Proposals exchanged in negotiations for province's nurses
Nurses shocked and dismayed with Employers' proposals
Nurses most concerned with patient care and workload issues
<
Alberta's Health Employers have presented Registered Nurses with a long list
of demands for rollbacks in the exchange of proposals that kicked off the
provincial round of contract negotiations in Edmonton today. "The Employers
are looking to rollback the working environment for nurses by twenty years,"
UNA President Heather Smith said in an initial reaction. "We were looking
forward to cooperating on managing workloads for nurses, so every patient
gets good care. But by suggesting that nurses work even more hours, in even
more difficult conditions, the Employers are pushing for a worsening
situation that would endanger our patients in our health system." ...
Alberta's Registered Nurses proposed a moderate salary increase - a cost of
living increase - as well as other contract improvements designed to deal
with the workload crisis faced by Registered nurses. ...
Calgary - The province and its nurses are headed for a major conflict, the
head of the United Nurses of Alberta predicts. The two sides sat down to
start negotiating a new contract Monday, but UNA president Heather Smith said
after seeing the proposals, her members are ready for a fight. "This is
certainly causing huge reverberations throughout workplaces across the
province," Smith said. ... "There's a significant amount of dissatisfaction
and unrest right now. Whether or not there is going to be a confrontation
depends on whether employers remain dedicated to rolling back significant
portions of our collective agreement." In 2001, an election year, the
contract was settled three weeks before the old one expired and nurses got a
22 per cent raise. ...
Tucson - A state rule allowing hospitals to assign up to three critically ill
patients to one nurse puts patients and their nurses at risk, nurses said
Monday. Joined by colleagues from around the country, the Southern Arizona
Nurses Coalition urged the Arizona Department of Health Services to change
the required ratio to no more than two patients per nurse in intensive-care
units (ICUs). The change is likely to happen; the health department itself is
proposing the lower ratio, based on recommendations from a statewide task
force that includes representatives from the Southern Arizona coalition. The
new ratio could be adopted later this year, said the health services
department's Virginia Blair, a registered nurse who oversees hospital
licensure. "We recognize that there is an issue out there with providing
adequate nursing care," Blair said, adding that the 1-to-3 requirement has
been in place since 1979. ... Nurses in other states are pushing for similar
reforms. "The biggest fear you have is that you will do something to harm a
patient. In that environment, little mistakes can make a big difference,"
said Karen Higgins, an intensive-care nurse and president of the
Massachusetts Nurses Association. Higgins was in Tucson for a meeting of the
American Association of Registered Nurses, hosted by the Southern Arizona
coalition.
About 30 nurses carrying picket signs chanted "Nursing ratios save lives" and
rallied yesterday in support of a state initiative to require increased
staffing at hospital intensive-care units. The Arizona Department of Health
Services is considering requiring one nurse per two intensive-care patients,
rather than the current 1-to-3 ratio. At the rally, John Baringer, a nurse at
the Southern Arizona Veterans Administration Hospital here, said he favors
the increase. He sometimes feels overwhelmed when treating just two patients
in the intensive-care unit. "In ICU, things happen," he said. "All of a
sudden hearts stop beating. If you are not watching because you are taking
care of two other patients, you don't catch it." Yesterday's rally was at the
State of Arizona Building, 400 W. Congress St., and was organized by the
Southern Arizona Nurses Coalition - California Nurses Association and the
American Association of Registered Nurses. The California and Arizona groups
merged recently and operate as a single organization. Valerie Gomes, a
registered nurse and coordinator of the Arizona and California groups, said
low staffing levels are "jeopardizing nurses' licenses and driving them from
the profession." Nurses at the rally complained that many hospitals staff
ICUs with other health-care professionals not trained at the level of
registered nurses. Kay McKay (sic) , president of the California Nurses
Association, said the experience of nurses such as Baringer illustrates why
higher standards are necessary. "The severity of patients' illness requires
that you have an expert there to take care of that patient, to recognize what
is happening to that patient and deliver care to that patient."
Representatives from nursing organizations in Maine, Massachusetts, Missouri
and California were on hand to support Arizona's tougher standards. ...
In a News 4 Arkansas follow-up, St. Vincent Health System has finally reached
an agreement with its union nurses. This comes after more than a year of
fighting, negotiations and several protests outside the hospital. The
settlement is not for a contract, but it does end a dispute over how the
hospital system dealt with the union. The union and the National Labor
Relations Board had accused St. Vincent of violating federal law during labor
contract negotiations last year. A lawyer for the nurses' union says contract
talks will resume soon.
The beginning of a new year generally brings with it a sense of hope, a
feeling that all things are possible and only good things lie ahead. ... This
new year, however, I am finding it difficult to feel hopeful. For the first
time, people my age and younger are facing the very real prospect of a war
whose boundaries may engulf us all and change our way of life forever. I do
not want to debate here the rights and wrongs of a war against Iraq. I have
my own view and, while many people I know share my view, other people hold
different views to which they are entitled. ...
