Nurses Find a Home at Sutter Health

New Data Show Northern California Network Better than California Average

SACRAMENTO, Calif., May 9, 2006 – As the nation celebrates National Nurse's Week (May 6-12), Sutter Health announced that its 2005 retention rates for registered nurses within the network's acute care facilities and Sutter VNA & Hospice are better than the California average.

Sutter's retention rates for 2005 were 90 percent compared to only 84 percent statewide and 82 percent in Northern California, as reported by the California Hospital Association. The number of vacant positions across the network also is steadily declining. Sutter nurse leaders say the new data reinforce how the not-for-profit network's efforts create a culture of excellence that helps care for nurses and all other employees.

"Nurses are a crucial part of our health care team," said Susan Bumatay, R.N., patient care executive at Sutter Delta Medical Center in Antioch. "Sutter Health has created an organization that supports nurses by providing us with the technology and environment we need to continually improve our skills and enhance the care we provide to our patients."

Sutter Health's recruitment and retention gains are a result of a comprehensive, systemwide strategy that involves expanding education and training programs, improving salaries and benefits, and making a multi-million-dollar investment in patient safety technologies to help nurses do their jobs.

Some examples of Sutter Health's commitment to nurses include:

• Bar-code technology for the safer administration of medications at the bedside. As of April 2006, hospitals across the Sutter network have administered over 10 million doses using the bar-code system, preventing 110,000 potential errors since the system was implemented in 2003**.
• A supportive work environment where nurses can learn and grow. Nurses play an integral role at Sutter Health and participate as leaders in clinical initiatives that improve the quality of patient care.
• Sutter Health's fully-funded pension plan. At a time when employee pension plans are underfunded and failing, Sutter Health has what it believes is one of the healthiest pension plans in the industry.

"We are very proud to be part of the Sutter Health family," concluded Bumatay. "We're leading California's patient safety efforts with the addition of important technologies like bar coding. Sutter's not only making it better for patients but better for nurses, too."

**Of the prevented errors, about 9 percent or approximately 10,000 could have produced moderate or severe clinical effects had they not been caught. The FDA estimates that nationwide there are more than 770,000 injuries and deaths caused annually by adverse drug events.

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Media Contact
Karen Garner
Communications Manager
(916) 286-8297
garnerk@sutterhealth.org

Kami Lloyd
(916) 286-6680
lloydk@sutterhealth.org