New York City RNs Hold Strike Vote

seconddegreebsn · Jun 4, 2015

I would really like to see this effect some sort of REAL change, like staffing ratios in California brought here. Maybe I'm being optimistic, but we work in violation of the ratios set by our contract more often than not, and the facility I'm at has been sued over it and lost and still it continues. Watching and waiting to see what happens...I'm with NYSNA on increasing staffing over accepting a pay raise.

DoGoodThenGo · Jun 4, 2015

Well negotiations began on Wednesday and run for three days, so by late Friday or by early next week something will probably "leak" out.

Thus far this looks like it may go down to the wire. NYC hospitals are claiming they are no such thing as "under staffed" and seem adamant not to give nurses something via contract that thus far has remained elusive via the NYS legislature. New York State Nurses Association Threatens To Strike Â« CBS New York

seconddegreebsn · Jun 4, 2015

Yeah, I'm at one of those facilities who are claiming that - we routinely have 8 fresh postoperative patients and outcomes are not so great. A lot of hospital stays that end up transferred to critical care or stay longer than they should. I end up working closer to 14 hours, with the last two of it being unpaid overtime and I rarely get to take my unpaid break. Their solution is to hire more middle management that refuses to help in any hands on patient care.

nynursey_ · Jun 4, 2015

Cannot find evidence to support their understaffing claims?! Pull their CAUTI, CLABI, and fall rates. I bet they're out of this world.

allnurses Guide · Jun 4, 2015

Bronx Nurses Threatened and Removed from Hospital Over Safe Staffing

Bronx, N.Y., May 7, 2015

Registered Nurses at Montefiore Medical Center's Weiler Hospital in the Bronx were threatened with arrest and escorted out of the hospital today after speaking out about staffing shortages.

The nurses, who are members of the New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA), were attending a breakfast to celebrate National Nurses Week in the Weiler Hospital cafeteria when, in the midst of discussions with fellow nurses about staffing conditions in the facility, were told to keep quiet and were escorted out of the hospital.

Seven nurses were removed from the facility...

Bronx Nurses Threatened and Removed from Hospital Over Safe Staffing | Reuters

lindarn · Jun 5, 2015

Why are you working two hours of unpaid overtime? We just had a big thread concerning this same subject.

When you are working off the clock, if you get injured, you are not covered by workman comp. It can be considered a HIPPA violation, since you are only supposed to access patient charts, when you are actually working. If you are not clocked in, you are technically not working.

Stop working off the clock, and call and the Labor Board, and and Employment Lawyer, and have them intervene.

JMHO and my NY $0.02

Lindarn, RN, BSN, CCRN (ret)

Somewhere int the PACNW

seconddegreebsn · Jun 5, 2015

I don't clock out they just refuse to pay me for that time (which is catching up on charting) because I'm supposed to have finished my work in a given time frame, even if that time frame includes being two nurses short and having two RRTs and transfers to critical. Not very realistic...

DoGoodThenGo · Jun 8, 2015

Talks ended Friday with no movement at all. Nurses want mandatory staffing agreements and the affected hospitals have dug in their heels.

Talks between nurses and management break down | Capital New York

Where things go now is anyone's guess. Will say the track record for NYSNA on recent labor issues is a mixed bag. They fought and sued the heck out of NYS, NYC and Long Island College Hospital to prevent that place from closing and largely lost. Then they tried the courts again to get LICH nurses placed on staff of the new urgent care center being run by NYU, again they lost.

In terms of overall labor actions for a known liberal/union town/state recent union strikes did not go very well. Both Verizon and ConEdison workers went out a few years ago and pretty much got nowhere. After being out for a week or so the strikes were ended and IIRC workers pretty much in the end voted to accept the original pre-strike offered contract.

The other fly in the ointment as one sees things is the vastly changed hospital landscape of NYC. The three healthcare systems in talks Montefiore Health System, New York Presbyterian and Mount Sinai hospitals pretty much represent what is left of things in Manhattan and much of the City.

Montefiore pretty much dominates the Bronx and a good part of Westchester.

New York Presbyterian - the Big Daddy of Manhattan/NYC healthcare systems and hospitals and the Ear & Eye Infirmary.

Once you take out the City owned hospitals along with NYU and NS-LIJ (Lenox Hill) the above represent what is left of hospitals in Manhattan, NYC. Beekman Downtown is now wholly part of NYP and the Saint Vincent's/Catholic hospital system is gone.

Looking at things through those glasses it becomes apparent why NYSNA is pushing mandatory staffing via contract and why the affected hospitals aren't budging (for now).

