National Nurses United

Highlights of the agreements include: • Increased enforcement of staffing grids (matrices) that define staffing for safe patient care, including a requirement that RNs scheduled to work cannot be cancelled if it causes the hospital to be out of compli- ance with their staffing standards. • Pilot program to create break-relief RNs, enabling nurses to safely take real meal-and-rest breaks. • Eight hours of rest for any RN after working a call shift before she can be called back to work to reduce nurse fatigue that can put nurses and patients at risk. • Improved health and safety language to strengthen protection for nurses and patients from workplace violence, the spread of infec- tious diseases, as well as patient handling procedures to reduce the risk of nurse injuries and patient falls and accidents. • Improved union and workplace rights for nurses, including a strengthened griev- ance procedure for disputes, rights to return to work after a leave of absence, and access to union representatives during orientation for new hires. Nurses were particularly excited by the pilot program to hire additional staff to ensure that RNs would be able to take real rest breaks with- out asking colleagues to watch their patients or hovering nearby in case something happens. "This new program assures that we can regular- ly take our meal breaks so we can return to our patients refreshed and ready to focus on provid- ing them with the best care," said Cheryl Rodarmel, an RN in the rehabilitation unit at Research Medical Center in Kansas City, Mo. All the nurses covered by the agreements will be honored for their service with signifi- cant economic improvements that include increases that vary by location, of up to 15 percent over the life of the agreement, with additional increases at some facilities based on years of experience as an RN. In the southern states, where wages are well below the national average for RNs, the in - creases will bring wages closer to that standard, promoting retention of experienced nurses and assisting with recruitment of new nurses for the hospitals. For example, Kansas currently ranks 45th among the 50 states for RN wages, so HCA-affiliated hospitals there are eager to catch up to their counterparts elsewhere. "This paves the way for Menorah to recruit and retain experienced RNs and that's a real win for our patients too," said Carolyn Lusby, an RN in the medical-telemetry-PCU unit at Menorah Medical Center in Overland Park, Kan. For the Texas nurses, a new wage system will provide increased equity and more trans- parency, a major goal for the RNs. "With the new contract we've won creation of a wage scale that acknowledges and rewards nurses' years of experience," said Yadira Cabrera, an emergency department RN at Las Palmas Medical Center in El Paso, Texas. "This will curb turnover and encourage both new and experienced RNs to stay at Las Palmas." Nurses noted that when they can practice nursing safely and are compensated in a way that makes them feel valued, they want to stay in their jobs, thereby reducing turnover. And experienced nurses are better nurses, said RNs. "We've won provisions that will improve recruitment and retention and that really supports our patients receiving the best possible care, so we are very happy with the outcome," said Marissa Lee, an RN with the labor and delivery unit at Osceola Regional Medical Center in Kissimmee, Fla. —Staff report S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 5 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 5 NATIONAL I t's 14 for 14. On a list dominated by hospital, insurance, pharmaceutical, and other healthcare industry corpo- rations, National Nurses United Exec- utive Director RoseAnn DeMoro has again been named in late August as one of the 100 most influential people in American healthcare. DeMoro is one of only four people, and the only woman, to make the honor roll all 14 years since its inception by Modern Healthcare, a prominent national health- care industry publication. Most names on the list are hospital, insurance, pharmaceu- tical, medical device, health information technology, nursing home, specialty care, and other healthcare industry executives. "Once again, we are enormously proud of RoseAnn and the inspiring leadership she provides for nurses, healthcare and progressive activists, and other union members across the United States and globally. This recognition, year in and year out, is also a tribute to the incredible work and achievements of our organization," said NNU Co-President Jean Ross, RN. "With the disproportionate economic and politi- cal influence of an increasingly consolidat- ed healthcare industry, it is especially gratifying to see the name of RoseAnn and NNU on this list." —Staff report NNU executive director ranks among healthcare's most influential

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