Kaiser: Don’t leave patients home all alone!

 Add your name to our petition to Kaiser: 

Hi, my name is _______, and I support nurses condemning the health care industry and Kaiser Permanente’s plans to maximize profit by sending patients home all alone and replacing 24/7 hands on nursing care with technology.

In a program that Kaiser calls “advanced care at home,” Kaiser proposes to divert patients who would normally be admitted into its hospitals back to their homes. Doctors and other staff identify and approach candidates to voluntarily enroll in the program. In their residences, the patients would be mainly monitored through an iPad and cameras connected to a medical “command center,” which for some patients may be located many miles away.

Patients are admitted into a hospital to benefit from the 24/7 monitoring, assessment, and professional care that licensed registered nurses provide. iPads, cameras, monitors, and the occasional visit by likely lesser-skilled and unlicensed personnel are in no way comparable to the skilled, expert nursing care and social emotional support RNs provide every moment of every shift. Home all alone, patients could be stranded in case of an emergency or adverse event, with no way to get immediate help or medical intervention and treatment.

I join with nurses in calling for Kaiser to end the so-called “advanced care at home” program, and to ensure safe staffing for 24/7 hands-on nursing care in hospitals!