COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio nurses worked to have their voices heard as hundreds of nurses from across the state protested outside the Ohio Statehouse on Thursday.
What You Need To Know
- Hundreds of nurses from across the state protested outside the Ohio Statehouse
- They pushed for safer working conditions, unions and better pay
- Thursday, May 12 was the last day of National Nurses Week
“We have to stand up,” said Jamie Dawson, a nurse at Kettering Hamilton.
Dawson said she traveled from southwest Ohio to Columbus to seek change.
“We would like to say it’s in our meetings at the hospitals or even administration, but this is where the real change needs to happen,” said Dawson. “Bills need to be passed and laws need to be made.”
She and other health care professionals pushed for safer working conditions, unions and better pay.
“Nurses that have been nurses for 36 years haven’t received increased wages. That’s huge,” said Dawson. “The money is there. We just need to disperse it in the right way.”
Representatives Casey Weinstein, D-Hudson, and Allison Russo, D-Upper Arlington, spoke at the protest. Weinstein has three young children, and he said his family regularly interacts with nurses.
“These are nurses from across the state, hundreds of them here telling us in a loud voice they don’t feel safe on the job and they’re not feeling supported,” said Weinstein.
He said he’s planning to introduce a bill to help.
“I have a bill I’m putting forward [Thursday] that will mandate workplace violence prevention programs in the state for every employer and it will also direct ODH, the Ohio Department of Health, to create a mechanism to track this,” said Weinstein.
Dawson said conditions in hospitals have only gotten worse over her 24-year career, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Even though we talk about making changes in nurse-patient ratios and how to make things safer for the patient, it seems to be getting worse, yeah,” said Dawson.
Thursday, May 12 was the last day of National Nurses Week.
