pickledpepperRN

Why won't they have a vote? Why didn't the union insist on it?

As an RN not a CRNA I would not use it unless a competent person were right there to intubate the patient if necessary. Not the ER doc doing the procedure. Our committee prevented having our ER nurses do it by uniting for a policy that for non intubated patients an anesthesiologist or certified registered nurse anesthetist must be present when propofol (Diprovan) is administered. ONLY patients already intubated or trached and using mechanical ventilation in a critical care unit may be given propofol without an anesthesia provider at the bedside. We do use it for cardioversions sometimes but always with anesthesia administering the med and intubation equipment at the bedside too.

Many agency nurses are excellent. But I know a few who have burned bridges for various reasons and cannot get a staff position in the area.

Obviously there are significant progressive elements within SEIU. Many of them are working to oppose Andy Stern and the guys from D.C. in their drive to centralize power. You can read more from SEIU members here: http://www.ReformSEIU.org. http://www.reformseiu.org/search/label/about I have never heard of an employer filing for a union election. A little more information: Ohio RNs for democracy: “Ohio nurses want to be part of a professional nurses organization, not SEIU. Ohio nurses and patients desperately need safe staffing ratios in each of our hospitals, something that would never happen with SEIU.” Terry Gallagher, RN EMH Regional Medical Center, Elyria, Ohio NNOC Ohio member http://www.calnurses.org/nnoc/ohio/rns-for-democracy/ http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/rns-denounce-sham-election-in-nine-ohio-hospitals-hospital-chain,308966.shtml http://www.seiu.org/media/health_partnership.cfm

At my hospital my friend called CNA. WE met with each other for many many months before we filed with about 70% of the nurses signing cards. WE work very well with our colleagues who are not RNs. WE helped them get another union so they have protection too. And we were first so they got the same improved benefits we negotiated. I have NEVER heard of management filing for a union election! HOW did that happen?

Vote on unionization of Catholic Healthcare nurses called off Published on Wednesday Mar 12, 2008 A national nursing union said Wednesday that a canceled unionization vote by employees at nine hospitals in Ohio would have been a sham election and would not have given employees a fair choice in deciding on organization. Representatives of National Nurses Organizing Committee/California Nurses Association said they hadn't asked for the vote to be canceled but had urged nurses to vote 'no' on representation by the Service Employees International Union. The vote that had been scheduled for Friday was to determine whether the SEIU would represent nurses and other workers at hospitals in Cincinnati, Lima and Springfield. "It was a back-room deal between Catholic Healthcare and their hand-picked union, SEIU," Jill Furillo, a spokesman for the California-based union, said at a news conference outside Mercy Hospital Mt. Airy. The nurses union said Catholic Healthcare Partners, the Cincinnati-based parent company for the nine hospitals, had called for the election with SEIU as the only union choice on the ballot. There was no back-room deal, said officials with SEIU and Catholic Healthcare Partners and its Mercy Health Partners subsidiary that operates Mercy Hospital Mt. Airy and four other Cincinnati-area hospitals. They called the nurses union's actions underhanded, saying the group's activities opposing the vote disrupted a chance for nurses and other hospital workers to make their own choice about unionization.... http://www.ohio.com/news/ap?articleID=435526&c=y

Hospitals trust you, the registered nurse, with their patients, but not a choice of unions? Just like they trust you to care for the sickest people in town but will not respect you enough to determine how many patients you can safely care for? http://www.calnurses.org/nnoc/ohio/assets/pdf/ohio_cna_qanda_seiu_031208.pdf Ohio RNs put Patients First: http://www.calnurses.org/nnoc/ohio/

The Service Employees International Union is known for "partnering" with major corporations--whether that's Wal-Mart on healthcare reform, nursing home companies on blocking nursing home reform, or their own employers, including HMOs and hospital chains. When they partner with their employers, they agree to work together for the good of the company, which puts the needs of members second to the needs of the employers, and ends their ability to advocate for social justice and truly progressive reforms, including single-payer healthcare. This is a danger to the entire labor movement, and the main reason SEIU bolted from the AFL-CIO a few years ago. But this extraordinary story--which included having the hospital chain actually file the papers for the union--is a new step for SEIU, and fortunately one that has been stopped. One journalist reports she was told, "It's like the workers will have two bosses, and they pay dues to one of them." http://www.mydd.com/story/2008/3/12/154714/773

Vote on unionization of Catholic Healthcare nurses called off http://www.daytondailynews.com/n/content/gen/ap/OH_Nurses_Union.html

