Los Robles Regional Medical Center RN Diana Banks got the final word in an important story on California hospitals’ staffing ratio waivers and their impact on patient safety, as well as Nurses’ licenses.

Nurses worry about the consequences of staff shortages, said Diana Banks, a long-time nurse at Los Robles Regional Medical Center. They worry about being disciplined.

“They’re still held accountable,” she said, citing cases where ICU nurses being asked to care for three patients. “Their license is on the line for all three of the patients.”

Banks said nurses worry most about being stretched so thin they can’t give patients what they need.

“We cannot give them the care we want to give them and they deserve,” Banks said. “There’s not enough of us.”

Note: Soon after this story was published, CDPH issued new rules regarding the waivers—instituting changes that our members have lobbied on for months. Read this post for more about the new waiver rules.