Largest Nurses Strike in US History - Replacement Nurses Arrive - Your opinion

[girlvet]

12,000 nurses in minneapolis are going to vote on whether to strike next wednesday. This would be the largest nurse strike in US history. It looks like we WILL vote to strike. The employer is trying to take back 30 years of gains nurses have made here for safe patient care. They are trying to cut our pension by 30 percent, change our health insurance among other things. We need your support with this. This is going on across the country and nurses have to stand up for each other! If you think this won't come to your hospital, you are wrong. Support your fellow nurses.

For more info go to http://www.mnnurses.org/

[HM2VikingRN, RN]

Leyla,

I have personally seen nurses caring for 6-7 patients in a MN Hospital. (And I did see an important detail slip through the cracks in one case. As the good student I was reported the concern and she took immediate steps but the point is that the problem happened to a good nurse who was being asked to care for too many patients.) This happened while I was on a clinical rotation at North Memorial within the last 3 years.

MN hospitals do provide good care on average but we can't rest on our laurels.

[worldtraveler]

I'm interested in hearing from nurses who've found their union has conquered staffing concerns at their hospital and ameliorated the other issues mentioned in previous posts which affect patient care. I remain puzzled that after over 30 years of unionization, these problems are still front and center.

You may want to read the Info in the below link. The Nurses Union(seiu) at Jackson Memorial Hosp(largest public hospital in Miami, fl.) has not been there that long but has come a long way in a short time in representing the nurses there. Unionization will not solve all the problems, collectively the Nurses themselves need a seachange in attitude in how they see themselves. Historically, that(to stand up in a strong organized voice for change) has been a huge problem in Nursing. Maybe a change even in the Nursing Education curriculm?

http://www.seiu1991.org/1991victories/County_Commission_Unanimously_Approves_Contract__.aspx

[herring_RN, ASN, BSN]

Staffing issues have never been permanently solved. Two examples.

1. Two medical - surgical units at the same hospital with similar average acuity. We have staffing by acuity with 5 patients the maximum allowed by regulation in my state.

On one unit the staff is united. The RN assigned to each patient in collaboration with the charge nurse assesses the needs of each patient. It may be that 3 or 4 is the maximum number of patients for safe effective care due to the needs of each patient.

Or there may be no plan for break relief on a shift.

First the RN or charge nurse notifies the manager or supervisor of the need for an additional nurse. If no nurse is provided ALL the nurses sign a form notifying management that the facility is responsible for any adverse effect on patient care.

If it were to become a pattern the union RN committee would take up the issue.

In reality is is very rare for the nurses to have an unsafe assignment. A break relief nurse is provided nearly every shift.

On the other unit the night nurses complain about day shift. They all blame the ER for sending them new patients. Regardless of acuity every shift each nurse is assigned 5 patients. Some never take a break. Others ask another nurse to cover for them while they eat a quick meal in the lounge. This practice is illegal in my state. But the nurses don't ask for breaks or increased staffing by acuity so they don't get what they and their patients need.

And they shun new nurses who do fill out the forms.

Those nurses transfer to the well staffed unit as soon as possible.

2. On the respiratory/ orthopedic rehab unit management told th nurses that the ratios didn't apply to them when they went into effect six years ago. One RN could have 18 patients. After nursing management refused to meet with them the nurses committee showed the information on the state web site to risk management attorney. They began using the forms each and every shift.

They documented the number of IV medications that were late and PCA pumps. They documented the fact that no RN can perform ongoing assessments for 18 patients of varying acuity.

There was an adverse event on a shift the nurses had already notified the hospital in writing was insufficiently staffed.

They got the mandated 1:5 staffing with 50% LVN. Each RN/LVN team had 10 patients. CNAs were also working on the unit. The LVNs had been their friends and colleagues for decades.

Then management began floating the experienced LVNs to units with high acuity and assigning registry LVNs to rehab. This was unsafe. They had to start filling out forms and meeting to ensure registry nurses were competent and had been oriented to the unit.

Here is the page with the regulations the union worked 12 years to achieve:

Nurse-to-Patient Ratio

Many hospitals bring in new CEO, COO, and VP of Nursing quit often. These new people force the nurses to go through the same struggles repeatedly.

[stm319]

My thoughts and prayers are with you all today.

As a RN at the VA, I support you!

[NickB]

I can't help but ask myself the same question everytime I read about unions.... If they care so much about the workers they represent, and they are doing it for the greater good of the organization, why do they charge money for it. Why can't they just have a board made up of volunteers and lawyers who help the union when needed. And then I always remember..... Because they are no different then the companies that they attack. They are in if for the money just the same as the auto company, the hospital, etc. etc.

[dlatimer]

The way I understand it is that union members vote on issues affecting them. The members could vote out the union. The union would be a collective voice of the members. In my very humble opinion, it is overdue to have a collective voice not just for the nurses, but for the patients. If hospitals are so benevolent, then why do they sell stock to reinvest and are then controlled by the stockholders? Stockholders are so patient oriented. ha

[HM2VikingRN, RN]

unions are small d organizations. Dues are set by members in consultation with members. Members pay dues for professional representation services..(Wage/benefit research, due process, administrative costs.) All of the expenses are open to audit by the members, DOL and the international to protect the interests of members.

