and executive director of Philadelphia’s CARIE. “They collected signatures in civic meetings, houses of worship, shopping centers, and retirement communities, and even solicited signatures over the Internet.

“For families, today’s presentation is a culmination of a dream – to present Congress with their urgent request for better staffing to prevent the neglect and abuse their loved ones suffer in short-staffed nursing homes. For workers, it is their chance to say, ‘Give us the sufficient staff we need to be the kind of caregivers we want to be.’”

Menio said consumer advocates strongly support the bill to be introduced by Rep. Henry Waxman to implement nurse staffing ratios.

“This bill represents what this petition drive was about,” she said.

Two family members who have been active in the petition drive, Nadene Mitcham of Westland, Michigan, and Belinda Clay of Pensacola, Florida, will join NCCNHR in presenting the petitions on the West lawn of the Capitol.

NCCNHR kicked off the petition drive in November 2000 in anticipation of completion of the Department of Health and Human Services’ study of the appropriateness of federal nurse staffing ratios. The three-volume final report was delivered to Congress in March with the conclusion that below recommended hours of care from nurses and nursing assistants, residents are at critical risk of such serious complications as infections, bedsores, weight loss, functional decline, and avoidable hospitalizations. Ninety-seven percent of nursing homes do not provide this level of staffing, and more than half staff at such low levels they seriously jeopardize resident safety, the report concluded.

Rep. Waxman’s bill would require nursing homes to meet the levels established by the report.

“We look forward to the near future when adequate staffing levels are set by law,” said Menio. “As one person wrote on her petition, ‘The old have given their lives to this country . . . surely the country can give them better care in the sunset of their lives with a few good nurses.’”

NCCNHR has provided consumer information, technical assistance, and a voice in Washington for nursing home residents, citizen advocacy groups, and long-term care ombudsmen for more than 25 years.