The nurse’s strike against St. Vincent Hospital in Worcester MA is objectively a strike for safety and against systemic racist healthcare. The strike is for a smaller number of patients for each nurse. This safety issue is magnified in the intensive care unit.
“The outlier, California,
became the first state to pass a law mandating an average nurse-to-patient
ratio in 2004 (Mark et al., 2013). Their standard is one nurse for
every five patients on average in medical-surgical units”
Please note that the ratios are higher among the hospitals that are poorly funded or in Black and Brown neighborhoods. The St. Vincent nurses are striking for 4 patients to each nurse.
This racial disparity is one the reasons that the Progressive Labor Party supports the striking nurses and encourages them to make racist systemic health care more of an issue. Black and Brown people do not trust organization that do not expressly fight racism.
When I worked as an orderly in Philadelphia, I had to care for 8 patients and then lift patients out of bed on the entire floor. Many times, I worked through my lunch.
Black and Brown people
and organizations should also support the St. Vincent nurses. This support is
needed to win better healthcare, striking a blow against racist systemic racism
and for good health for everyone. Racism can be defeated with multi-racial
unity. Fighting against racism helps everyone.
