U.C.and Calif.Nurses Assn. at impasse

pickledpepperRN · Jun 4, 2006

UC chief raked as new pay deals are revealed

Latest audit shows scores more were made in secret

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/05/18/MNG1IITN8S1.DTL

...Fourteen senior managers receiving incentive payments in violation of UC policy ...

...The audit revealed that one executive who was paid well to move within California was Mitchell Creem, associate vice chancellor and CFO of medical sciences at UCLA. Creem received a $150,000 relocation allowance and 11 weeks of temporary housing -- well beyond the limit of 30 days. The regents were never told....

Incentive for what?

RN4MERCY · Jun 5, 2006

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/05/18/MNG1IITN8S1.DTL

...UC President Robert Dynes admitted to a culture in his office of "trying to get away with as much as possible and disclose as little as possible."

"...143 exceptions to the university's compensation policies had been made to give extra pay or benefits to 113 senior managers. That's on top of the 91 exceptions identified last month ...for a different group of UC executives."

I wonder if any of them lose any sleep at night thinking about how that money could have provided tangible healthcare benefits to patients that died while waiting for liver transplants at UCI? Perhaps the fact that the money could have been used to provide meal and break relief to nurses to prevent the fatigue that's known to cause serious errors and preventable complications including death to patients will keep them awake?

UC Nurses stay awake all night on duty, and many nights while off duty, worrying about the potential errors, potential career ending back injuries and who will take care of them. Providing retiree health benefits and a modest pension so RNs can live with some dignity after spending their lives in service to the public at UC medical centers should be the first consideration of an ethical employer.

Those executives and managers should consider that they're only one illness or injury away from losing their jobs and health insurance, losing their home and facing bankruptcy. Imagine the satisfaction they'll have then, knowing that there's "no money in the budget" to provide "indigent" care because their fellow executives felt justified in spending public money for personal benefit. If that's not incentive enough to go back to the bargaining table and do the right thing by the nurses and patients of our state, shame on them!