I'm Cecilia Mulvey, a registered nurse and a member of the Board of Directors of the American Nurses Association. On behalf of the American Nurses Association, I want to salute Senator Reid and Representative Hinchey for their leadership on behalf of American health care consumers. I also want to recognize Representative Lois Capps, who is also a registered nurse. And I am so happy to see my fellow registered nurses and other supporters of the Patient Safety Act assembled here today. Today is Florence Nightingale's birthday, the culmination of National Nurses Week.
Nurses are, first and foremost, patient advocates.
This is part of our professional responsibility and our tradition. Today, health care decisions are increasingly driven more by a quest for short-term cost savings and profit than by a commitment to safe, quality patient care. Despite this work, those with an eye on the bottom line still often fail to understand the relationship between good nursing care and cost-effective care. This legislation would give consumers the basic information they need to make an informed choice of a hospital or nursing home for themselves or their loved ones. We take for granted that we can obtain this kind of basic information when we purchase a toaster or a car.