I have always done better economically under a union contract.

[eriksoln, BSN, RN]

Funny thing about all the hate directed towards nurses in the comments section. I have a lot of friends who are very critical of the healthcare field (rightfully so) and insist it is too expensive and not effective enough for what money goes into it. Sad part is, as with the people on the comments board, their anger is misdirected at nurses and CNAs rather than the administration.

I've said it since I was a nursing student, and my attitudes since working in the field have been validated time and time again, "The medical field is one of the most poorly managed systems in the entire U.S.".

We pay millions to hospital administration and all of their side-kicks, but the fruits of said cashflow is not there. Hospitals systems tend to be fly by the cuff, whatever it takes to get by today and terribly ineffective. Most places I've worked at have no real direction at all to speak of, most of the labor staff kinda just make up what to do about what as they go along.

If you want to change the healthcare business, take a hint from other industries that are doing it right. Large retailers and other businesses that are able to give a level of service that is respectable AND maximize profits. One thing about retail that is different from medical is.......................administration positions are harder to come by and if you are a high level admin., you better have something to offer that contributes to they business otherwise..........go bag groceries.

Its not so with the medical field. In hospitals, we continue to hand out positions away from pt. care that really have no valid way of contributing anything. So, Monday-Friday daylight shift the hospital is buzzing with lots of coats and nurse by title only types who go here and there trying to accomplish.........something..........anything.............but dont really do much other than annoy the people who do have responsibilities to attend to.

Hospitals also continue to hand out jobs to people.............owed favors. You know the type..............the admin. who it there because his uncle once was in a high position with the hospital tweenty years ago. Our hospital is FLOODED with these types. We are a smallish/mid sized hospital with TEN VP's. TEN. You can hardly justify any more than one, certainly no reason to have more than two...................but we continue to pay the salary and bonuses for TEN. Recently, when the economy crashed, they panicked and hired an outside company to come in and assess the situation and counsel them on how to maximize profits. Ummmm..............isn't that their job, those (I'm sure very busy) TEN VPs?

If people had a better view of issues such as this one, instead of just going to the hospital, seeing care that isn't fit for animals and assuming it is the nurse causing it........we'd have a real chance at making changes that are for the good.

[Chico David, BSN, RN]

I can't help but ask myself the same question everytime I read about unions.... If they care so much about the workers they represent, and they are doing it for the greater good of the organization, why do they charge money for it. Why can't they just have a board made up of volunteers and lawyers who help the union when needed. And then I always remember..... Because they are no different then the companies that they attack. They are in if for the money just the same as the auto company, the hospital, etc. etc.

Sorry, but wrong - unions are completely different. Now not all unions are equal - some are effective and democratic, others are very much less so. But no union is a business, no union makes a profit. The money that comes in goes to finance the work of the union. A union is an association of people who band together for their common benefit. We hire staff to do the day to day work - and it is a lot of work. Our staff work long hours, sometimes under uncomfortable and occasionally even dangerous conditions. Our organizers spend weeks away from home when they are working on a campaign. They get paid decently, but not spectacularly, for that hard work. I've seen a lot of nurses who think being union staff looks like something interesting to do, until they get a good look at the work and figure out that the staff at our union work way harder than we do as nurses. The executive director who has played the key role in building the most potent nursing union in the country makes about one-third the salary of the CEO at the rural hospital where I work. Plus, a great deal of the work of our union is done by volunteers. Members who care enough about what we are trying to accomplish to give our time and energy to help. There are two things your post makes abundantly clear: you, like most Americans, have been exposed to a lifetime of anti-union propaganda, and you know nothing about how unions actually work.

[eriksoln, BSN, RN]

Sorry, but wrong - unions are completely different. Now not all unions are equal - some are effective and democratic, others are very much less so. But no union is a business, no union makes a profit. The money that comes in goes to finance the work of the union. A union is an association of people who band together for their common benefit. We hire staff to do the day to day work - and it is a lot of work. Our staff work long hours, sometimes under uncomfortable and occasionally even dangerous conditions. Our organizers spend weeks away from home when they are working on a campaign. They get paid decently, but not spectacularly, for that hard work. I've seen a lot of nurses who think being union staff looks like something interesting to do, until they get a good look at the work and figure out that the staff at our union work way harder than we do as nurses. The executive director who has played the key role in building the most potent nursing union in the country makes about one-third the salary of the CEO at the rural hospital where I work. Plus, a great deal of the work of our union is done by volunteers. Members who care enough about what we are trying to accomplish to give our time and energy to help. There are two things your post makes abundantly clear: you, like most Americans, have been exposed to a lifetime of anti-union propaganda, and you know nothing about how unions actually work.

I am not anti union, but I must interject here. My brother in law was working at a local company that went on strike (eh, like, 7 or 8 years ago). They got strike pay, updates in the mail about what the company was offering and what the company's responses to the offers from the workers were.

