For this assignment, we are to identify a current and relevant nursing concern and write a letter about it to our chosen legislator. Staffing has always been a huge problem among the healthcare facilities, especially during the pandemic, and even now when it seems that the surge is over, it continues to be a concern amidst the early retirements and the need for out-of-state nurses. Because of this, hospitals may use flexibility waivers which override the state-mandated nurse-to-patient ratios and allow them to decrease staff. Reports of hospitals and facilities abusing these waivers led to the creation of Assembly Bill 1422, the “Patients’ Right to Know”, which will require them to show proof of need to decrease staff and demonstrate that this will not compromise patient care. I addressed the letter to Jesse Gabriel, who represent my residential district.
As a group, we were to pick a global epidemic as our topic, develop goals and objectives, and design a program that will provide a solution to the chosen public health issues. We chose Prevention of Cholera in Haiti. Although a bit dated because the epidemic has long been resolved, the topic is still relevant because there is always a need to keep the population cholera-free and the best way to do this is through education, and that is where we focused our proposed program on. The group had excellent teamwork and camaraderie. There were tasks that were assigned individually and each one delivered; there were others which we did as a group, like the logic model. The time spent on this project was overall fun and worthwhile. I learned so much about the culture and ways of Haitian people and the different local, national, and international organizations that get involve in global disasters.