A three-year-old "fight" to be recognized by the Ministry of Labour may
finally come to an end on Jan. 15 when registered public and private nurses
will vote for the Bahamas Nurses Union to represent their interests. In an
interview with The Guardian on Monday, Minister of Labour and Immigration
Vincent Peet said that next week nurses from around The Bahamas will
determine whether they would want the present Nurses Union to operate as a
bargaining agent for them. "Once the poll is taken, and the Ministry of
Labour can verify that sufficient number of nurses voted in favour of the
group to act as an agent for them, it would be recommended by the Ministry of
Labour for the association to be recognized," said Minister Peet, adding that
once this happens, the Nurses Union would be allowed to freely make decisions
for themselves, without any pressures. The union, over the past 16 months,
has found itself in several pressing situations. In August 2001, the Bahamas
Nurses Union and the Bahamas Public Service Union were involved in a "tug of
war" as to which body would become the bargaining agent for the medical
professionals. The friction between the two unions resulted in several
"sick-outs" at hospitals and clinics, leaving the establishments crippled and
unable to provide adequate health care to their patients. The BNU was issued
a salary deduction code by the Public Treasury in 1999, which was later
revoked by the government, as the BPSU was recognized as the sole
government-recognized voice for nurses in The Bahamas. At that time,
then-president of the BPSU, William McDonald said that because BNU also
represents nurses within the private sector it made it even more difficult
for the government to bargain with them. But now, the PLP Government will
"attempt to basically give the association the key that it doesn't have up to
this point, and allow the nurses to decide for themselves who they want to
represent them," said Minister Peet. He said: "Being represented by the
Ministry provides a number of benefits. This group will be putting a case for
other nurses for several things, but most importantly for better conditions."
In addition to better working conditions, Bahamas Nurses Union President
Cleola Hamilton said nurses would also be aiming to restore "the dignity of
nurses," as well as find ways to attract more persons to the profession. With
700 nurses involved with BNU, the union expects to receive full support of
nurses both within the private and public sector, said Ms. Hamilton. ...
Registered nurses in The Bahamas can rest assured that the Bahamas Public
Services Union (BPSU) "has the ear" of the Public Hospitals Authority (PHA)
and a number of issues concerning nurses that remain working under the
Ministry of Health, are presently being addressed with the PHA Chairman, Mr.
Ishmael Lightbourne. This, according to President of the BPSU, Mr. John
Pinder, during a press conference at its headquarters on Wulff Road, Monday.
Mr. Pinder said many nurses have expressed their displeasure with "untimely
promotions, security at the hospital, risk insurance coverage and the lack of
equipment to perform their duties." He said that even though some nurses have
recently severed ties with the BPSU and have formed their own Union, they are
making every attempt to assist nurses with these and other issues pertaining
to salaries, in addition to having them remain in the country. "We know there
has been a drag to have a number of them re-employed in The United States in
particular and we are trying our best to work with the Ministry of Health,
for those who have remained under this Ministry and with the Public Hospitals
Authority, to ensure that they are comfortable enough to remain working in
The Bahamas," said the BPSU President. ...
British Columbia:
"This is not reform, this is an act of legislative vandalism" - Globe and
Mail, January 30, 2002
29 Reasons why Bill 29 is bad for patients and nurses
<http://www.bcnu.org/nr012_2003.htm>
British Columbia Nurses Union, January 27, 2003
Nurses mark first anniversary of law that helped the Liberals close hospitals
and eliminate services. Nurses will be marking tomorrow's first anniversary
of the notorious law that ripped up their contract last year, by handing out
a leaflet in their workplaces documenting the devastating effects. Entitled
"29 Reasons why Bill 29 is Bad for Patients and Nurses" the leaflet details
the myriad ways the law - which was rammed through the Legislature in the
middle of the night on January 28, 2002 - facilitated the Liberals' drastic
cuts to health care services. "More than 1000 beds closed, community health
services, such as immunization and school nursing cut, the forced removal of
seniors from long term care homes, massive contracting out of support
services and the firing of mostly women workers - these are just a few of the
things that flowed from the legislation that broke a key promise made by
Gordon Campbell before he was elected." says Debra McPherson, president of
the BC Nurses' Union. ...
San Pablo - Officials say there's no end in sight to the long strike by
registered nurses at Doctors Medical Center San Pablo-Pinole. Nurses and
hospital managers haven't held negotiating sessions since October. The
hospital remains open - although 75 percent of the nurses who walked off the
job have found work elsewhere. The hospital has hired temporary nurses and is
considering hiring more permanent replacements. The nurses want pension and
retiree medical benefits in a new contract. Management insists the pension
demand is not negotiable. The hospital is run by Tenet Healthcare. That's the
for-profit company currently under fire for aggressive billing tactics.
