Descrimination: A full hot meal or soup and a sandwich

Nurses General Nursing

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Just when I thought our management couldn't get any more pathetic. Well, they have pushed the envelope even further.

At the begining of December the dietary manager decided (without notice) that the meal times during the day were going to change. Staff were not going to be served a full hot meal until after 12:30 pm, after the residents have all eaten their lunch. However, there are two categories of workers that usually have their lunch earlier which is 10:45 am and 11:15 am. They are the Practical Nurses and the Care Aides. For these workers they will only be entitled to have hot soup and a sandwich.

Well this didn't sit too well with these workers. So they decided on their own to change their lunch times in order for them to have the same full hot meal options that the rest of the workers were having in the building. Well the Director of Nursing got wind of this and she was not impressed. She ordered the Practical Nurses and the Care Aides to go back to their previous meal times and any change in staff meal times must go through proper channels and put to a vote with the union.

I have since filed a descrimination grievance and nothing will be looked into until after the first week of January. However, with this particular union's lousy track record of not wanting to hold the employer accountable on anything, I'm not holding my breath. So for over a month the Practical Nurses and the Care Aides will be served the equivalant of a soup kitchen at lunch time, even though their shift starts the same time as other departments (including the R.N.'s) in the building and will be treated as second class health care workers. This has created enourmous amounts of unnecesary tenstion through out the building.

Specializes in acute care and geriatric.
Stanley (et al),

When the Nazis came for the communists,

I remained silent;

I was not a communist.

When they locked up the social democrats,

I remained silent;

I was not a social democrat.

When they came for the trade unionists,

I did not speak out;

I was not a trade unionist.

When they came for the Jews,

I remained silent;

I wasn't a Jew.

When they took the hot meals off the CNA & PN-s in an LTC centre in Canada and gave them soup and sammies,

I wasn't just silent - but I told them they were being petty and they should get real.

I wasn't getting hot meals or even a break.

When they came for me,

there was no one left to speak out.

.. and I still haven't had my lunch break.

[Adapted from Niemöller, 1946]

"First they came..." is a poem attributed to Pastor Martin Niemöller (1892-1984) about the inactivity of German intellectuals following the Nazi rise to power and the purging of their chosen targets, group after group.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_they_came...

I SO MUCH WANTED TO POST THIS AGES AGO BUT DIDN"T_ THANKS SO VERY MUCH FOR DOING IT!!!!!

People wake up- its not about soup and sandwich!!!

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Specializes in LTC, Med/Surg, Peds, ICU, Tele.

Later, that same restaurant:

    "Has anyone ever told you you look exactly like Al Pacino? You know, 'Scent Of A Woman'? Hoo-wah! Hoo-wah!"
    "Very good. Very good."
    "Well, I ..."
    "You know something?"
    "Hmmm?"
    "No soup for you!"
    "What?"
    "Come back one year. Next!"
    --Elaine and the Soup Nazi, in "The Soup Nazi"

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Specializes in LTC & Teaching.

Someone asked if this was a power trip on the part of the DON. The quick answer is, Yes. The reason being is that a co-worker of mine was reading this thread and reminded me of a very important fact.

The facility that I work at is one of three facilities operated by the municipality. Because the municipality runs three facilities, all three facilities are under the same union and the same collective agreement. All of the staff at the other two facilities, including the Practical Nurses and the Aides are allowed to purchase full hot meals starting at 12:30 pm for their first lunch and then at 1:00 pm for their second lunch. Yet the Practical Nurses and the Aides in the facility that I work at are the only ones in all three facilities that are denied the right to purchase a full hot meal . The only difference with the other two facilities is that they both have a start time of 07:30 am, whereas we start at 07:00. The bottom line is that our DON has absolutely no respect at all for the staff. In fact I was speaking with a part time R.N. last evening at work and she stated that she has worked in four different hospitals and other types of facilities and that this facility was the most toxic work environment that she has ever seen and that it was all because of the types of nurse managers that we have.

