This week we were informed that as a Baylor Heath Care System employee, you must submit a personal health screening including: BMI, fasting glucose, BP and cholesterol signed by your physician, as part of a "wellness program."
Ok, fine whatever. BUT if you don't, you will be charged $25 per paycheck!
In addition, Baylor will no long be hiring tobacco users. In addition to your drug screening, you will be screened for nicotine and denied the position if tested positive.
This was on the front page of the Metro section in the Dallas Morning News today, and it has a lot of people up in arms.
We are starting this at my job now. It's to keep the insurance premiums down, except we have to go to the Employee Wellness Clinic to have ours done and ALL of our dependents or insurance will be more.
I think this policy is good. I know if I was a patient, I would want a Nurse or Doctor who was healthy. I honestly sometimes get angry when I see very overweight medical professionals...
As long as EVERYONE in the hospital (including MDs) has to comply with this policy then it seems like a good idea.
Just because a person has high cholesterol or BP does not make them bad at what they do. You could have a great nurse with 20 years of experience and certifications that's overweight, or you can have a brand new, straight from college, new grad nurse with low BP and a perfect BMI. Which do you choose?
"Just because a person has high cholesterol or BP does not make them bad at what they do. You could have a great nurse with 20 years of experience and certifications that's overweight, or you can have a brand new, straight from college, new grad nurse with low BP and a perfect BMI. Which do you choose?"
In my opinion, this whole conversation has gone a little astray.
OP did not say that a Baylor employee would be let go if his/her health scores did not measure up.
OP did not say that a nurse with poor health scores would not be hired. Only that those with a positive screen for tobacco use would not be hired. Tobacco use is strictly a personal choice, not a medical condition.
OP did not say that a nurse with high cholesterol or hyptertension would make them "bad at what they do."
OP simply noted a trend that is really not all that new. My healthcare facility has utilized these premium incentives for years. Score well on your screening? Save money on your premiums. Score poorly? Receive help in the form of counseling and education on your issues, if you choose to participate. Free weight-loss classes. Free asthma medication if you enroll in the respiratory-health education classes. Free classes on alternative ways to control hypertension.
That is far from discrimination. It is an effort by employers to regain control of their healthcare premium dollars in the wake of run-away healthcare costs. Further, it is an opportunity for the employee to help themselves by saving money, losing weight, or adapting to a healthier lifestyle, whatever their needs may be.
So once you submit this profile, what happens? Is your high BG likely to get you fired? Is your high BMI causing higher insurance premiums? Or are they just hoping to shame people into better health?
just because a person has high cholesterol or bp does not make them bad at what they do. you could have a great nurse with 20 years of experience and certifications that's overweight, or you can have a brand new, straight from college, new grad nurse with low bp and a perfect bmi. which do you choose?
as an employee or as a patient,
i want the overweight nurse with 20 years experience and certifications
as my co-worker or the nurse taking care of me.
i am afraid that the employer is not going to see it the same way.
lets face it, the bottom line is money and press ganey.
whatever is going to increase either or both of these,
blondy, i dont know what happens, and that is part of what makes this so concerning.
I dont know how they are going to use this information against me!!
they have already said that they won't fire current tobacco users, BUT they will be charged $25 per paycheck.
my question is whats next?
BMI over 25 = $25 per paycheck??
cholesterol over 200 = $25 per paycheck??
if they are doing it with tobacco, it is perfectly reasonable to think that they will continue to progress. And as for those that think you aren't an effective nurse for having abnormal values of any of the above.....sheesh, thats another thread for another day.....
Contract implies something binding....if I'm wrong, and you can resign at any time without penalty, I've learned something :) But then don't understand the point...
There are basically two different types of contracts that I know of.
One type is between the union and management, and it spells out how many things will work between the two parties. One thing would typically be wages. Union contracts usually allow for annual raises for a set amount, and they kick in automatically each year. Some of the other issues that are detailed in my current union contract are how vacation time and PTO works, steps for corrective action, staffing guidelines, and more. There is nothing binding in this contract that says that I have to keep working for that hospital for a given period of time, and I could have walked away at any time in the past 3 years unencumbered.
The second type, and this is what you may be referring to, is one where a hospital wants you to sign a contract stating that you will work there for 1-2 years once you start, sometimes with a clause that you will owe the hospital a certain amount of money if you don't stay the requisite amount of time. This allows them to recover some of what they spend in training new employees. I have never worked under a contract of this type, but the impression that I have of them is that they tend to come from hospitals that are not union.
The "binding" part of a union contract just means that both parties have agreed ahead of time what is to happen under certain given situations. Sometimes one party, typically management, decides that they aren't going to live by the agreement, so there is a process for the union to go through to try to force management to fulfill their part of the contract, but nothing whatsoever binding on individuals in terms of required length of service.
Thank you GM2RN..... I definitely learned something that has bugged me for ages....I've hated the union image I've had of some joint owning a person and being able to do whatever they want (though agreed to by some arbitrators).
Specializes in Critical Care, ED, Cath lab, CTPAC,Trauma.
I wonder what they plan to do with the information in the long run? If you screen for Nicotene you are out, next will it be BMI because that is under your control too as part of a healthy diet and excersize program. Too many twinkies , high Triglycerides, high LDL and low HDL you get canned. I thought discrimination for employment purposes was against the law.
This is going to have to go to litigtion to get them to stop....the hospitals behavior is appaling...and frightening:eek:
Specializes in Critical Care, ED, Cath lab, CTPAC,Trauma.
blondy, i dont know what happens, and that is part of what makes this so concerning.
I dont know how they are going to use this information against me!!
they have already said that they won't fire current tobacco users, BUT they will be charged $25 per paycheck.
my question is whats next?
BMI over 25 = $25 per paycheck??
cholesterol over 200 = $25 per paycheck??
if they are doing it with tobacco, it is perfectly reasonable to think that they will continue to progress. And as for those that think you aren't an effective nurse for having abnormal values of any of the above.....sheesh, thats another thread for another day.....
Thank you GM2RN..... I definitely learned something that has bugged me for ages....I've hated the union image I've had of some joint owning a person and being able to do whatever they want (though agreed to by some arbitrators).
No problem. Unions do tend to have a bad image sometimes, and for good reason. I worked for General Motors for 21 years before becoming a nurse and some of the cons to having a union have really bugged me too. To my way of thinking though, unions are a necessary evil, and I shudder to think where we'd be if we were without them entirely.
Dazglue, ADN, BSN, MSN, RN
380 Posts
We are starting this at my job now. It's to keep the insurance premiums down, except we have to go to the Employee Wellness Clinic to have ours done and ALL of our dependents or insurance will be more.