California Nurses Association Statement on the Iraq War
Adopted by the CNA Board of Directors, February 2, 2003
The California Nurses Association joins with scores of other health care
advocacy groups, nurses, and labor organizations and local governments to
oppose a unilateral war by the Bush Administration against Iraq. CNA condemns
all acts of terrorism. CNA supports peaceful efforts to promote disarmament
and the elimination of all nuclear, chemical, biological, and other weapons
that inflict large scale destruction. CNA believes that international
disputes are best resolved through the role of broad based international
organizations, particularly the United Nations, to promote a peaceful end to
conflict and social and economic justice, not through unilateral
intervention. Whereas the Code of Ethics for Nurses underscores, "the nurses'
primary commitment is to the patient whether as individual, family, group or
community," and that the "profession of nursing is responsible for
articulating nursing values and shaping social policy," CNA has particular
concerns about the health and social impacts of a war with Iraq. The first
Persian Gulf War produced up to 3,000 casualties among Iraqi civilians,
according to Human Rights Watch, and devastating long term health
consequences for untold numbers of Iraqis and Americans. Some 160,000 US Gulf
War veterans have endured chronic disorders, at 12 times the rate of non-Gulf
War veterans, with cancer, birth defects, memory loss and other elements of
Gulf War syndrome. A new war with Iraq would likely cause even more immense
casualties and human suffering. Presently, 13 million Iraqi children
according to the Independent Study Team, "are at a grave risk of starvation,
disease, death and psychological trauma." A United Nations contingency
planning report estimates up to 500,000 Iraqis would require medical
treatment, and another three million would face dire malnutrition and require
therapeutic feeding. The outbreak of cholera, dysentery, and other epidemics
would be likely. The report also projects up to 900,000 refugees would need
food and shelter, and endure continuing casualties from land mines. US
personnel participating also face unknown direct casualties and likely long
term health effects, such occurred to the 130,000 Gulf War troops, according
to the US Department of Defense, who were exposed to chemical weapons as a
result of the US bombing of one Iraqi arms depot. At home, the pending war
would also have serious consequences for public health and the social safety
net. The Congressional Budget Office estimates the war would cost between $9
billion and $13 billion each month, prompting draconian reductions in public
spending on health care and other social needs. The increase in defense
spending in advance of the war coincides with a growing health care crisis in
our nation and cutbacks in vital funding for public hospitals, community
clinics, disease prevention programs, and our emergency response network.
Unilateral US military action against Iraq is likely to increase retaliatory
attacks against US civilians, placing a further strain on our overburdened
health care system. Plans by the Bush Administration for smallpox
vaccinations for up to 10 million RNs and other health care workers and
emergency personnel demonstrate our concern. Local health departments across
the US are reporting that many health care programs, including cancer and
tuberculosis screenings, immunization clinics for children, and children's
dental programs are being curtailed as funds are diverted for the smallpox
program. The smallpox program is also risky. The Institute of Medicine says
the program lacks adequate safeguards. The CNA Board of Directors will
communicate our position to our elected representatives and to CNA members,
and conduct an educational campaign for CNA members on the consequences of
the war.
Apple Valley - The California Nurses Association has filed a charge of unfair
labor practices against St. Mary Medical Center, claiming it raised health
care premiums without first negotiating with the union. "That is illegal
since we are in good faith negotiations to discuss various economic issues,
including health care benefits, wages and pensions,' said association
spokesman Pete Castelli. "Nurses are upset. We feel that St. Mary exercised
bad faith by not negotiating with us, and violated the National Labor
Relations Act.' Hospital spokesman Randy Bevilacqua disagrees. "It is well
within the medical center's rights to increase costs of (employee) health
care,' he said. "We've incurred an increase in costs from our insurance
carrier, Pacific Care, for all employees the past two years. "A portion of
the increase was passed on to all of these employees. St. Mary pays 40 (sic)
percent of the costs, and employees pay the other 40 percent.' Bevilacqua
said, "They (the nurses association) contend the increase in the premium
should be bargained, but we disagree. There was an increase before any union
organizing efforts. It will be up to the National Labor Relations Board to
decide.' ...
Union Vote Set for Mercy RNs in Bakersfield February 27
<http://www.calnurse.org/cna/press>
California Nurses Association, February 11, 2003
Registered Nurses at two Bakersfield hospitals that are part of the Catholic
Healthcare West chain, Mercy Hospital of Bakersfield and Mercy Southwest
Hospital, will hold a union representation election February 27. The election
date was announced Wednesday afternoon, the California Nurses Association
reported today. CNA, the state's largest organization of RNs, which already
represents RNs at CHW's nearby Bakersfield Memorial Hospital, will be on the
ballot, along with the Service Employees International Union and a no union
option. Some 280 RNs employed at the two Mercy hospitals will be affected by
the secret ballot election, which will be supervised by the National Labor
Relations Board. "I feel Mercy RNs should unionize with CNA for safe patient
care," said Jocelyn Tiangha, RN, a medical-surgical unit nurse at Mercy
Southwest. "When Southwest opens up the ER and ICU (intensive care unit), it
will affect the patient load in my unit as well as other areas in the
hospital." Tiangha also cited CNA's fight to reject efforts by the hospital
industry and SEIU to erode the pending nurse-to-patient ratios, required by
the CNA-sponsored Safe Staffing Law, by filling the ratios with up to 50%
with licensed vocational nurses. "I agree with CNA's position that the ratios
should be all-RN for the sake of our patients and to protect the RN
profession," she said. ...
