Nurseslight

Who is watching the ICU patients that the RRT RN left behind to respond to RRT call? Another ICU nurse who already has 2 or 3 patients? Sometimes it can be hours before a transfer is made. A bad situation for the patients and nurses. The hospital will continue to waste money investing in more unproven and ineffective schemes to avoid addressing the real issue of SAFE RN STAFFING. If they staffed properly to begin with there would be no need for RRT teams.

Starting pay isn't bad but it doesn't go up much from there. RN staffing ratios on the floors are pretty bad and nurses have been fired for speaking out. These are important factors to consider. Keep the faith and always remember your duty is to your patient first, before your employer - that is the law!

call NNOC hotline number 800 540 3603 or email www.calnurses.org/contact-us

hmmm, one must ask, does the hospital ceo have an emloyment contract??? you bet he/she does! hospitals belong to their state hospital associations. look up yours, alabamba hospital association. read "about us" alha is [color=#0000cc]the professional organization that represents hospitals and supports them in their efforts... sounds like a union to me. "what's good for the goose is good for the gander", i say.

Was it a raid? SEIU philosophy - increase union density at all costs even if it means bellying up with the employer. SEIU M.O. - identify a hospital system (lots of employees), crucify them with a corporate campaign, bring them to their knees, then say "lets make a deal". The "system" can't take anymore bad publicity and SEIU offers them a deal with a gag in which SEIU (members) will not speak out negatively about the employer. This is an outrageous conflict with the nurses' professional responsibility of patient advocacy. Furthermore, discouraging (forbidding) healthcare workers from speaking out about unsafe conditions is the biggest threat to patient safety. This is a travesty, SEIU should be ashamed. Was it a raid in Ohio or was it a RESCUE???

another reason to sign petition... the healthcare industry spent more $$$ lobbying our elected officials than any other industry. the ohio hospital association is a mighty powerful force politically. we must show our elected officials that the nnoc ohio hospital patient protection act has the support of direct care nurses. look up your legislators here http://www.legislature.state.oh.us/ call or email your represenative and state senator to let them know you support nnoc ohio patient protection act. currently, in ohio, there is no limit to the number of patients a nurse can be assigned and hospitals have taken full advantage. 1 rn to 3 icu patients has become the "norm" and m/s nurses have been assigned up to 14. remember, when you accept an assignment you are responsible for every patient in your charge including the lpns. if something goes amiss, "busy" is no excuse. you will be held accountable for accepting an unsafe assignment. we have the duty to be patient advocates and we honor that duty, but we must have the right to do what is required of us. this is spelled out in nnoc ohppa. please download petition and get other nurses to sign, ask them to take a copy of the petition to collect signatures as well. http://www.calnurses.org/nnoc/ohio/o...ios_signup.pdf

I WOULD LIKE TO MAKE ONE THING CLEAR, ANA does not represent direct care RNs, never has and never will. They sold us out a long time ago. They are beholden to the hospital industry, always have been. They need to stop claiming they represent >2 million RNs, they represent the nurse executives, administraors, etc. This is why I joined with the CNA/NNOC. A Real national professional organization that truely represents the interest of direct care nurses.

beware of half-measures and phony proposals having[color=#333333] no minimum numerical ratios allows management “supreme flexibility”. [color=#333333]this bill is weak [color=#333333]the offensive practice of averaging the number of patients is not prohibited. (example: the icu ratio is 1:2; when a patient is classified as a 1:1 a second direct care rn can be assigned 3 icu patient because 1+3=4. four patients divided by two rns is two; therefore the hospital is in compliance. [color=#333333]* nurse administrators and other management personnel are included in the ratios. [color=#333333]*nurse administrators and other management personnel are allowed to relieve for breaks. [color=#333333]* there are no definitions of hospital units [color=#333333]* no national uniform standards [color=#333333]* total silence on the direct care rn duty and right to advocate in the exclusive interest of her/his patient and rn use of independent professional judgment without fear of retaliation. [color=#333333]* silent on addressing the nlrb kentucky river decision making direct care rns supervisors. [color=#333333]* silent on the rn professional duty and right to act as patient advocate and that collective advocacy and free speech are protected activities. [color=#333333]* no prohibition on the use of technology that overrides rn judgment. [color=#333333]* no requirement of current demonstrated competency. [color=#333333]hold on to your stethescopes, nnoc will soon introduce a national bill that speaks to direct care nurses and protects patients. coming soon... the united states nursing shortage reform and patient advocacy act

this is a matter of principle, we must stop these company-union partnerships at all levels at all costs. thank you cna/nnoc for shining the light and leading the way!!! any doubt about the seiu partnership deals, read this. uhw to seiu, nursing home chain: stop undermining workers posted : mon, 10 mar 2008 21:10:38 gmt author : seiu united healthcare workers-west category : pressrelease news alerts by email click here ) create your own rss news | home [color=#0000cc] san francisco, march 10 /prnewswire-usnewswire/ -- caregivers are denouncing the kindred nursing home chain's attempts to weaken its employees and their union, united healthcare workers-west, before bargaining for a new contract is scheduled to begin. within the next month, caregivers at 11 kindred homes represented by uhw expect to open negotiations for a contract that includes fair wages, quality benefits, and a voice on the job to improve resident care. kindred, for its part, has long opposed the workers' efforts to win safe staffing and other compliance issues at their nursing homes. in fact, management at kindred has attempted to subvert the workers' right to be in the union of their own choice by denying the workers the right to vote on the job, and stating clearly they would prefer to work directly with seiu international leaders rather than california-based workers. kindred management also has rallied other nursing home operators to prevent uhw members from participating in an internal union vote at their facilities--a practice never before challenged. kindred's philosophical position at the workplace is to limit workers' right to speak out. the company is a leading advocate for a scaled down collective bargaining agreement that restricts workers' rights. these contracts, known as template agreements, are ones that uhw is opposing in contract negotiations with kindred, but seiu is willing to renew in order to get organizing rights at other facilities. a look at kindred's record makes it clear why it would prefer not to deal locally with uhw: -- kindred's citations regarding resident care are above the state average. the company received 12.3 at each facility a year. -- kindred homes are below the state average for direct care hours provided to residents. -- kindred's staff turnover rate in 2006 was nearly 45 percent. that's directly attributable to kindred's inadequate wages and benefits. the 150,000-member seiu united healthcare workers-west is the largest hospital and healthcare union in the western united states and represents every type of healthcare worker, including nurses, professional, technical and service classifications. our mission is to achieve high-quality healthcare for all. contact: kim curtis cell: 510-206-8248 email: [email protected] seiu united healthcare workers-west

This is in response to the first post by Linda Kirby The fact of the matter is, the election was called because SEIU had no support form the rank & file, except maybe the 15 who signed your letter.

"Why would you not seek to join the exsisting orgainizions to support and further nursings voice as one"? We are direct care nurses in Ohio who are joining together because we are tired of the far too moderate approach to this crisis. We have decided to join forces with more like minded nurses who are working on a more aggressive approach, the NNOC. Unsafe staffing is the number one reason nurses are leaving the profession. We need a limit to the number of patients a nurse can be assigned. Our patients need it too. The other organizations just don't seem to get it!

Ohio nurses, be sure to check the nursing activism link https://allnurses.com/forums/f100/ under Ohio Nurses Speak Out for more discussion on this topic.

Not to worry MBA, a lot of nurses are confused as to why ONA would support HB346, but then again... Who do the nursing service and nursing education administrators speak for? They speak on behalf of their employers - the hospitals, the hospital association, Universities, etc, etc. They do not speak for direct care RNs.