National Nurses United

NewsBriefs_Sept 11/6/10 1:29 PM Page 7 The nurses used the event to take issue with UMass administration's touting of factory-modeled "lean production" methods as a justification for its cuts and concessionary demands. The nurses answered in the media with a powerful response.  "We're not factory workers," said Colleen Wolfe, an invasive radiology nurse and a member of the UMass Memorial negotiating team. "And our patients are not widgets on an assembly line." "When you have an accident at a factory, you do a recall," added Lisa Cargill, vice chair of the UMass committee. "When you have an accident at a hospital, you have a funeral." In addition to nurses, the event drew broad support from the labor community, including Massachusetts AFL-CIO President, Bobby Haynes, as well as local public officials.  "They can find the money. If they have $90 million in profits, some of it ought to go where it should go – to the people that made those profits, the nurses, and other workers in these facilities," Haynes told the crowd. "We need to get the message out. We need to fight. We need to secure justice and honor and dignity for working people and we're tired of backing up; we're tired of giving in, we need some respect in this community, and we're going to get it from these people. You deserve a good contract!" "The days of profiting off patients' sickness, off of the backs of nurses are over. Hang together and know we have your backs," said Jeff Breslin, RN, an NNU member and president of the Michigan Nurses Association, who spoke at the rally on behalf of NNU. —David Schildmeier  Tufts RNs Protest Floating Plan I MASSACHUSETTS n response to a recently announced plan to implement a policy that would allow nearly all nurses at Tufts Medical Center to float to cover for chronic staffing shortages on other units, the Massachusetts Nurses Association local bargaining unit in early October staged a silent protest in the highly trafficked lobby of the medical center, which was attended by more than 100 nurses dressed in black scrubs, affixed with stickers that read "Reject Forced Floating" and "Safe Staffing Now." The protest occurred just prior to an open forum for hospital staff by the hospital's Chief Nursing Officer Nancy ShendellFalik. As part of the protest, a dozen star-shaped black balloons were delivered to Shendell-Falik at the forum. The card with the balloons read, "Mourning the death of safe patient care at TMC." Nurses were outraged to learn of the plan, introduced to the nurses' MNA negotiating committee, which would essentially allow the hospital to ask any nurse to float to another unit at any time, which not only is in direct violation of the nurses' union contract, but also compromises nurses' ability to provide safe nursing practice. The nurses immediately began to raise concerns Statement of Ownership, Management, and Circulation Publication title: National Nurse. Publication number: USPS 0807-560, ISSN 2153-0386. Filing date: 9-28-2010. Issue frequency: Monthly except for combined issues in January-February and July-August. Number of issues published annually: 10. Annual subscription price: $40. Complete mailing address of known office of publication: 2000 Franklin St., Oakland, Alameda County, California, 94612-2908. Contact person: Lucia Hwang. Telephone: (510) 273-2200. Complete mailing addresses of headquarters or general business office of publisher: Same as above. Publisher: California Nurses Association/National Nurses United, 2000 Franklin St., Oakland, California, 94612. Editor: Lucia Hwang. Managing editor: None. Owner: California Nurses Association/National Nurses United, 2000 Franklin St., Oakland, California, 94612. Known bondholders, mortgagees, and other security holders owning or holding 1 percent or more of total amount: none. Tax status: Has not changed during preceding 12 months. Publication title: National Nurse. Issue date for circulation data below: July-August 2010. Extent and nature of circulation: Registered nurse members of CNA/NNU and subscribers. For the following, the first number represents the average number of copies of each issue during preceding 12 months and the second number represents the number of copies of the single issue published nearest to filing date. Total number of copies (net press run): 124,412; 148,500. Mailed outside-county paid subscriptions stated on PS Form 3541: 117,464; 141,165. Mailed in-county paid subscriptions stated on PS Form 3541: 0; 0. Paid distribution outside the mails including sales through dealers and carriers, street vendors, counter sales, and other paid distribution outside USPS: 0; 0. Paid distribution by other classes of mail through the USPS: 72, 81. Total paid distribution: 117,536; 141,246. Free or nominal rate outside-county copies included on PS Form 3541: 50; 50. Free or nominal rate in-county copies included on PS Form 3541: 0; 0. Free or nominal rate copies mailed at other classes through the USPS: 5; 37. Free or nominal rate distribution outside the mail: 4,800; 4,800. Total free or nominal rate distribution: 4,855; 4,887. Total distribution: 122,391; 146,133. Copies not distributed: 2,021; 2,367. Total: 124,412; 148,500. Percent paid: 94.5%; 96.7%. Information in this statement will be published in the October 2010 issue of this publication. 0 C TO B E R 2 0 1 0 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 about the plan, and a flyer was circulated by the union detailing the nurse's concerns. The union told management that the appropriate place to raise this issue is at upcoming union contract negotiations, where the parties would have the obligation to negotiate the policy, and nurses would have the right to strike if they didn't agree with it. Whatever the hospital's decision on the plan, the MNA will address the issue during its negotiations, along with a host of other concerns related to poor staffing conditions and deplorable working conditions at the hospital. Shendell-Falik's misplaced floating plan is just the latest in a series of decisions the hospital has made that have angered the nursing community, including the decision a year ago to institute a new "model of care" at the hospital, which consisted of increasing nurses' patient assignments on most floors, while failing to provide necessary support staff. Last February, several hundred nurses picketed outside the facility to protest the staffing cuts. What was once one of the better-staffed hospitals in Boston, if not the state, is now one of the worst-staffed hospitals. In fact, over the 12-month period since the staffing cuts were implemented, nurses at the hospital had filed 328 official reports of unsafe staffing conditions that threatened the nurses' ability to deliver quality patient care. The hospital neglected to post its new staffing plan on the hospital association's "Patients First" website, so the public couldn't compare its staffing plan to other hospitals in the area. "We are saddened and appalled at the hospital's total lack of regard for nursing practice and the quality of care our patients receive," said Barbara Tiller, RN, chair of the nurses' bargaining unit. "Since management refuses to listen to us, we are taking all necessary steps to make sure our voice is heard. We feel we have exhausted every means of resolving the unacceptable changes the hospital administration has implemented. We are being forced to take these measures, because our patients and our licenses are on the line." – David Schildmeier N AT I O N A L N U R S E 7

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