Tufts nurses vote 70% to authorize strike

Nurses Union

Published

Just heard on channel five, Boston. Nurses at one of Boston's biggest hospital, have just voted to authorized a one day strike. Over 70% of the nurses who voted have decided that Tufts Medical Center has a patient care problem and they are willing to go on strike to fix it. 1100 nurses could, walk away from bedside. Their union only has one issue, to force the hospital to increase nurse patient ratio and to create mandatory staffing. Something the CEO has vowed will not happen. Nurses say patient care has suffered because there are too few of them to help. One nurse said, " I am done explaining to a patient why, when the call bell rings nobody comes" and "why they are lying in wet sheets". Tufts is calling this gross hyperbole. Tufts has been reducing cost hiring less expensive techs instead of more nurses for certain bedside jobs. Tufts insist they are ranked 6, in hospital safety in the country. Nurses say hospital officials are exaggerating. Nurses want the right staff at the right time to care for what patients need. Nurses say, this is their fight! Tufts is now searching for nurses all over the country to staff the hospital for the one day strike.

Would any of you cross this picket line? Do you think the nurses are doing the right thing and why?

Specializes in Critical care, tele, Medical-Surgical.

st. vincent avoids nurses strike with tentative agreement

[color=#464646]may 4, 2011

[color=#272727]by chelsea conaboy, globe staff

st. vincent hospital in worcester has avoided a promised nurses strike friday by reaching a tentative three-year contract agreement with the massachusetts nurses association.

the same union represents nurses at tufts medical center, where no agreement has been reached and hospital officials are training replacement nurses to prepare for the strike, also scheduled for friday. the boston teaching hospital and its nurses are at loggerheads because the hospital wants nurses to cover six patients at once on certain shifts when necessary, a provision the nurses consider unsafe. a final bargaining session is scheduled for tomorrow.

...after a 6 -hour negotiating session, the registered nurses of the st. vincent hospital have reached a tentative agreement with management tonight, averting a strike that was set to begin on friday may 6.

the three-year pact includes industry-leading, contractually enforceable rn-to-patient ratios that will transform the hospital from being one of the worst staffed hospitals in the state to one of the best....

... while the st. vincent nurses have reached an agreement to avert a strike, the 1,100 nurses of tufts medical center in boston have a strike notice pending for may 6 over the same issue - the need for safer rn staffing to ensure safe patient care....

http://www.boston.com/news/health/blog/2011/05/st_vincent_avoi.html

Specializes in Med surg, LTC, Administration.
I work at this hospital. The whole thing is really scary. I am an NP but I feel for the nurses on the floors. It will actually be an (at least) 5 day strike because they have to pay the hire-ins for 5 days. All nurses that work at Tufts will be "locked-out" for 5 days. We don't get paid. Who knows how long it will last. I have a friend who works at Robert Wood in Jersey and lived through a 3 week strike there.

They are called scabs. I will be there at least one day, and see who actually crosses.

In addition to safe staffing ratios, I propose: every member of administration (CNO, CFO, COO, CEO, UFO...) will don scrubs and running shoes to shadow a nurse for an entire 12.5 hour shift every six months. Breaks will not be guaranteed. One night shift and one holiday are required annually and will be assigned by a vote of the staff. :)

Chin Up, keep us posted, please!

Specializes in Med surg, LTC, Administration.

Strike averted. Approximately 2 am this morning, an agreement was made. More to follow.

Strike averted. Approximately 2 am this morning, an agreement was made. More to follow.

Thanks for the update! I was just on the MNA site and no info is posted yet.

I am happy for the Tufts Nurses, looking forward to more info.

Specializes in Med surg, LTC, Administration.

From what I am hearing, nurses are not too happy with the union. They really did not get anything and will have another vote on May 24 or 26. I forget the exact date. Basically, they will have no more than five patients for the next year and a half, and nights, no more than six. But, this is all word of mouth, I heard nothing official, yet. I do know, the nurses I spoke with are very unhappy. Peace!

Specializes in Critical care, tele, Medical-Surgical.

tufts medical center rns reach tentative agreement averting a strike

pact provides nurses with staffing improvements, limits on patient assignments in key areas, and strict limits on the use of mandatory overtime as a staffing tool...

...the 18-month agreement runs from may 18, 2011 to nov. 19, 2012. the pact includes the following key provisions:

- increased staffing with limits on nurses' patient assignments in a number of areas - the hospital has agreed to limit patient assignments for nurses working on the medical-surgical floors to six patients on the night shift, and to no more than two patients in the intensive care units. the hospital has also agreed to language in the contract that assures they will not move to a six patient assignment for medical-surgical nurses on the day and evening shifts for the life of the agreement. the hospital has also agreed to convert a number of temporary travel nurses positions to core staff, which will further improve care on a number of units and has increased positions in its float pool, which will provide nursing support to overburdened units.

- the addition of charge nurses with limited assignments to a number of the hospital's busiest medical surgical floors on day and evening shifts - these nurses will supplement core staffing on these units, to coordinate the flow of patients in and out of the units, while also providing support to nurses caring for patients with complex needs.

- strict limits on mandatory overtime - the hospital has agreed to significantly limit the use of mandatory overtime as a staffing mechanism, allowing nurses to refuse forced overtime if they are too ill to provide safe patient care. no nurses will be required to work more than 16 hours in a single shift, and cannot be assigned more than 12 hours of mandatory overtime in a calendar quarter. the hospital has also agreed to post full schedules to minimize the need for mandatory overtime.

- protection from inappropriate floating - the pact provides protections for nurses who are asked to float to other units, with guarantees that they will receive appropriate orientation and are competent to practice in those areas.

- wage increase - the pact includes a 2% across-the-board wage increase for all nurses upon ratification. ...

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/tufts-medical-center-rns-reach-tentative-agreement-averting-a-strike-121382189.html

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