Sample letters

HERE ARE THREE SUGGESTIONS ON WHAT TO WRITE TO YOUR REPRESENTATIVES AND YOUR NEWSPAPERS: To the right is a link to usa.gov, which will indicate your rep when you put in your zip code.

SAMPLE LETTER #1

Introduce yourself briefly. Include your full address and zip code. Your representative needs to know that he/she is actually your representative.

Did you know that nurses and caregivers get hurt in very high numbers?  In fact, they get hurt at twice the rate of any other industry.  The reason they get hurt is because the bending and lifting required for patient care damages backs, and all the heavy lifting hurts their shoulders and wrists as well as their backs. Research shows there is no safe way to manually move patients. And, people are getting bigger, so that the weight to lift is increasing.

I have a [friend, cousin, aunt, mother, etc] who works very hard to care for [his/her] patients, and it is sad that caring, smart, hardworking people also have to be hurt in order to do their job.

The hospitals and nursing homes have been aware of this for a long time, but often prioritize their spending so that equipment to prevent these injuries always comes later. Only a very small number of facilities have enough equipment. Change has been too slow in coming.  Many, many nurses and caregivers suffer career ending injuries every year.

To date, no federal safe patient handling law has been enacted.  A few states have enacted some form of safe patient handling, but there truly needs to be a national law. The most recently introduced federal bill is the Nurse and Health Care Worker Protection Act of 2013 (HR 2480)  Here is a link to the text: http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c113:H.R.2480.IH:/  Please support this bill.

A recent state bill is California AB 1036, passed in 2010.  It is a bill written with input from hospitals, unions and the caregivers themselves.  This is a very effective bill, however it exempts nursing homes, which unfortunately have the very highest rate of injuries -- of ANY industry.  Here is a link to the text: http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/11-12/bill/asm/ab_1101-1150/ab_1136_bill_20111007_chaptered.pdf

This is (or should be) a non-partisan issue.  Those most injured at work have very little voice. 

Thank you for your help.

Sincerely yours, 

LETTER SAMPLE #2

Dear [name of representative] Use "Senator" or "Representative", and if mailing, use "Honorable" on the address for both senators and representatives.

Introduce yourself briefly.  Include your full address and zip code, so they know you are in their district.

I [or a friend or relative] was injured working as a nurse [or nurse aide, etc].  My [or his/her] life has never been the same.  It is wrong for caregivers to have to be hurt.  All employers are supposed to provide a safe working environment, but in real life, this is not happening for health care givers.  Please support the federal bill, H.R. 2480.  It is languishing in a subcommittee.  It is a bill written with input from hospitals, unions and the caregivers themselves.  This would dramatically reduce injuries to our nurses and caregivers.

The Safe Patient Handling bill is: Nurse and Health Care Worker Protection Act of 2013, H.R. 2480.  Here is the link to the text: http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c113:H.R.2480.IH:/

This is (or should be) a non-partisan issue.  Those most injured at work have very little voice. 

Thank you for your help.

Sincerely yours, 

SAMPLE LETTER #3


Please write to your local newspaper; make it an open letter to your representative. You could also reference this blog so people could get more information. (liftfreecaregivers.blogspot.com)  This blog is geared toward non-medical people.  Nurses and those with medical backgrounds are aware of this problem, but most are too busy working their high stress jobs to be an activist. Please join us!

Here are some points you could make:

• Healthcare workers have the highest rate of injuries in the entire United States. (From Bureau of Labor Statistics website)
• Nurses and aides have to bend over the bed to take care of patients.  You cannot use good body mechanics! This is why the injury rate is so high.
• Patient moving equipment, with a good Safe Patient Handling program is the only answer.
• People are getting bigger, we all know that.  
• Talk about someone you know who has been hurt.
• A law is needed because hospitals always have higher priorities than SAVING money; they want to buy equipment that will MAKE them money.  (They are businesses, after all)
• The people most often hurt are the nurse aides.  They are often paid only $10 to 12 per hour.  It is actually cheap for a facility to replace them, yet they have had a life altering injury and will be in pain, perhaps for many years. This is not right!!!

We need to wake everyday Americans up.  Remember when soldiers were looked down upon, and sometimes scorned?  Though nurses continue to be the most trusted profession, our actions scorn them unless they are protected while they work.  Let's band together and change this.  If enough people demand it, things can change.

The current federal bill is H.R.2480, the Nurse and Health Care Worker Protection Act of 2013.  The link to the text is: http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c113:H.R.2480.IH:/  It sits in committee because those who support it do not have the funds to lobby or contribute to campaigns.