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Omaha Steve

(99,055 posts)
Wed Sep 24, 2014, 08:23 PM Sep 2014

MASS: Nurses To Inform Public Of Potential Safety Risks As Contract Talks Stall


X post in Labor

Did yo know NH Labor News is run by a DUer? Take a bow Matt Murray.

http://nhlabornews.com/2014/09/mass-nurses-inform-public-potential-safety-risks-contract-talks-stall/

Cooley Dickinson Hospital Nurses Plan Informational Picket

Tuesday, September 30 from 4 – 6 p.m.

As Contract Talks Stall Over Staffing, Overtime and Wages

NORTHAMPTON, MA — The registered nurses of Cooley Dickinson Hospital (CDH), who are negotiating a new contract, have submitted the required 10-day notice to conduct an informational picket outside the Northampton-based hospital on Sept. 30 from 4 – 6 p.m.

According to the nurses, who are represented by the Massachusetts Nurses Association/National Nurses United, after 22 negotiating sessions held over the last 10 months, contract talks have stalled over CDH’s plan to increase the use of unpaid overtime up to an hour after a nurse’s 8, 10, or 12 hour shift; their refusal to provide safe patient assignments for “charge” nurses who are there to respond to patients in emergency situations; and management’s failure to offer a fair wage proposal that recognizes the contributions and value of nurses.

Nurses, who provide 90 percent of the care that patients receive and who give their heart and soul every day to ensure their safety, are appalled that CDH continues to place its desire for profits ahead of its concern for patients and those who care for them,” said Sally Surgen, RN, a long time nurse at CDH and chair of the MNA/NNU Local Bargaining Unit at the hospital.

Overtime is Key Sticking Point

The key issue preventing a settlement is CDH’s demand to eliminate the requirement that the employer pay overtime for up to an hour worked beyond the end of an eight, ten or twelve hour shift. The nurses adamantly oppose this practice because they believe it is a ploy by the hospital to use overtime as an alternative to providing appropriate RN staffing to meet the needs of patients, or to ensure that a nurse is able to take her/his 30 minute lunch break. In fact, a recent survey of nurses found that greater than 90 percent oppose this practice and the vast majority of nurses report that the current use of overtime is directly attributable to the lack of appropriate staff at the hospital.

“Our position on overtime benefits is not a financial issue, it is an issue of patient safety. The fact is, studies show that the use of overtime as a staffing tool is detrimental to patient care, leading to an increase in medical errors and other poor outcomes,” said Sally Surgen, RN, a long time nurse at CDH and chair of the MNA/NNU Local Bargaining Unit at the hospital. “Our overtime pay benefit imposes a penalty on the hospital when they utilize inadequate staffing patterns. With adequate staffing, nurses are able to provide optimum care and ultimately can punch out on time. When staffing is inadequate nurses end up working beyond their shift, which could be construed as mandatory overtime, which now is illegal in Massachusetts.”

FULL story at link.

_______________________________________________

Founded in 1903, the Massachusetts Nurses Association/National Nurses United is the largest professional health care organization and the largest union of registered nurses in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Its 23,000 members advance the nursing profession by fostering high standards of nursing practice, promoting the economic and general welfare of nurses in the workplace, projecting a positive and realistic view of nursing, and by lobbying the Legislature and regulatory agencies on health care issues affecting nurses and the public. The MNA is a founding member of National Nurses United, the largest national nurses’ union in the United States with more than 170,000 members from coast to coast.

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About NH Labor

The New Hampshire Labor News is a group of NH Workers who believe that we need to protect ourselves against the attacks on workers. We are proud union members who are working to preserve the middle class. The NHLN talks mostly about news and politics from NH. We also talk about national issues that effect working men and women here in the Granite State.

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MASS: Nurses To Inform Public Of Potential Safety Risks As Contract Talks Stall (Original Post) Omaha Steve Sep 2014 OP
Interesting. SheilaT Sep 2014 #1
 

SheilaT

(23,156 posts)
1. Interesting.
Wed Sep 24, 2014, 08:55 PM
Sep 2014

The nurses at the one and only hospital here in Santa Fe are struggling to get the hospital administration to agree to adequate staffing levels. The hospital is being arrogant (in my opinion) because three years ago the union knuckled under to the hospital, and things have not gotten better.

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