Who is Impacted?

Nurses across the country are struggling under unsafe staffing conditions, increasing patient acuity, overwhelming documentation, and rising workplace violence, and patients are suffering because of it. Every day, nurses are forced to take unmanageable patient loads where they cannot provide safe, effective care. Patient acuity is not properly accounted for, leaving some nurses overwhelmed with critically ill patients. Meanwhile, burnout, moral distress, and mental exhaustion are pushing thousands of nurses to leave bedside care, leading to even worse conditions for those who remain.

It’s not just nurses who are impacted, patients are at risk. Studies show that higher nurse-to-patient ratios directly lead to higher mortality rates, increased medical errors, and longer hospital stays. The people we swore to care for are now suffering under a system that values profit over patient safety.

 What Is at Stake?

If nothing changes, nurses will continue to leave the profession in record numbers, patient care will deteriorate, and hospitals will become even more unsafe. When a single nurse is stretched too thin, patients don’t get turned, meds are delayed, infections go unnoticed, and life-threatening conditions are missed. Nurses are human, not machines, and yet we are expected to function without proper staffing, breaks, or support.

On the other hand, if we take action now, we can push for safe staffing ratios, real acuity-based nurse assignments, protections against workplace violence, and reduced documentation burdens. Hospitals can implement real solutions that will make nursing safer and more sustainable:
✔️ Hire More Nurses and Support Staff – Increase nurse hiring efforts, bring in resource nurses, LVNs, and CNAs to assist with care, and offer competitive salaries to retain staff.
✔️ Enforce Safe Staffing Ratios – Implement legally mandated nurse-to-patient ratios to ensure patient safety.
✔️ Monitor Patient Acuity Properly – Assign nurses based on acuity, not just census numbers, ensuring fair and balanced workloads.
✔️ Reduce Documentation Burdens – Use AI-assisted charting and remove redundant documentation requirements so nurses can focus on patient care.
✔️ Improve Workplace Safety – Increase security, enforce zero-tolerance policies for violence, and provide panic buttons in high-risk areas.
✔️ Ensure Nurses Get Breaks and Mental Health Support – Provide break relief nurses, onsite mental health resources, and stress management programs.
✔️ Hold Hospital Executives Accountable – Redirect excessive executive bonuses to staffing and retention efforts and require hospitals to publicly report nurse-to-patient ratios.

Why Is Now the Time to Act?

The healthcare system is at a breaking point. More nurses are leaving the bedside than ever before, and those left behind are being asked to do more with fewer resources. If we do not take action now, we risk a mass exodus of experienced nurses, leaving our hospitals dangerously understaffed and unprepared.

We are not just asking for change, we are demanding it. Hospitals must implement safe staffing laws, enforce acuity-based assignments, reduce redundant documentation, and protect nurses from workplace violence. We need policies that put patients and nurses first not hospital profits.

Nurses cannot keep carrying a broken system on their backs. Patient care is suffering, and lives are at stake. If we don’t fight for real solutions now, nothing will change. Sign this petition today to demand safer staffing, fair nurse assignments, and the protections nurses and patients deserve!