National Nurses United

PURESTOCK NewsBriefs_DEC 12/22/10 6:20 PM Page 5 not trained to identify them as such. "Mental health patients need emergency workers to take them to a hospital—not a police station or jail cell," wrote Fitchburg police chief Robert Demoura in a statement. After two stints in the HealthAlliance Hospital Burbank Campus inpatient psychiatric unit in 1998, Fitchburg resident Pat Lozeau returned to the campus for the first time in 12 years to fight against the proposed closure. "Fortunately, I got the help I needed, when I needed, and where I needed it and I'm here before you today," said Lozeau. "However, I don't want to see anyone have to travel miles and miles to get the help they need, when they need it." The closest inpatient psychiatric units are located in Gardner, Clinton, Worcester, and Marlboro. "A patient's recovery depends, in part, on support from family and friends, and the greater the distance from home and neighborhood, the more isolated the patient will be from family and friends," said Rose Meyer of Fitchburg, who spoke on behalf of her son with mental health issues. "When my son was at a unit in Nashua, he almost died, and he's never been the same since. I couldn't be there for him when it happened. I felt guilty about it ever since. But it's hard to get to our loved ones in these far-away locations when we have to work at the same time and put bread on the table. I ask the [DPH officials] to please reconsider closing this. There is a need." Burbank Hospital claims other facilities in the area can absorb this patient population, but nurses working at those hospitals disputed this assertion, saying that their psychiatric units are frequently full and asked every day to admit patients from all over the state. "As someone who has worked in this field for decades, I can tell you it has never been worse," said Karen Coughlin, a psychiatric RN at Taunton State Hospital, one of the state's few remaining public-sector facilities, and MNA vice president. "We can't afford to lose one more bed, not one. The sad fact is there is no safety net for the mentally ill in Massachusetts. Please do not allow this closing." MNA is using this closing as a springboard for an ongoing effort with policymakers and advocates to prevent future closings and as a rallying cry for a campaign to repair the state's mental health care safety net. —David Schildmeier DECEMBER 2010 RNs Seek Presumptive Eligibility for Workers' Comp NATIONAL A s an emergency room nurse in California, Rick Domenico, RN was aware of the risk of contracting diseases like tuberculosis (TB) while caring for patients. Per hospital policy, he tested for TB twice a year, and with each negative test, he was fortunate not to have contracted the illness. But, eventually his luck ran out, and after taking a TB test when applying for a job at a different hospital, he 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 learned he had tested positive. Believing that he contracted TB while at work, he sought help from his employer to file a workers' compensation claim. However, hospital officials denied that the infection was work related, suggesting that, because TB is present in the community, he could have contracted the disease anywhere. With little confidence that he could prove the infection stemmed from his job, Domenico reluctantly opted to forgo workers' compensation benefits and to deal with the effects of the disease all on his own. Domenico's story is not unique among N AT I O N A L N U R S E 5

• Cover