Cook County - Cook County nurses who work at Stroger Hospital and two other
county-owned facilities voted Monday on whether to authorize a strike if
their union is unable to reach an agreement with the county on a new
contract. Voting will continue Tuesday for nurses at Provident Hospital and
the Juvenile Temporary Detention Center. Tiffany Taylor, who heads the
negotiating committee for the local unit of the Illinois Nurses Association,
said she expects the county's 1,800 nurses to approve a strike, based on
comments she heard Monday and the overwhelming support for the strike vote.
Even with authorization, the nurses would not walk out before the next
negotiating session with the county, which is scheduled for Feb. 10, Taylor
said. ...
b4bcd997586256cb60009670f.txt>
Ashante Dobbs, Medill News Service, January 22, 2003
Chicago - As many as 1,800 Cook County nurses are one step closer to striking
if contract negotiations break down, a union official said Tuesday. The
results of votes tallied from several county-operated hospitals may be
announced as early as today, said Dave Hibben, director of labor relations
for the Illinois Nurses Association. ... The nurses have been without
contracts since Nov. 30, 2001. Among their list of demands are fewer work
hours and higher pay. "Nurses' pay nationwide has remained stagnant for the
last 10 or 15 years," Hibben said. "The nurses are very concerned about
patient safety and the ability to recruit and retain nurses in the future."
Cook County registered nurses earn slightly more than $40,000, less than the
national average salary of $46,000, according to a report by the US
Department of Health and Human Services. Nurses also are calling for an end
to mandatory overtime and caring for multiple patients during a single shift.
Some health officials have argued the longer work days and added
responsibility are viable solutions for the nation's nursing shortage. ...
The Irish Nurses Organisation has said it reserves the right to strike if LRC
talks fail to resolve the accident and emergency crisis. The Labour Relations
Commission has established an emergency meeting to discuss the matter
following a request from the INO. The organisation had earlier threatened to
take industrial action unless the Government resolved the problem of
overcrowding and bed shortages.
The Labour Relations Commission has convened an emergency meeting in an
effort to avoid a nurses' strike due to overcrowding in accident and
emergency departments in the eastern region. The Irish Nurses' Organisation
had requested LRC intervention after threatening industrial action unless the
Government took action to resolve the A&E crisis. The Eastern Regional Health
Authority had to ask the public to stay away from A&E units yesterday as
there were no beds available. Some patients were even treated in the back of
ambulances because of the lack of space.
SID=5526e3b8fe9425f386f30383478f4a64>
Irish Nurses Organisation, January 27, 2003
Members of the Irish Nurses Organisation based in St Mary's, Drumcar will
commence industial action if the St John of God Order continue to ignore
their obligations as employers to provide a safe working environment for
nurses. On June 12th, 2002 INO members deferred industrial action on foot of
LRC proposals aimed at commissioning and implementation of a staffing
review. This review now recommends 94 additional nursing staff. ...
SID=5526e3b8fe9425f386f30383478f4a64>
Irish Nurses Organisation, January 28, 2003
The Irish Nurses Organisation today welcomed the publication of a report by
CAPITA Consultants in relation to bed management within major acute hospitals
throughout the state. David Hughes, Deputy General Secretary of the
Organisation said the report's findings endorse the ten-point plan issued by
the Organisation in February 2001 to address the ongoing crisis in Accident
and Emergency Departments throughout the state. ...
Nurses at a Dublin hospital have stepped up industrial action in a row over
on-call payments. They began a full withdrawal of labour at 8.00 this morning
in James Connolly Memorial Hospital in support of their call for an increase
in such payments. The withdrawal will continue until 2.00 this afternoon.
They plan to repeat their action on Thursday. The withdrawal represents a
escalation of a work to rule by the nurses, who belong to the Irish Nurses'
Organisation. They lodged their claim for a rise in March last year.
Nairobi - A group of medical personnel at the Kenyatta National Hospital
yesterday went on strike over unpaid allowances. The strikers, including
doctors, were protesting at non-payment of allowances amounting to Sh552
million approved by the former government last year. Services at the
2,400-bed hospital were severely disrupted as the nearly 500 doctors, nurses
and paramedics took to the streets. However, they later returned to work
after being addressed by Health Minister Charity Ngilu. They demanded the
immediate dismissal of Health Permanent Secretary Julius Meme and hospital
director Meshack Ong'uti, who they accused of blocking the allowances. ...
Plymouth - Jordan Hospital and the Massachusetts Nurses Association have
agreed on a new contract that will give registered nurses raises of 24 to 34
percent over the next three years. The three-year pact, approved by hospital
directors on Monday and by nurses on Wednesday, provides across the board
raises of more than 9 percent for the hospital's 335 registered nurses,
retroactive to Dec. 1. The remaining increases will be phased every six
months. Starting nurses at the hospital now earn $21.09 an hour. Starting pay
will increase to $23.49 over the life of the agreement. Top scale nurses now
earn $31.06. Their base pay will increase to $39.11 or more than $82,000 a
year, by May 2005. The contracts also include differentials for working
nights and weekends as well as in supervisory roles. Russell Averna, the
hospital's vice president of clinical and support services, said the contract
reflects the nursing shortage crisis that has made it difficult for hospitals
nationwide to recruit and retain registered nurses. The increases, he said,
put Jordan Hospital in the middle of the pack of area hospitals for nurses'
salaries, but well ahead when the quality of working conditions are factored
into the equation. ...
