The nurses at North Hawaii Community Hospital are struggling to be heard. Like all nurses, they care deeply about the quality of care they provide. Unfortunately, management at North Hawaii Community Hospital doesn’t agree, having failed to adequately address staffing issues with their nurses.

The nurses at North Hawaii Community Hospital are not alone in working with unsafe staffing conditions. Hospitals are putting dollars before patient lives, using accountants to dictate staffing, instead of listening to the frontline caregivers. This is a recipe for disaster.

Hawaii needs to follow the example set by California and enact minimum staffing levels and a ban on mandatory overtime for nurses. The hospitals of Hawaii have shown that they will not act on their own.

The nurses of North Hawaii deserve our respect and admiration. They are making the fight for all nurses and for all patients.

Daniel Ross

President, Hawaii Nurses’ Association

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