[suzanne4]

This is issue with Sentosa has actually been going on for months and months, it is not new. They have been investigated by the Philippine Consulate as well as the US government for practices that they have done and treatment of nurses that were working for them.

They do most of their recruiting overseas, and make promises that they do not usually keep. It is well known in NY circles about them.

I know that there is much more to this story then is being posted. Take the time to do a search on the ealier issues that have been addressed by these nurses and see what they were subjected to.

[Sheri257]

Originally Posted by kukukajoo

They are saying because of the mass walkoff it put all the pts at risk for care later as they did so knowing that quitting would make it impossible to get help.

Exactly. This really is a child endangerment case, more than anything else.

[clee1]

Originally Posted by lizz

Even if the employer totally sucks, you still have to do your part to ensure continued nursing care and patient safety ... i.e. giving the facility enough reasonable notice to find replacement workers. But if you're also creating a situation where they can't find replacement workers on such short notice, that obviously has the potential to compromise patient safety even more.

Afterall, none of this is the patients' fault.

Nice try, but I don't buy it. After I report off on my pt, they are no longer my responsibility - legally or morally. As long as they weren't abandoned by on-duty staff, there is no way these "charges" will stick.

No person; let alone a company, owns me or my time.

[lllliv]

depending on the amount of time they had... couldn't managers,other employees, agency, etc.. have covered. how long does it take to get strike nurses??

this must have been a horrid workplace.

[Sheri257]

Originally Posted by suzanne4

Take the time to do a search on the ealier issues that have been addressed by these nurses and see what they were subjected to.

I'm sure it's horrible. But, Suzanne: I don't understand this. Aren't you always warning foreign nurses not to sign these types of contracts with these scumbags? If they sign the contracts anyway, don't these nurses have some responsibility for their actions?

I'm sorry but ... at a certain point, people have to remember that the fight is with management, not the patients. It's not the patients' fault ... and you can't just disregard them, especially if they're helpless, disabled children ... because you want to get out of a bad contract.

[Sheri257]

Originally Posted by clee1

Nice try, but I don't buy it. After I report off on my pt, they are no longer my responsibility - legally or morally. As long as they weren't abandoned by on-duty staff, there is no way these "charges" will stick.

No person; let alone a company, owns me or my time.

Of course. If one individual did this ... there's no argument there. The problem here is that this was a mass organized, multi-facility walkout with no notice.

If this was a union walkout, they'd be required to give ten days notice by law. Why? Because you're creating multiple, simultaneous staff shortages that endanger patients' lives. That's the issue here.

[kukukajoo]

I think what it may boil down to is that the management and ownership was more interested in making $$ and exploting their foreign nurses much more than they were interested in true pt care. I don't think it will be the nurses faults in the end.

Also, this wasn't a union so they were not required by law to give 10 days notice.

What they are trying to say is that there had been an serious ongoing issues and even the foreign consulate had been investigating prior to these nurses quitting their jobs.

It is sad that possibly the pts suffered because of this, but unless there is some compelling evidence, as stated, I would have to side with and feel compassion for the nurses. I just don't think these nurses took this stop wantonly, I think they did all they could before it came to this, and this may have been a very last resort.

Notice in the indictment it does not say they actually suffered because of this, but I can promise you that the facility did- it probably cost them a small fortune and a lot of work to get the proper staff in there.

I am not saying that this was the right thing to do, but it sounds like they became desperate.

Also, I wonder if this was all the filipino nurses working in these facilities? Were any left after this?

[Sheri257]

Originally Posted by lllliv

how long does it take to get strike nurses??

I'm sure it takes awhile. When UC Davis nurses planned a one day strike in California, they had to pay up to $1,000 a day to get replacement nurses. The whole thing cost them $9 million.

[kukukajoo]

Yeah they threw the conspiracy in there but I doubt they can back that claim up, but if it does stick they are screwed. The indictment does not even sound so compelling to me.

I just hope federal prosecutors look into this and the healthcare facilities and the reason why. This is more than a strike, this is about human rights and dignities and I am sure that such a large group would not do this without any regard, which is what they have to prove and then some.

[chris_at_lucas_RN]

Originally Posted by suzanne4

And that is not considered abandonment. Their shift was completed.

If you do not turn your patients over to the oncoming nurse, your "shift" isn't completed. And leaving unattended patients, even in an ambulatory unit, much less the one in Smithtown, is abandonment, no matter what time it is.

I'm surprised to see so many posts in this thread that ignore the reality of the responsibility of our profession. We are not factory workers whose car parts can simply sit on the assembly line until management finds someone else to do the job. Our "car parts" are living beings.

Don't nurse practice acts dictate what we should do when...? No attorney, nor his advice, supercedes the law. I'm pretty sure I saw something about the authority of the nurse practice act when I took my boards.

The bottom line is always safety. These nurses put their patients in harm's way.