At a January 15 community rally for health care reform, seniors, nurses,
unemployed, low-income workers, and the uninsured joined striking GE workers
to say:
"Health Care for All ... Not Health Cuts at GE!"
Lynn - Over 200 people attended a January 15 rally for health care reform.
Speakers included Ed Fire, President of IUE-CWA; Phil Mamber, President of
Mass Senior Action Council; Peggy O'Mally, Chair of MASS-CARE and a member of
the Board of Directors, Massachusetts Nurses Association. Leslie Greenberg,
chair of the Lynn Health Task Force, led a speakout with participants at the
rally. The meeting was chaired by Jeff Crosby, president of IUE-CWA Local 201
and Cassie Watters from Jobs with Justice. Pictures from the rally are
available on line at <http://photos.yahoo.com/randwilson285>. A special Jobs
with Justice report "Soaring Health Care Costs, Sinking Employer Based
Benefits in Massachusetts is available on line at <http://www.jwj.org>.
A coalition of unions from around the North Shore rallied around General
Electric union employees in Lynn Wednesday at a forum to protest cost
shifting in health care. The rally brought scores of GE employees from the
picket lines and representatives from local unions to Nandee's restaurant on
Market Street for a town hall-style meeting that marked a poignant close to
the two-day strike. "In the past 48 hours, we have sent a powerful message to
General Electric and the American public to change and reform national health
care," said Edward Fire, the national president of the International Union of
Electronic, Electrical, Salaried, Machine and Furniture Workers-Communication
Workers of America (IUE-CWA) of the AFL-CIO. Fire's aggressive speech
highlighted the forum and spoke not only to striking GE workers, but to
members of the Massachusetts Nurses Association, the Massachusetts Senior
Action Council, the Massachusetts Federation of Teachers and the Lynn Health
Task Force - all on hand to protest businesses around the country passing on
health care costs to employees. (Editorial Comment: The Massachusetts
Campaign for Single-Payer Health Care and the Ad Hoc Committee to Defend
Health Care each had a strong presence at the rally.) ...
anuary/18-515-opinion01.txt>
Brockton Enterprise, January 18, 2003
Thumbs down to: Brockton Hospital for wasting money by taking a frivolous
appeal to the US Supreme Court in hopes of overturning a lower court decision
that found the hospital violated federal labor law in 1997 by barring the
nurses union from distributing articles about unsafe staffing levels and
dangers of mandatory overtime at hospitals. The Supreme Court last week let
stand the decision handed down in June by the US District Court of Appeals in
Washington, DC. The hospital's obstinate pursuit of an issue that's almost 6
years old is particularly baffling given subsequent events. Since then, the
hospital has endured a bitter labor dispute with nurses that included a
wrenching, 103-day strike in 2001. The ordeal cost the hospital so much money
it posted its first operating loss in a decade. But rather than using
precious resources on patient care, Brockton Hospital squandering them on a
legal crusade that offered no benefit to the community that has supported
this institution for more than a century.
Vaccine dodgers grow
Boston Herald, January 23, 2003
Other objections - from the kind of needles being used to the kind of vaccine
- are all issues that will be addressed by CDC guidelines expected in the
next week or so. Docs at Northampton's Cooley Dickinson Hospital became the
state's first vaccine-dodgers, now nurses are joining their embarrassing
ranks. ...
Prompted by the economic downturn and a desire for more meaningful careers,
high school graduates and midcareer professionals are applying to nursing
schools in growing numbers, but the increases still aren't enough to meet the
nation's need for nurse specialists. At the Nursing Programs at Simmons
College, enrollment of nursing students 23 and older doubled this school
year, rising from 45 to 90. At the William F. Connell School of Nursing at
Boston College, 200 applications poured into the admissions department for a
master's entry program, up from 100 last year. At the College of Nursing and
Health Sciences at the University of Massachusetts, Boston, nursing
enrollments in the entry-level baccalaureate program increased to 121 in the
fall of 2002, up from 107 the year before. The nursing program received 565
applications last year compared to 408 in 2001. ...
g_in_Bay_StateP.shtml>
Liz Kowalczyk, Boston Globe, January 29, 2003
As the economy suffers through layoffs and wage freezes, hospitals and
doctors are hiring thousands of new employees and offering unprecedented
referral bonuses and raises to key staff, including $100,000 annual salaries
to experienced nurses at one Boston hospital. Over the past two years,
Massachusetts hospitals, physicians, clinics, nursing homes, and health
insurance companies have added 10,000 jobs - the only part of the state's
economy aside from higher education that is growing - while the overall
Massachusetts economy lost 84,000 jobs. Nationally, ''health care is the key
engine to current job growth,'' said Mark Zandi, chief economist at
Economy.com. ''It is the only part of the economy that is adding large
amounts of jobs, particularly in hard-pressed regions like Boston.'' Hospital
executives say they are hiring workers to keep up with demand from patients
for more appointments and new tests and surgeries, after health insurance
companies loosened restrictions on referrals during the past couple of years.