While every patient must be assigned to a registered nurse our colleagues who are LVN/LPN or non nurses provide invaluable help in caring for our patients. I work in critical care on the night shift. From 7:00 pm until 11:00 pm we have a secretary. From ii:00 pm to 7:30 am we have one or more nursing assistants depending on the needsof our patients. Physically heavy patients often need four to five people to get uo or even to be repositioned. Then we may use up to three CNAs. Our CNAs can use the computer to input orders and access results for us. We staff at 2 or fewer patients per RN. When I float to telemetry/step-down it is common for an RN to be assigned to four patients. If the patients are stable we are only assigned to three. But if the patient is trached and/or on a vent but stable we may assign two RNs three or four patients each with an LVN to assist both RNs. This is a big help when they need frequent suctioning, dressing changes, accuchecks, and such. Stable telemetry patients will generally be staffed at 1:4 with a CNA working with 2 RNs so he or she has 8 patients. There is a monitor tech to report any abnormal rhythms or alarms to the RN. On both units the charge nurse only takes a patient assignment when providing meal and break relief or to transport a patient. I we didn't work with other caregivers we would need many more RNs to provide the effective and compassionate care we do our very best to provide.

SEIU Vote at Mercy Hospitals Cancelled March 11, 2008 The uncontested union elections scheduled to be held on March 12-14 by the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) for 4200 workers at five hospitals operated by Catholic Healthcare Partners in Ohio have been cancelled. The vote has not been rescheduled.... http://www.ohnurses.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=News&TEMPLATE=/CM/ContentDisplay.cfm&CONTENTID=2383

Are we still building hospitals and providing supplies for Iraq? http://www.usabuildingiraq.com/

Ohio RNs are being denied a choice for union representation Nine hospitals operated by Catholic Healthcare Partners in Ohio are delivering their registered nurses to the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) by holding uncontested union elections on March 12-14. These RNs did not ask to be represented by SEIU. They did not even know an election was being held until two weeks ago when they received a letter signed by both hospital management and the union. The nurses are not being given the opportunity to choose a professional nurses’ union, such as the Ohio Nurses Association, which would truly represent their interests. Less than 2% of SEIU members are RNs…. http://www.nysna.org/union/main.htm

(please read entire quote posted previously) there are too many inaccurate statements here. i don't want to even try to counter each one. i won't even try to know why the seiu does whet it does. i will not claim i know what happened when i was not there. i can state that i heard many cook county nurses tell of how they called the cna because they were not being represented by their union. hos they couldn't even meet with a union employee. and they had been paying dues for 40 years. maybe others had different experiences, i don't know. i do know that unknown people were trying to get us to sign a decertification petition at my hospital. we asked them to leave because we run our union. i do not think it was someone from another union. here is the nnoc page. http://www.calnurses.org/nnoc/ it is unfortunate that we have conflict with our employers. nursing is difficult in the best of circumstances. unfortunately partnering with managment just does not work in these times because there is a basic conflict. as nurses we advocate for the best interest and wishes of our patients. management advocates for the organization and the budget. i have never been on strike. most of our cna contracts are settled without a strike. we the nurses elect our officers and our board of directors. we speak for our patients and our practice. we are the union. who are the nurses speaking for their election in ohio? i can't even imagine voting for something so important without the opportunity to ask questions, to discuss it with my colleagues, to find out what i was voting for or against. what kind og election is it with no campaign? i think management chose that union because they want to prevent a union controlled by the nurses from being voted in later. what did the management of seiu promise the hospitals to get them to give in? frightening. why would a union want an election before the workers had the opportunity to learn and decide. it could only be ineffective without the unity of the nurses. that takes education and planning. is the contract already prepared too? that is what happened at my former hospital when seiu "won" with most nurses not voting. these are just some of my thoughts. i am not all knowing. in face right now i am tired, forgetful, and grouchy.

I am very sorry. That was rude. I didn't mean it that way but can understand why it seemed so. If you can possibly accept my apology I want you to know I am very sorry. I was asking because your profile states "Nursing Education: Other" I am supporting an informed election. It is untrue that the NNOC wanted nothing to do with the registered nurses of Ohio before this. Maybe you missed my posting a link to the Ohio nurses page: http://www.calnurses.org/nnoc/ohio/ I have met some of these nurses when they came to our events here in California. They have been meeting for several years. Ohio NNOC RNs met with the Board of Nursing and have drafted a safe staffing ratio law that is an improvement over what WE achieved here in California. I have been frustrated by some actions of SEIU leadership, not the working members for many years. In 1995 we worked together to inform people that patient care was not safe. In 1996 the CNA had an initiative on the ballot to improve patient care. It included safe staffing ratios. The SEIU put a "spoiler" proposition on the ballot. It was nearly identical and confused voters. Instead of working together they choose to fight their sister union. It let the industry win. But then the top management of SEIU is more aligned with the CEOs than with the people who do the work. Many fine people are members of SEIU and many fine people are employees. But when a friend cannot criticize her hospital for jeopardizing patients and violating the law her union should support her. The labor/management partnership her union agreed to won't allow that. I want to ask why the SEIU chose to make this deal with the top management and hold an election withe many RNs completely unaware of their plan? I purchased this article to ensure accuracy. It is true. The title is "Yes to 15 By passing the health and human services levy, voters said yes to the needy, no to the liars"