Las Vegas Union Hospitals?

St. Rose, Desert, Valley UMC are all union (SEIU) Why are you asking?

The St. Rose administration I hear is very union friendly. I just say that because they were the first hospitals to go union and sign contracts etc from what I hear. But if you want good ICU experience you should look at Sunrise, UMC, or Valley. I have heard from friends that sometimes the acuity at other hospitals is low and they feel like they are taking care of chest pain or nursing home patients all of the time. From what I hear also, CSA is doing alot of open heart at San Martin, so you could go there for good CVICU experience.

St. Rose is friendly with the union in place (SEIU). I would argue they are too friendly. There are a group of nurses who are trying to get the California Nursing Association (CNA) in to at least be part of the bargaining, to see if they can negotiate a contract for nurses that actually enforces those "ratios" that SEIU cannot enforce. (I recently worked with 5 patients on an intermediate care unit with only 1 CNA for the whole floor, and the union doesn't fight that fight-- they're in bed with management.) The hospital has allowed for the union to yell at nurses (yes, they yelled at the nurse I was preceptoring because she wouldn't sign a solidarity agreement as she walked into work one day), patrol the hospital during shifts, distributing information in patient care areas and yelling at staff who did not agree with SEIU's position, and barred CNA from even standing on the hospital grounds.

SEIU is a poison. They've kicked off people who refused to sign a "loyalty" agreement with SEIU because they represented their nursing groups and wanted to hear what CNA has to say. They literally stood up and CHANTED people out . . . saying, "GO GO GO GO GO". They've said that if you don't sign their agreement, you're against the union. I didn't know I lived in a dictatorship until I dealt with this wonderful union "negotiation". And what are they negotiating? Free parking (hurrah, we already have it), better medical costs (hurrah, the poor contract we had in place gave us a window in which to be screwed in the first place), and better float pool pay (hurrah, we already have a well-paid float pool and one of the exec. members of SEIU won't allow us to tighten up the floating plan because it's not good for her department (i.e., she'll float anyone she can with the exception of her own staff).

Not to mention-- why would a nurse want to be represented by a SERVICE INDUSTRY union, rather than a nursing union that understands nursing issues? I just don't get it.

Wow, and I thought our hospital had problems. We have some factions growing within our union, so they are trying to buddy buddy everyone to take sides. They are more concerned with amassing the most support rather than scaring off non-union employees. But I definetly agree and am astounded that nurses can factionalize themselves so readily, its just like a friend of mine says " The whole tension between day shift and night shift is a management ploy to divide and marginalize our union and our strength in numbers." Makes you think...

the seiu sucks it only sounds off when they think the media are listening. i would like to see them gone from health care. Rns are not oppressed individuals we are strong, well educated and well compensated porfessional. we need more influence in this sate from professional orgs like the ana, the ena etc. that how you present a united front not by having some misguided union rep who is usually not familiar with nursing issues tell you when to walk out.where are they when the admin wont pay for ageny rns to cover icu holds in the er

This sounds like the sort of story we hear everywhere that SEIU represents nurses. Now that we (CNA/National Nurses Organizing Committee) are organizing nationally, they have decided we have to be destroyed and are sending hundreds of out-of-state organizers into California to attack us. We aren't too worried, since they won't find so much weakness in our units. But it is a frightening example of what happens when you cross these folks and why they have no business representing nurses.
To learn more, including a video of some Nevada nurses, go to www.calnurses.org

Some thoughts on SEIU and St. Rose:
Worked there recently, don't anymore, but loved the Hospital. It has a lot of good people and yes it has some real head cases too(both Management and Union)



Management has been told to tread softly and be nice with Union leadership. My experience is that SEIU has not asked the same of their leadership as humiliating, berating, and attacking Managers(yes they are human beings too!) has become a common practice. SEIU needs to understand that you do not negotiate by making the other party feel like a loser but rather by achieving win-win agreements.

Is it a good thing to have your Nursing teams further segregated from the rest of the hospital staff? Do you really want an US, THEM, and Management relationship?

The contract is already nurse-centric. It was bargained largely by Nurses, who represented the Lions share of the bargaining team. Over 50% of the pages refer to Nursing specific issues.

CHW now has no money for expansion, new equipment, and their bond rating is in the dumpers. St. Rose planned to expand the Siena campus, upgrade Rose de Lima, and build out San Martin. Those plans have been delayed due to the cash flow problems within CHW. CHW relies on its 45 hospitals to help each other out in order to survive. Some make money, some loose it like a sieve. They stay open anyway because of the communities they serve, and the jobs they provide. In the last economic turndown they closed quite a few hospitals. Lets hope this does not happen in Vegas. It can happen if they lose money long enough!

There are less CNA's per floor, less transporters, less techs, and less support people(including managers) since the last contract was signed. How many will be around if the contract awards an unrealistic pay increase?

Insurers are freezing or cutting their reimbursement rates. It's a fact.

I hear complaints about the Healthplan. You get an HMO for free! and yes you have to pay for the PPO, who doesn't. St. Rose still has to pay the bill! Nothing is free and yes everyone in Healthcare wants to make more and more money each year.

The argument that both the Cal Nurse Assoc and SEIU bring to Hospitals is that they can make healthcare better and help provide more access to healthcare to all. How does that happen when you crippling the very business that provides your job by asking for wage increases that outpace what the Hospitals revenue growth is? I have also never witnessed either organization sponsor a free health check type anything in the Vegas Valley. St. Rose gives a boatload of money back to the community(legally they have to in order to keep their non tax status).

What community service does either Union do for those who cannot afford to pay for Insurance and do not qualify for goverment aid?

I am neither pro or anti union. I am however pro-Patient and a realist.

Good working relationships are like good marriages, they require trust, honesty, frankness, respect, patience, and common purpose. If Nurses and Hospitals want to achieve their individual goals then they had better start working together like adults and work on building a good marriage, Union or Not.

aforgottenshore, that was well said. Professionalism is a must. Heck, how about civility?