''I attribute a significant part of this to a retreat from strict models of
managed care,'' said Paul Ginsburg, president of the Center for Studying
Health System Change, a nonpartisan research organization in Washington, DC.
In fact, hospitals prepared for managed care - the movement to control health
care costs - in the early and mid-1990s by laying off staff and merging to
reduce expenses. Boston Medical Center, the union of two hospitals in the
South End, cut its work force from 4,000 to 3,200 soon after its merger in
1996. But as the number of patients seeking care at the hospital has soared,
BMC has rapidly increased its staff to 5,000 - a 56 percent expansion. ...
Mass Nurses Association Blasts Governor's Health Care Cuts
Calls Cuts Shortsighted, Misguided and Devastating to Children and Seniors
<http://www.massnurses.org>
Massachusetts Nurses Association, January 31, 2003
Canton - After reviewing health care cuts announced by Governor Mitt Romney
this week, the Massachusetts Nurses Association (MNA), the state's largest
health care association representing the state's registered nurses, calls the
cuts shortsighted, misguided and devastating to children, seniors and other
vulnerable populations. Not only are these cuts harmful in their impact on
the citizens of the Commonwealth, they are economically wasteful, ultimately
resulting in patients receiving more costly care in already overcrowded
emergency rooms. While the Governor has called for an equal sharing of the
burden of cuts to the budget, his approach to the health care sector shows a
lack of understanding of the unequal burden borne by health care and human
service providers for many years. "The Governor has just broken his promise
to not cut core services," said Julie Pinkham, MNA Executive Directors.
"Health care is not only a core service, it is a safety net, a matter of life
and death for vulnerable children, senior citizens, mentally ill and mentally
retarded citizens. The government has taken an axe to those programs focusing
on prevention of illness and basic care to these populations, which will only
result in these people suffering more serious complications requiring more
costly care." ...
eP.shtml>
Stephen Smith, Boston Globe, February 5, 2003
As doctors in other states roll up their sleeves for smallpox inoculations,
three influential Boston hospitals remain deeply cautious about President
Bush's vaccination campaign and have not yet committed to inoculating their
staffs. Massachusetts General Hospital, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center,
and Children's Hospital have yet to decide whether their doctors, nurses, and
other staff will be given smallpox shots, said Dr. Alfred DeMaria, director
of communicable disease control for the state Department of Public Health.
The state placed its order for 12,000 doses of vaccine earlier this week with
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and expects to receive the
shipment within a few days. Vaccinations could begin as early as this month,
and state plans call for 10,000 doctors, nurses, and other health workers to
be vaccinated. But hospital officials and doctors remain worried about the
possible consequences of administering a powerful vaccine with a history of
side effects. If workers fall ill from the vaccine, will they continue to be
paid while they recover? If a doctor or nurse inadvertently infects an
unvaccinated person, who will be financially liable? And just how safe is the
vaccine? ''Yes, absolutely they're waiting for answers to these questions,''
DeMaria said of the three Boston hospitals. ... The US Senate held hearings
on the smallpox campaign last week, and both federal and state authorities
are considering ways to cover liability, but no decisions have yet been made.
For now, the hospital with the city's busiest emergency room, Boston Medical
Center, has signed on to the vaccination program. So have two other major
teaching hospitals, Tufts-New England Medical Center and Brigham and Women's
Hospital. ...
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Jonathan Saltzman, Boston Globe, February 6, 2003
To Lynne Kall, the $343 million in budget cuts announced by the governor last
week are no abstraction. She said they imperil her daughter, Stephanie, a
cheerful, gap-toothed 5-year-old with a life-threatening allergy to dairy
products. As a result of what the Romney administration said was a $5.8
million reduction in grants from the state Department of Public Health, about
300 school nurses across the state were laid off Friday, including the only
nurse at Hudson's Hubert Kindergarten Center, which Stephanie attends. If
Stephanie has an allergic reaction, her mother said, she needs an injection
of epinephrine, an antihistamine, within five minutes. But now it will
probably be up to her teachers to administer it - a fact that caused Kall to
lose sleep over the weekend. ''I'm almost in panic mode,'' she said after
dropping her daughter off at school for the afternoon session on Monday.
