I am signing this petition to demand that the Huntsman Mental Health Institute address the alarming inadequacy of patient safety and care by increasing staffing levels immediately to a ratio of no more than 3:1 for techs and a guaranteed midshift for nurses.

Current staffing levels severely compromise our ability to provide even the most basic patient care, let alone the comprehensive care that our patients deserve. This includes:

Compromised Patient Safety: The risk of accidents, self-harm, and harm to others increases with staffing shortages. Preventable incidents, including staff injuries, adverse patient health events, and death have occurred on our understaffed units.

Staff Burnout and Well Being: Relentless work without adequate bathroom and lunch breaks hurts our physical and mental health, and diminishes the quality of patient care.

Inadequate Assistance with Activities of Daily Living: Essential tasks such as feeding, bathing and toileting are delayed or neglected. This undermines patient dignity and poses serious health risks.

Lack of Rapport and Continuity of Care: Lack of staff, constant rotation, and heavy workloads prevent the unique patient rapport that is the cornerstone of mental health care.

Irresponsible Management: Being a manager includes ensuring safe working conditions and high-quality care. The current unsafe staffing ratios show management’s disregard for this responsibility.

Current staffing ratios are untenable. Immediate action is required to prevent further degradation of patient care and staff morale.

I urge you to increase staffing levels to no more than 3:1 for techs and a guaranteed midshift for nurses, and implement measures to ensure a sustainable and supportive workplace.

For more information on this demand, please visit https://uhwu.org/hmhi-petition-2024.