PATIENTS FOR NURSES
Nurses save patients! Photo: http://www.discoverrfid.org
INSTRUCTIONS TO SIGN FOLLOW THE LETTER
An Open Letter to WHC Administrators
We the undersigned patients of Washington Hospital Center, both past and present, are writing to express our full support for the National Nurses United union in its struggle to preserve the wages and benefits of the nurses at WHC. As patients we know that nurses are critical for the care and safety of those of us who come to WHC for the treatment.
We have all benefitted from the high degree of professionalism and dedication of the nurses at WHC. Many patients come to the hospital with serious illness and pain, some with life threatening conditions. We depend not only on the doctors, surgeons, and cat scans but on the entire staff and especially nurses – the frontline defenders of patients.
We are disturbed to learn that MedStar, a not-for-profit corporation, earned $142 million in profits last year yet wants to erode nursing standards at Washington Hospital Center. The nurses save lives, our lives. Cost cutting on their backs will not only impair the quality of care at WHC but will badly damage its reputation and its ability to attract and keep nurses.
Therefore, we urge you to return to the bargaining table and resolve this dispute in a timely fashion and to do so in a way that preserves and enhances Washington Hospital Center’s nursing staff and patient care.
Signed:
_________________________________________________________________________
INSTRUCTIONS FOR SIGNING: To sign send an email to patientsfornurses@gmail.com with your name and “sign me on to nurse support letter.” Thanks.
I have always felt a special affection for people in the nursing profession because they are available to the patients under their care for much longer periods of time than are their doctors. Two years ago I had to have a pace maker applied to my heart. In the process, my left lung was punctured. I was examined by professionals and released to go home, after which I became weaker instead of feeling better. A WHC NURSE checked my breathing and discovered that my lung had collapsed. I had to be readmitted and remained hospitalized until the lung was reinflated. I feel that I owe a debt of gratitude to the nurse for saving my life by her discovery of my collapsed lung. Yes, I fully support the struggle to preserve the wages and benefits of the WHC nurses.