My brother in law was 100% behind the union. He didn't let the scare tactics of the company sway him at all. There were a lot of rumblings amongst more than a few of the workers though that it was time to "bend a little". Many of them really couldn't have worked anywhere else. The majority vote though always reflected a desire to continue the fight for better conditions (more pay for working unscheduled days was a big sticker issue, better dental for people with families another. The company gave the dental but continued to say no to double time for working an off day).

In the end, the company labeled the workers unreasonable and basically started hiring new people. It filled the positions easily with the pay/benefits already on the table and all the strikers were left running back to work trying to save their positions.............without the double time for days off worked AND dental upgrade. My brother in law was replaced. He continues to work 50/hrs a week to bring home $400 less per pay period than he used to (he never worked over 40 at the old job).

That sums up my problem with unions. They are fine as long as you are in agreement with the decisions they are making. But, you get a few too many people who...............don't think clearly............and they start voting for unreasonable things and............I'm forced to cooperate with them. That I don't like.

Kinda the same thing happened recently at our hospital. Nurses are non-union, but dietary/house keeping/maintenance/transports/CNA's are all under one union. They voted themselves a pay raise while the rest of the non-union workers were under salary freezes. Now, I don't know how on Earth it was decided to do this when every single CNA who talked to me about the issue hated that the union was going this direction, insisting on raises. A few were deathly afraid of being let go if the raises were voted for. When the vote was finalized, and the hospital admin. saw the results, they responded in kind and laid off enough workers to make up the difference. Kinda scary thinking I could be laid off because someone else voted themselves a raise. I was so very happy not to be union at that time.

[NickB]

Sorry, but wrong - unions are completely different. Now not all unions are equal - some are effective and democratic, others are very much less so. But no union is a business, no union makes a profit. The money that comes in goes to finance the work of the union. A union is an association of people who band together for their common benefit. We hire staff to do the day to day work - and it is a lot of work. Our staff work long hours, sometimes under uncomfortable and occasionally even dangerous conditions. Our organizers spend weeks away from home when they are working on a campaign. They get paid decently, but not spectacularly, for that hard work. I've seen a lot of nurses who think being union staff looks like something interesting to do, until they get a good look at the work and figure out that the staff at our union work way harder than we do as nurses. The executive director who has played the key role in building the most potent nursing union in the country makes about one-third the salary of the CEO at the rural hospital where I work. Plus, a great deal of the work of our union is done by volunteers. Members who care enough about what we are trying to accomplish to give our time and energy to help. There are two things your post makes abundantly clear: you, like most Americans, have been exposed to a lifetime of anti-union propaganda, and you know nothing about how unions actually work.

You, have obviously been exposed to a lifetime of pro-union idealists who can't perform good enough to not have to worry about poor wages and the loss of their job. Capitalism is great because you control your own destiny. If you don't get paid enough find a different job that pays more. If you can't, better yourself so that you can get a job that pays more money. If unions have so little money, than explain to me how they afford to contribute millions to political campaigns every election cycle. Sorry boss, I'm a bit more wise than you think. I've also never had to worry about poor wages or loss of job because I have always performed. Never joined a union and never will. If I don't like my patient ratios or pay, I'll go somewhere else with my bigboy pants on.

Funny thing is, I'll bet there are hundreds of nurses in our country who would gladly take the jobs of the nurses in MN as we speak. By the way, interesting story in the news today about union pensions ruining the economy of multiple states. Guess that's what happens when you need a Nanny State to handle your retirement for you instead of saving for yourself.

[dlatimer]

Kinda the same thing happened recently at our hospital. Nurses are non-union, but dietary/house keeping/maintenance/transports/CNA's are all under one union. They voted themselves a pay raise while the rest of the non-union workers were under salary freezes. Now, I don't know how on Earth it was decided to do this when every single CNA who talked to me about the issue hated that the union was going this direction, insisting on raises. A few were deathly afraid of being let go if the raises were voted for. When the vote was finalized, and the hospital admin. saw the results, they responded in kind and laid off enough workers to make up the difference. Kinda scary thinking I could be laid off because someone else voted themselves a raise. I was so very happy not to be union at that time.

Each situation will undoubtedly be different, but health care is obviously different than building cars or any other industry. Any industry can realize the value of their product decrease and therefore the need for labor decrease. Health care is in a category by itself. The product is always the same - the health of it's clients/patients. How you achieve that goal is being debated. Health care costs are way too high and measures will be taken to lower it. Do you decrease nurse to patient ratio to lower costs? It seems to me that is why nurses need to speak with one voice. Most nurses I speak with want to practice quality care and go home feeling they have made someone's life better without sacrificing their own. So, I'm open to any and all ideas as to how to achieve this. At this time unionization seems the best route to safe patient care and stable nursing jobs. It is difficult to do the best I can at work and feel good about my quality of care if there is more tasks to be performed than I am physically able to do in the time alloted. It is my hope that any organized group of nurses will be involved and informed and understand the consequences of their actions.

It also seems apparent that our whole corporate culture is really coming back to bite us and some don't realize it. Which is exactly why the usual US corporate culture (win in short term at all costs) doesn't work well with health care.