National Nurses United

break rooms and other areas of the hospital when other non-work conversations were allowed. Actually, in her heart of hearts, Julie Laslett knew that the hospital's modus operandi was to take advantage of its hardworking, dedicated registered nurses at every turn, whether it was piling on more work for nurses with fewer resources, refusing to pay them overtime and other differentials which are standard in the profession, cutting health and retirement benefits, or depriving them of their lunch breaks! "Nurses are trying to do their best," she said. "We have the best intentions for patient care, and they take advantage of that. If you stay after your shift to take care of patients, you should be paid for that, but they tell you, 'You should be here for the patient, not the pay.'" Unionizing would bring a degree of fairness, voice, and dignity to the nurses at the hospital so that they would not all work at the whim of management. She herself is still upset over a staffing shake- up a few years back when the hospital essentially forced her to leave an endoscopy position that she loved without any negotiation or compromise. "Why would you treat an excellent employee like that?" she wondered. "Why wouldn't you come to me and work it out?" Alex Laslett, who works in the surgical ICU and has been at Johns Hopkins for more than six years, said that, like so many of his coworkers, he wanted to work at Johns Hopkins because of its prestige and reputa- tion. He has organized his life around the hospital, buying a house just one block away. "The institution just uses its name to draw people and hire people who come with the intention of working for a year or two and then moving onto greener pastures," said Laslett. The turnover is so intense, he said, that the nurses are worried it could compromise the safety of patient care when, for example, a shift is staffed with only green nurses unprepared to handle unexpected cases or situations. He remem- bered one night on his old floor, the cardiovascular progressive care unit, he was one of three nurses on duty. He was acting as charge and had two years of experience. The second nurse had been there one year, and the third had just finished orientation, for a combined grand total of 3.5 years of combined experience on the floor that shift. He also quickly learned that nurses are not valued nor listened to at Johns Hopkins, especially when nursing goals conflict with the hospital's financial goals. "The second something costs money, the nurse managers say, 'Oh the budget doesn't allow that,'" he said. Laslett continued to explain how the hospital in recent years cut health insurance benefits and eliminated the pension for new hires. Mother and son are just two of hundreds of nurses determined to win a union at Johns Hopkins to improve patient care and hold man- agement accountable. Julie Laslett said that she wants better for her- self, for 30-year-old Alex, and for future generations of nurses. "People would be a lot happier if they weren't being worked to death, and then they would stay 20, 30 years," she said. "Nurses who do end up staying there fall into jobs like myself. What nurse can work on the floors anymore at my age? Nurses who don't have to work, don't. All the experienced people don't do it. It's not good for the patients." Lucia Hwang is editor of National Nurse. O C T O B E R | N O V E M B E R | D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 8 W W W . N A T I O N A L N U R S E S U N I T E D . O R G N A T I O N A L N U R S E 19 A L E G A C Y hns Hopkins Hospital for themselves and future generations "Nurses are trying to do their best. We have the best intentions for patient care, and they take advantage of that."

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