I would think with the pandemic and with nurses being the number 1 most trusted profession (and in dire need) that nursing boards would have compassion toward nurses who are asked to work harder with more acute patients and with less staff. These conditions make a recipe for a disciplinary matter before any board. Interestingly, patients’ right to sue for malpractice is curtailed during the pandemic because of the crisis and decreased staff yet nurses can still be reported to the Board with … [Read more...]

California is the only state that has mandatory minimum staffing.  However, when the pandemic hit and ICUs were filled to capacity, the state’s Department of Public Health allowed hospitals to apply for a temporary expedited waiver which would allow each nurse to care for more patients. The law had allowed nurses to take only 1 or 2 patients in ICU during the pandemic but now with the introduction of the waiver, nurses must take even more extremely ill patients into their care.  This further … [Read more...]