Someone alse in this thread made a comment about the low quality of institutional food. I would be the first one to agree that some of the meals in health care facilities are not very desirable, including our regional hospital. However, we are very fortunate that the cooks at these three facilities are very good and do put out high quality meals. Part of the reason for this is that there are dietary compliance advisors in this province for LTC facilities who regularily inspect these facilities to ensure that the quality of the meals are up to parr.

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Specializes in Home Care, Primary care NP, QI, Nsg Adm.

I remember way back when starving at 3 AM and settling for the ubiquitous green jello and saltines that was always on the units. Makes soup and a sandwich look pretty good to me.

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... management love it when staff are fighting amongst themselves because it's less energy and/or fighting that's directed towards them. The Director of Nursing in this case has suceeded in creating unnecesary conflict amongst the staff.

So very true. Learned this early in my career. They will even laugh about this in staff meetings.

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It's amazing how long this thread it and the passion it evoked in some of the members here. Fascinating.

Well it is about food. We know what is important.

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Specializes in LTC, Med/Surg, Peds, ICU, Tele.
Well it is about food. We know what is important.

No soup for you!!! ;)

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Specializes in acute care and geriatric.
Someone asked if this was a power trip on the part of the DON. The quick answer is, Yes.

Isn't she worried that her staff will act out or be passive aggressive about not getting care done?

We always felt that a satisfied, well-fed staff is a better staff- a grumpy staff does not bode well to the environment on the units.

If I understand correctly and this is a purchased meal- then it isn't about money- but about power- I cant believe she would risk a disgruntled staff doing something that will hurt the facility. We work so hard to make sure our staff is happy- under the impression that if they are happy-they will provide better care- cause we cant have eyes everywhere!!!

Has the union made headway- If this is about break hours, I hope some compromise can be made.

BTW if the BOSS sees that the DON cant control her staff, you might be getting a new DON.

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Specializes in ICU.
Later, that same restaurant:

    "Has anyone ever told you you look exactly like Al Pacino? You know, 'Scent Of A Woman'? Hoo-wah! Hoo-wah!"
    "Very good. Very good."
    "Well, I ..."
    "You know something?"
    "Hmmm?"
    "No soup for you!"
    "What?"
    "Come back one year. Next!"
    --Elaine and the Soup Nazi, in "The Soup Nazi"

ROFLMAO

:yeah:

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Specializes in mental health; hangover remedies.

It's been nearly two weeks... and I just can't stand it any longer...

Truth66,

Are they getting meals or soup??? What's happening?

I can't sleep.

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Thank you for the feedback thus far. However, I think that there's some clarification that needs to be done.

1) Our collective aggreement states "The parties hereto agree that in every instance the employee shall pay a fair price for any meals obtained which shall in no intance be less than the actual cost of furnishing such meals, and the said cost shall be computed by the Corporation. When employees bring their own meal, they shall use the designated dining area for the consumption of same." In other words all employees are entitled to purchase a meal.

2) Up until the the first week of December, every employee in the building was entitled to purchase a full hot meal of what ever was being served to the residents that particular day. Every employee was treated equally. The only difference was that there was different meal times.

3) After the first week of December the employer singled out two categories of workers and said that they were not allowed to purchase a full hot meal like everyone else.

4) If the employer would have allowed the Practical Nurses and Care Aides to change their break times to eat their lunch after 12:30 pm like everyone else then there would be no arguement. Then everyone would once again still be treated equally and all entitled to purchase a full hot meal.

As it stands now the Practical Nurses and the Care Aides are not treated equally, thus the filing of the grievence.

I guess "full" needs to be defined. Also, if I started work at 06 or 07, I'd be ready for lunch at 1030 or 11, not after 12:30. easiest fix is to make sure all 3 lunch times only get soup and sandwich. Or, lunch times could rotate, that is, one week a worker eats at first meal period, next week at 2nd meal period, next week at 3rd.

Be glad you get a lunch break. So many do not. Yeah, it's not the greatest meal in the world but it is free I think and will keep you going for a few hours. Or just bring your lunch.

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was that really necessary? I don't think she was asking for a spell checker

but spelling is important. In truth, it is pretty annoying to see so many spelling errors. I guess it could have been said more nicely.

Definitely triple

can't think of other words that are so often butchered here. But they are.

Oh, well...:redbeathe

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