Nurses rally, advocate for change at Ohio statehouse

COLUMBUS, Ohio ( WCMH ) – Nurses and advocates gathered at the Ohio statehouse Friday afternoon to push for the passage of a bill they say will help save lives.

Ron Smith is Tristin Smith’s dad; Tristin was an Ohio nurse before she took her own life.

“I found her, and my heart dropped, stopped, you know. I couldn’t believe my eyes of what I was seeing,” Smith said. “Horrifying. Those are the only words I can use to describe it.”

Smith said after Tristin died, they found a document on her laptop titled “A Letter to My Abuser.”

“The abuser being the American healthcare system,” he said.

The letter said things like, “I cannot stay in this abusive relationship” and “the law doesn’t protect us and neither do you.”

That is why Smith is advocating for change now.

“We’re here to help the nurses and to save lives because no other father or family needs to go through what we’ve suffered,” he said.

Smith, and other nurses from across the county, like influencer “Nurse Erica,” were at the Ohio statehouse on Friday to push for the passage of House Bill 285.

“Patients are dying everywhere, every day, every hospital, ever nursing home, everywhere, as a direct result of poor staffing,” Erica said.

The bill would require hospitals to meet minimum staffing requirements and specific RN to patient ratios. The legislation also permits the director of health to impose fines for violations of staffing requirements.

“We have almost 6 million nurses now in this country,” Erica said. “There’s a staffing crisis because no one wants to be at the bedside where it’s unsafe and toxic.”

“We need to get the word out there so we can get this bill passed,” Smith said.

The bill was introduced last October, but only had its first committee hearing on May 7.  Erica said the hesitancy in passing it comes down to one thing.

“It all comes down to money,” Erica said. “The healthcare organizations that lobby, that support different legislators, they don’t want to spend the money that would be required. It’s just dollar signs.”

In a statement, Speaker of the Ohio House Jason Stephens (R-Kitts Hill) said “We value our nurses. I think it’s important that we take a look at HB285 to make sure that we have not only a qualified workforce, but a workforce that is well-rested so they’re able to do their jobs well. It is working its way through the committee process, and we’ll see where it goes.”

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to NBC4 WCMH-TV.