Although Kall praised the instructors at Hubert, she said, ''teachers don't
become teachers because they love nursing.'' ...
s_hit_homeP.shtml>
Brenda J. Buote, Boston Globe, February 9, 2003
The symptoms were mild at first - a slight cough and a runny nose. But then
11-year-old Danny Khun began to complain of a severe sore throat. He was sent
to the nurse practitioner at his Lynn elementary school and was diagnosed
with strep. Soon after, his younger brother, Dustin Ek, was also diagnosed
with the bacterial infection. ''The nurse, she is so good,'' said Danny's
mother, Vathana Ek. ''She's always there for me and my boys. When my kids get
sick, she sees them right away. And if they need medicine, she calls in a
prescription to Walgreens. I can pick it up on my way home from work. It's
very convenient. I don't have to miss work, and my kids don't miss too much
school.'' But all of that will change this Friday, when the health center at
Ingalls Elementary School closes its doors. The center, which acts as a
primary care facility for some of the city's poorest children, is among the
many casualties of Governor Mitt Romney's recent round of budget cuts. ...
Pembroke Hospital Nurses Hold Candlelight Vigil on Feb. 20 at 5:30 pm
Seek Public Support to Convince Management to Release Impounded
Ballots from Union Election Held 7 Months Ago on June 13, 2002
<http://www.massnurses.org>
Massachusetts Nurses Association, February 10, 2003
Pembroke - The registered nurses of Pembroke Hospital, who have been waiting
seven months to learn the outcome of their vote for a union election held
last June, will hold a candlelight vigil to protest the hospital's anti-union
delaying tactics on Thursday, Feb. 20, 2003 outside the entrance to the
facility, located at 199 Oak Street in Pembroke. While the nurses had cast
their votes at a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) election held at the
facility on June 13, 2002, the ballots were impounded after the hospital
filed an appeal with the NLRB questioning the nurses right to organize a
union. "We have been waiting for the results of our union vote for more than
seven months, and we are holding this vigil to raise public awareness of our
plight and to ask the public and supporters of our cause to contact the
hospital administration and tell them to stop their legal appeal and let the
votes be counted," said Helen Gillam, RN, a nurse at the facility and a
member of the union organizing committee. In addition to holding the vigil,
the nurses will begin a campaign of leafleting within the community to seek
public support for their cause. "All we want is a voice in the decisions
that impact our ability to provide the best care possible to our patients.
The hospital has ignored us for years and patients have suffered because of
it." Pembroke Hospital is owned by Universal Health Systems, the nation s
third largest for-profit hospital management company, which owns more than 80
facilities in 22 states. Since purchasing Pembroke in 2001, the company has
cut staff and degraded services, causing the state Department of Mental
Health to investigate the Pembroke facility later that year. The
deteriorating conditions drove many employees to leave the facility, and,
ultimately, convinced the nurses to organize a union as a means of protecting
themselves and their patients. In response, Universal Health Systems has
hired one of the most expensive union busting firms in the country, paying
hundreds of thousands of dollars that could go to desperately needed
improvements in nurse staffing and patient care simply to deprive the nurses
of their right to form a union. The staffing levels and working conditions at
Pembroke Hospital, a psychiatric facility serving the South Shore, are among
the worst in the state, with nurses regularly assigned between 12 and 25
patients. A safe assignment for a psychiatric nurse is no more than six
patients. ...
html>
Alice Dembner, Boston Globe, February 11, 2003
State budget cuts imposed by the Romney administration may force as many as
25 nursing homes to close and lead to the layoff of 3,400 nurses and nurse's
aides statewide, nursing home officials said yesterday after spending 10 days
analyzing the impact. The nearly $40 million in cuts will hit particularly
hard because of the shaky state of the industry, they said, and because the
cuts sidetrack a ''user fee'' plan that was projected to bring struggling
homes $130 million more this year from the federal government. Dozens of
nursing homes have closed in the last few years and many of the remaining 500
in Massachusetts are near bankruptcy because state Medicaid payments are as
much as $20 per day below costs. Statewide, about 20 percent of licensed
nursing positions are already vacant. The projected cuts represent 11 percent
of the direct care staff. ...
As U. Mass/Memorial Medical Center Nurses' Contract Talks Stall, RNs Express
Outrage at Refusal of John O'Brien to Meet With Them To Hear Concerns About
Staffing, Lack of Appropriate Patient Care Supplies and the Need for a Salary
Commensurate With Their Skills and Experience
According to Recent JAMA Study, University Campus Staffing Ratios Place Some
Patients at 31 - 49% Greater Risk of Death
Nurses Regularly Report Having a Lack of Supplies Needed to Provide Safe
Patient Care
<http://www.massnurses.org>
Massachusetts Nurses Association, February 11, 2003
Worcester - After more than 10 months of negotiations with hospital
management over their union contract, the registered nurses of U.
