Nurses picket FL hospital over staffing issues

[scecile]

http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2011-08-05/health/os-nurses-picket-central-florida-regi20110805_1_nurses-contract-national-nurses-united-nurses-union

nurses picket sanford hospital over staffing issues

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registered nurse jessica wood protests with other nurses about... (jacob langston, orlando sentinel)

august 05, 2011|by eloísa ruano gonzález, orlando sentinel

sanford-a nurses union is accusing central florida regional hospital of understaffing and jeopardizing patients' health.

more than 50 registered nurses, members of the national nurses united and the national nurses organizing committee-florida, picketed outside the hospital on friday. they held signs reading, "central nurses say safe staffing now," and "patients are our only priority."

nurses complain that hospital officials assign them to short-staffed units, such as cardiology, for which they're not trained.

"one specialty does not translate to another," said carl ginsburg, spokesman for the national nurses united. "a delay in addressing the staffing needs puts the patients in jeopardy.

the hospital would not directly respond to the nurses' claims, but issued a statement: "the hospital has been bargaining in good faith with nnoc-fl since april of this year over a nurses contract. as bargaining moves ahead, we will continue to provide uninterrupted, high-quality healthcare to our patients and the community we serve."

the for-profit hospital is owned by the nashville-based hca. it owns 164 hospitals and 106 freestanding surgery centers in the u.s. and great britain, according to its website.

jessica wood, a registered nurse in the oncology and medical-surgical floors, said she's been asked several times to work in the pulmonary unit. she has filed objections to the assignments, but hospital officials send her anyway.

the written objections protect her from losing her license in case anything goes wrong, she said. however, she still worries.

"i can't afford to lose my license if something [goes] wrong with a patient," said wood, who has worked at the hospital for six years.

more than 140 assignment objections have been filed at the sanford hospital since december, ginsburg said. "this is a lot of filing in eight months," he added.

nurses turned to hospital officials last month and asked to form a task force to look into the staffing problems. the hospital objected to the idea, so nurses decided to picket, ginsburg said.

"we're doing this in regards to our patients' safety. we want them to get the best care," wood said before the rally, where she called for additional nurses and technicians on the floors.

"i've gone through many nights giving up my breaks and working 14 hours to make sure my patients are taken care of," she said.

while nurses argue the hospital has problems, consumers said in the hospital consumer assessment of healthcare providers and systems survey the hospital generally offered good services. the patients' ratings were similar to the state and federal averages.

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[herring_RN, ASN, BSN]

i'm guessing that nurses who don't have acls and cannot treat potentially fatal arrhythmias are floated to a cardiology unit.

"one specialty does not translate to another," said carl ginsburg, spokesman for the national nurses united. "a delay in addressing the staffing needs puts the patients in jeopardy. - http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2011-08-05/health/os-nurses-picket-central-florida-regi20110805_1_nurses-contract-national-nurses-united-nurses-union