Protest of Assignment: A matter of duty to patient care
Joint Commission staffing standards and the New York Code of Rules and Regulations specify that a sufficient number of qualified registered nurses must be on duty at all times to give patients safe and competent nursing care that requires the independent judgment and specialized skills of the RN.
That’s what the regulations say, but we know the reality: we work short staffed.
Keeping track
Complaining about short staffing is never enough. Our code of ethics, regulations, and case law mandate that RNs, based on their professional and ethical responsibilities, have the professional duty to object in writing to any patient assignment that puts the patient or themselves at serious risk of harm. For New York nurses that means filing a Protest Of Assignment (POA).
Filing a POA serves two principal purposes:
- It provides written documentation of a dangerous trend in nurse staffing that could jeopardize the quality and safety of patient care. Such documentation serves as evidence in grievance hearings, arbitration hearings, and court cases.
- It acts as notice to the facility that, in the event of an untoward patient event under these circumstances, liability will be transferred to the facility. Such notice acts to safeguard the license and working privileges of the individual RN and to mitigate rulings at the Offices of Professional Discipline.
When regularly used by nurses at a worksite, POA forms can be used to track patterns and provide a record of understaffing that will help nurses build their case and push for action plans for better staffing at labor-management meetings, contract negotiations, regulatory filings, lobbying sessions, and safe staffing campaigns.
Get in the fight
Fighting for safe staffing is one of the most important things we can do for ourselves and the profession, but mostly for our patients.
It is time to put the force of law behind the movement to ensure safe staffing. So, get ready to lobby your legislators on our Lobby Day on March 26. Get ready to bargain for safe staffing as our 2014 contract campaigns get underway. Get prepared to develop safe staffing POA action plans and campaigns to track unsafe staffing patterns and develop the evidentiary record of understaffing. Get accustomed to utilizing POA when conditions call for it. Our patients’ lives and our nursing practice depend on our winning safe staffing once and for all.