National Nurses United

NewsBriefs_Sept 11/6/10 1:29 PM Page 4 NEWS BRIEFS honor [those differentials]," said Jean Keppler, an ER nurse and shop steward who has worked at Washington Hospital Center for 34 years. Keppler said if the hospital does away with differentials, her salary could drop by almost 25 percent. "This is a direct attack on the senior nurses." Second, nurses want to give real input and help make decisions about patient care and safety issues. The acuity of patients at Washington Hospital is very high, report the RNs, but managers don't seem to consider acuity when deciding staffing levels. "When we ask for more staff, they say, 'I can't give you what I don't have. You have to go with what you've got,'" said Marlowe. "But we are the professionals. If we say we need an extra nurse, we need an extra nurse! We are questioned and judged because of the budget." Washington, D.C. RNs Join NNU NATIONAL N early 1,600 registered nurses at Washington Hospital Center, the largest hospital in the nation's capital, have joined National Nurses United after a landslide 1121-66 vote which took place Oct. 3-5. RNs, who had previously been unionized through an independent union, said they sought power in greater numbers by banding with NNU's 150,000 members, particularly as they face difficult contract negotiations and deteriorating working conditions under MedStar Health, the corporation that owns Washington Hospital Center. The facility is a Level One trauma center with a top-level neonatal intensive care unit and attracts patients from regions far outside of northwestern Washington, D.C., including West Virginia and Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Maryland. "We did this for the future of the bedside nurses here," said Lori Marlowe, a cardiac RN, shop steward, and negotiating team member who works in a heart failure unit at Washington Hospital Center. "The hospital is making corporate decisions that have disrespected the nurses and patient care. We 4 N AT I O N A L N U R S E strongly felt that our voices were not being heard." For example, last year nurses learned that flu vaccinations were mandatory for all employees, even though they had previously been voluntary. When we questioned the directive, we were told "this is a MedStar decision," said Marlowe. First on Washington Hospital Center RNs' plates after the vote is negotiating a fair contract. The nurses' previous contract had expired in April and been extended several times, but they have been working without a contract since June 19. Management greatly antagonized the nurses when it unilaterally implemented its last and final offer—a proposal nurses say is unacceptable—just a few days before the vote. The RNs are forming their facility bargaining council and electing their negotiating committee, but report that several issues top their list of bargaining priorities. First is defeating the many takeaways the hospital has proposed. These include inferior healthcare benefit and pension plans, a cap on paid time off when nurses already have a hard time getting approval for vacations, discontinuing paid educational leave, and eliminating many of the pay differential incentives that RNs who work permanent nights or other shifts receive. "To me, it's a big slap in the face to not 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 Marlowe said that RN-to-patient staffing ratios have steadily worsened. Several years ago, nurses on her unit typically cared for four patients, and the resource nurse had no assignments. Then the load increased to five patients on nights. Then gradually on other cardiac-like units some day shift RNs were assigned five patients. At first this happened only on a monthly basis, but then became a weekly occurrence. "Then five became the norm," said Marlowe. "Guess what? Now we see six on the other cardiac-like units and resource can have anywhere from one to five patients." To address these issues, RNs are eager to form a professional practice committee, an elected group of RNs who meet regularly to investigate patient care problems and work on solutions with management. At many facilities, the PPC is a powerful group of leaders who organize the RNs in creative ways to put pressure on administrators to fix patient safety issues. Since the vote, RNs say that coworkers are more enthusiastic about getting involved, whether it's volunteering to be a shop steward or attending the next meeting. "The excitement is kind of infectious," said Keppler. "I'm also excited that we're now part of a union that's not just a union, it's a national movement."—Staff report O C TO B E R 2 0 1 0

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