Controversy: Governor Takes Sweeping Action Against the BRN

Schwarzenegger May Want to Eliminate the Board of Registered Nursing

Governor Schwarzenegger has taken sweeping action against the Board of Registered Nurses (BRN), a move that may end up jeopardizing patient care in California.
Send a message to Sacramento about the BRN
On July 13 the governor moved to replace four BRN members, one day after the Los Angeles Time published an article criticizing the length of time it has been taking the BRN to investigate and close disciplinary complaints against nurses. Gov. Schwarzenegger also filled two additional positions that had been left vacant for some time. The sudden actions resulted in the resignation the following day of longtime Executive Director Ruth Ann Terry, ensuring that the BRN will have almost entirely new leadership moving forward.

Even though the governor has the authority to appoint and remove BRN members, his actions are alarming to RNs across the state. The governor has made it no secret that he believes state government should play a bigger role in regulating nurses, and has previously proposed the idea of eliminating the BRN completely. Gov. Schwarzenegger, who has also fought against safe nurse-patient ratios, may wish to eventually turn all the responsibilties of the BRN over to the Department of Consumer Affairs- a move that was previously tried (but proven non effective) in California in the 1970s.

The SEIU Nurse Alliance of California believes that rather than scapegoating the board members he removed, the governor should have been addressing issues at the BRN that were making carrying out their responsibilities more difficult. Among them:

• The Governor has not exempted members who serve the BRN from mandated staff furloughs and contract cutbacks, even though the board is not dependent on the state’s general fund.
• The Governor has not filled key posts at the Department of Consumer Affairs which oversees boards, and 20% of the investigative positions which process these cases are vacant.
• The Governor has not exempted members of the Department of Consumer Affairs from furlough Fridays which further inhibits the consumer protection activities of the boards and further slows the enforcement process down.
• The Governor has not announced steps to decrease the backlogs in agencies that the nursing board relies on for investigative and legal help.

In conclusion, the SEIU Nurse Alliance of California believes that that the role of the BRN is crucial. The BRN needs to be the body that continues to regulate registered nursing in California, and should not be eliminated. Furthermore, the Nurse Alliance believes that no one knows the profession of nursing better than nurses themselves. We strongly believe that front line, bedside nurses are the ones who know the most about patient care and will prioritize patient care advocacy. Therefore we strongly advocate that future BRN open positions be filled with individuals who have a demonstrated history of patient advocacy and of being pro-nurse.

The SEIU Nurse Alliance of California will be alerting SEIU nurses in the coming weeks about how to help take action to preserve the valuable work of the BRN.