Mass/Memorial - University Campus have decided to go public with their
concerns about the status of contract talks, which involve a number of issues
that impact the safety and quality of patient care at the city's major
tertiary care facility. While the nurses have been requesting an opportunity
to discuss their concerns privately with CEO John O'Brien, he has refused to
come to the negotiating table, allowing his negotiating teams to block
proposals the nurses believe are central to the delivery of quality patient
care. The key issues stalling a settlement include the hospital's refusal to
accept language creating a union-management staffing tribunal to develop
safer staffing levels, the hospital's refusal to accept language committing
them to provide necessary supplies for the delivery of appropriate nursing
care, and the hospital's refusal to pay nurses a salary that reflects the
complex nature of nursing care required at the University Campus, the most
sophisticated and demanding health care environment for nurses in all of
Central Mass. The hospital is also insisting upon authority to select RNs who
may remain after lay-off. Given the current nursing shortage, it is
unbelievable that these negotiations even involve such discussions. More than
700 registered nurses are represented by the Massachusetts Nurses Association
on the University Campus. The nurses' contract expired on April 1, 2002 and
talks began on April 16. To date, 26 negotiating sessions have been held,
with the last five sessions facilitated by a federal mediator. Earlier in the
negotiating process, CEO John O'Brien inserted himself into the negotiations
by explaining his position that he seeks a standard wage scale across all
UMass/Memorial campuses. This means that RNs at the University Campus are
being offered a lower wage increase in the first year than RNs in the rest of
the system. Despite that fact that the RNs respectfully listened to Mr.
O'Brien's proposal, he refuses to respectfully listen to the RNs response to
his position. ...
Springfield - Ten school nurses slated to lose their jobs today are suing the
city of Springfield over the layoffs. The registered nurses and their union,
the United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 1459, say the city is
illegally having licensed practical nurses perform the duties of registered
nurses. State laws require at least one registered nurse to be assigned to
each school, the nurses said in their lawsuit filed Wednesday in Hampden
Superior Court. City school officials said the salaries of the nurses were
funded by a state public health grant that was eliminated in Governor Mitt
Romney's recent round of budget cuts.
Message from MNA member & nurse activist: At yesterday's AHT (Alliance for
Healthy Tomorrows - SE) BOD meeting I was approached at different times by
various members to discuss MNA's position on smallpox. One BOD member from
the BU School of Public Health informed me that the school is holding role
playing sessions with their students on MNA's impact on the system. If I'm
remembering correctly, the room was split into three groups, one representing
DPH, the other the Administration, the third, nurses. The AHT BOD member was
in the nursing group and they gave their organization the following name:
NOPE, Nurses Organized to Protect Everyone! ... The community has been
strengthened by your smallpox position. Congratulations! Best, Marie (Marie
Mannion, RN, is past chair of MNA's Congress on Health & Safety - SE)
Fredericton - The New Brunswick's nurses union says it's being snubbed by the
premier's office because it wasn't invited to a health forum scheduled for
this weekend in Fredericton. Bernard Lord will meet with about 70 different
health groups. Lord says he wants to consult the people who provide health
care before he heads to Ottawa for a first ministers' meeting on the subject.
"It's just a good way for me to have an open dialogue with the front-line
providers of health care." New Brunswick Nurses Union president Debbie McGraw
can't understand why her organization didn't make the invite list. "It is
rather disappointing, considering that we represent a significant number of
hands-on caregivers, considering the significance of the Romanow commission
report and its effect on health care." The union is asking for an invitation,
but there's no word yet on whether it will be asked to come.
Acts of violence, threats to safety, exposure to abusive language and
aggressive behaviour from staff and patients were the main stresses suffered
by nurses, a report has found. Based on a study of almost 100 nurses from a
Sydney hospital, the Macquarie University study found violence and abuse from
co-workers and patients accounted for 26 per cent of nurses' stress,
inadequate resources made up 20 per cent, while patient care caused 11 per
cent. ... The study found several abusive and violent incidents related to
doctors and surgeons. One nurse reported being kicked by a surgeon, and
witnessing a surgeon slap a colleague's hand. Resource shortages were also a
big cause of stress, with one respondent describing finishing her shift with
"the feeling of fighting a losing battle which never seems to end". Another
said of her workload: "I felt I needed a bed myself." Judith Kiejda,
assistant general secretary of the NSW Nurses Association, said the study
reflected the experiences of nurses around the state. ...
Toronto - The Ontario Nurses' Association (ONA) Board of Directors has
reissued a censure of the University Health Network (UHN) at the request of
Local 97 nurses and allied health professionals. Censuring is ONA's public
sanction of a health agency due to the negative impact on staff of poor
labour relations and administrative practices, which in turn impacts on
patient care. It is a nation-wide public reproach of an employer ONA believes
has dealt unfairly or inappropriately with employees, and has failed to
redress concerns about patient safety and quality care. When an agency is
censured, information is disseminated across Canada to the public, other
nurses' unions, and community colleges and universities with nursing
programs, to alert prospective nurses and allied health professionals about
the employer's activities. ONA urges them to refuse employment at the
censured agency until matters are resolved. ...
Dora Nginza hospital matron Florence Peter has had to mop the floors of the
hospital mortuary due to staff shortages. Health MEC Bevan Goqwana was told
this at an urgent meeting at the hospital yesterday. Former Eastern Cape
premier Raymond Mhlaba and senior DA member Eddie Trent were among 50
community representatives at the meeting. The hospital has been in the
spotlight recently following complaints from patients about poor service.
Matron Peter told the meeting that problems in the hospital were caused by
staff shortages, including a shortage of 441 nurses. "We have stretched
ourselves too far. Enough is enough." ...
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