If the nurses can score a victory that would affect a major portion of hospitals in Manhattan/NYC it would send a powerful message to nurses working elsewhere in the City. They can either push for the same at their own facilities or join the *Union* who (hopefully) will deliver.

lindarn · Jun 8, 2015

Nurses need to get in the public's face about this issue. Have a BIG rally in Central Park, invite the Daily News, the NY Times, the TV Stations, CNN, etc.

Hand out balloons to the kids, provide free BP screenings for the public ,etc, The NY: Times, just had an article that was titled, "NY Needs More Nurses". I would contact the staff writer, that wrote that article, and give him/her, an earful concerning what is going on with your contract negotiations, and how and why, staffing is important. Direct them to the articles from the IOM, concerning nurse staffing, and patient mortality and morbidity.

Have fliers to hand out, concerning the relationship between nurse staffing, and poor patient outcomes, etc. Include BIG posters, that quote the mortality due to poor staffing, include the salaries of the CEO, etc, and the cost of their benefits packages, etc.

Remind the public that TEACHERS HAVE A SET AMOUNT OF PUPILS THAT ARE ALLOWED IN EACH CLASSROOM. Why? Because teachers have made it clear, that children don't learn when teachers have too many children in their classrooms. Hospitals have kept that information under wraps for a reason. Schools have their testing results made open to the public. Hospitals keep their mortality and morbidity results under wraps.

A hospital here in Spokane, has a bill board downtown, with a running time for its ER patient wait times. Why isn't there a bill board that informs the public what its nurse patient ratios are??

Remind the public that, NO ONE EVER DIED BECAUSE THEY COULD NOT DO LONG DIVISION, OR DIAGRAM A SENTENCE !! Patients are dying and suffering because nurses have too many patients to be responsible for!

YOUR CHILD SAFER IN A KINDERGARTEN CLASSROOM, THEN THE PEDIATRICS WARD OF A HOSPITAL!!

AS AN EX-NYer, I FULLY SUPPORT YOUR EFFORTS! FEEL FREE TO QUOTE THE ABOVE STATEMENTS TO THE PUBLIC, NEWS AND THE PRESS!!

JMHO and my NY $0.02

Lindarn, RN, BSN, CCRN (ret)

Somewhere in the PACNW

DoGoodThenGo · Jun 8, 2015

Probably one of the better "news" articles outlining facts on the ground as it were; certainly IMHO streets better than what we are seeing from major New York media sources.

https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2015/06/08/nurs-j08.html

RNsRWe, ASN, RN · Jun 10, 2015

Nurses need to get in the public's face about this issue. Have a BIG rally in Central Park, invite the Daily News, the NY Times, the TV Stations, CNN, etc.
Hand out balloons to the kids, provide free BP screenings for the public ,etc, The NY: Times, just had an article that was titled, "NY Needs More Nurses". I would contact the staff writer, that wrote that article, and give him/her, an earful concerning what is going on with your contract negotiations, and how and why, staffing is important. Direct them to the articles from the IOM, concerning nurse staffing, and patient mortality and morbidity.
Have fliers to hand out, concerning the relationship between nurse staffing, and poor patient outcomes, etc. Include BIG posters, that quote the mortality due to poor staffing, include the salaries of the CEO, etc, and the cost of their benefits packages, etc.
Remind the public that TEACHERS HAVE A SET AMOUNT OF PUPILS THAT ARE ALLOWED IN EACH CLASSROOM. Why? Because teachers have made it clear, that children don't learn when teachers have too many children in their classrooms. Hospitals have kept that information under wraps for a reason. Schools have their testing results made open to the public. Hospitals keep their mortality and morbidity results under wraps.
A hospital here in Spokane, has a bill board downtown, with a running time for its ER patient wait times. Why isn't there a bill board that informs the public what its nurse patient ratios are??
Remind the public that, NO ONE EVER DIED BECAUSE THEY COULD NOT DO LONG DIVISION, OR DIAGRAM A SENTENCE !! Patients are dying and suffering because nurses have too many patients to be responsible for!
YOUR CHILD SAFER IN A KINDERGARTEN CLASSROOM, THEN THE PEDIATRICS WARD OF A HOSPITAL!!
AS AN EX-NYer, I FULLY SUPPORT YOUR EFFORTS! FEEL FREE TO QUOTE THE ABOVE STATEMENTS TO THE PUBLIC, NEWS AND THE PRESS!!
JMHO and my NY $0.02
Lindarn, RN, BSN, CCRN (ret)
Somewhere in the PACNW

OMG, get on a PLANE and GET THERE!

Seriously....this is what's needed....maybe it'll take a public fear of being endangered while in hospital care because of unsafe staffing to make the changes necessary.