Qualifications of traveling nurses questioned

Among other political issues, the qualifications of the replacement traveling nurses that filled in for California strikers are being called into question. During a 23,000-nurse strike affecting 33 California hospitals under Kaiser Permanente, Sutter Health, and Children's Hospital Oakland, a cancer patient at Alta Bates Summit Medical Center died after a medication error by a replacement nurse from Advanced Clinical Employment Staffing. The event drew fire from all involved.

The California Nurses Association said the patient death could have been avoided had they been allowed to reenter the facilities. It also called on the California Board of Registered Nursing to investigate the clinical competencies and certifications of the replacement registered nurses. The California Hospital Association responded saying that is "unfortunate" the union questioned the qualifications of the replacement nurses and that hospitals must continue to provide patient care during strikes.

The temporary nurse who filled in at Alta Bates Summit Medical Center was indeed credentialed to provide care, according to a San Francisco Chronicle article.

However, even with credentials to provide care, the medical error begs the question: Do traveling nurses receive enough training at institutions? Full-time nurses may receive weeks of orientation, but traveling nurses only may receive a shift's worth of orientation, according to Tim Brown, an emergency room nurse from Jacksonville, Fla., in an Associated Press article.

Alta Bates Summit Medical Center said the replacement nurses received two to three rounds of orientation, reports the AP.

For more information:
- read the AP article
- read the San Francisco Chronicle article

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