Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/1337263
24 PATIENT & CAREGIVER EXPERIENCE California nurses struggle as nurse-to-patient ratios stretched amid COVID-19 surge By Erica Carbajal C alifornia is currently the only state with a nurse-to-patient ratio law, but a spike in COVID-19 patients led Gov. Gavin Newsom to relax the law in mid-December. Now, nurses are scrambling to care for more patients, NPR reported Dec. 30. Since Mr. Newsom gave hospitals the option to increase the number of patients per nurse, 170 hospitals have implemented the changes. New pandemic ratios allow intensive care unit nurses to care for three patients instead of two; emergency room and telemetry nurses can care for six patients instead of four; and medical-surgical nurses are permitted to care for seven patients instead of five. "We are given 50 percent more patients and we're expected to do 50 percent more things with the same amount of time," Nerissa Black, RN, a telemetry nurse at Valencia, Calif.-based Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital, told NPR. "I go home and I feel like I could have done more. I don't feel like I'm giving the care to my patients like a human being deserves." Some nurses are worried the current nurse- to-patient ratios will become permanent, though experts told NPR there likely wouldn't be enough support for such a measure. California has exhausted strategies attempting to improve its medical staffing capacity amid the pandemic, including asking the federal government to send medical personnel and working with staffing agencies to contract travel nurses, said Carmela Coyle, president and CEO of the state's hospital association. "Because California surged during the sum- mer and other parts of the U.S. then surged aerwards, those travel nurses are [now] taken," she said. As of early January, hospitalizations were still rising in the state, with some hospi- tals reporting few to no ICU beds, and low supplies of oxygen and plastic tubes needed to deliver oxygen to patients, The Los Angeles Times reported. In some ar- eas, patients are waiting up to eight hours in ambulances before they're allowed to enter the emergency rooms. As of Jan. 13, the state was recording 4,000 to 5,000 new COVID-19 hospitalizations each day, according to Ms. Coyle. n 5 ways to engage men in their own health By Erica Carbajal M en are more likely to experience negative outcomes or complications from numerous procedures and conditions compared to women, creating a large win- dow of opportunity for health systems to improve men's health engagement, according to a Nov. 18 Healthgrades report. Five ways to get men proactively involved with their healthcare: 1. Talk to men like they talk to each other: Incorporating humor and conversational messaging may ease some of the discomfort men feel when discussing certain medical conditions. 2. Get inspired by best practices: Lean into best practices and focus on preventive steps and awareness in campaign materials. 3. Reach out to their partners: Men's partners and spouses tend to positively influence their behavior, so targeting them with the right messaging can ultimately end up reaching men. 4. Go where the men are: When planning events and cam- paigns, make sure to include the places men will mostly likely be: sporting events, gyms and even urinals. Men will likely be more receptive to messaging in a comfortable setting. 5. Share your hospital's successes: Confidence in a proce- dure or system can help men feel more at ease. Discuss the success rates, quality awards and technology capabilities that relate to a procedure they may need. n Athletes' rapid COVID-19 testing is a luxury most nurses lack By Mackenzie Bean M ost professional and collegiate athletes have access to rapid COVID-19 testing, while some front-line healthcare workers have never been tested during the pandemic, reported The Washington Post. Many sports leagues have struck contracts with private labs to ensure their athletes can get regularly tested for the virus — an expense most hospitals cannot afford. The National Football League issued 43,148 tests to 7,856 players, coaches and employees between Nov. 8-14 alone. Meanwhile, a survey from National Nurs- es United showed about two-thirds of its more than 15,000 members had never been tested for COVID-19. Many nurses have expressed frustration at this testing discrepancy or held protests over their lack of testing, reported the Post. Jane Sandoval, a 58-year-old emergency room nurse at San Francisco-based California Pacific Medical Center, is one such nurse who's never received a COVID-19 test. "There's an endless supply in the sports world," Ms. Sandoval told the Post. "You're throwing your arms up. I like sports as much as the next person. But the disparity between who gets tested and who doesn't, it doesn't make any sense." n