Grievances and Unit Issues
4 Uris and 9 Uris
NYPNU filed class action grievances on both 4 Uris and 9 Uris on March 15th. Although, it has been very difficult obtaining a grievance date from management, we were finally able to secure the following dates:
- 4 Uris May 19th 830am on unit
- 9 Uris May 21st 830am on unit
4 Uris and 9 Uris contract violations are very similar. RNs on both units are being told that it is acceptable for ALL RNs to be over ratio by one patient, this is absolutely erroneous and we discuss this violation later in this update. Other violations include RNs routinely performing non-nursing functions including: making charts, answering telephones, and other ward clerk and nurse's aides functions. RNs also complained about the shortage of equipment on the unit. We will keep you updated on the outcome of the grievance hearings.
Emergency Room Update
NYPNU recently met with management and agreed to postpone the emergency room arbitration pending implementation of new staffing standards achieved in our latest contract. Thank you to the NYPNU RNs who represented their colleagues at this meeting. We agreed to postpone the arbitration since, during the negotiations, management agreed to hire five additional staff ED RNs. The additional staff will, hopefully, alleviate many of our concerns. The hospital is in the process of filling those vacancies and those RNs will be in place by July 2010. We will reevaluate staffing conditions in the ER at the beginning of Fall 2010.
We have also learned that the implementation of three ER zones, and team rounding at bedside, has had an overall positive effect. RNs have been able take their contractual breaks as a result. In addition, the pharmacy has a dedicated ER printer to expedite ER orders.
RNs expressed the need for additional techs/aides in the ER. Management responded that budgetary constraints prevent them from providing additional techs/aides. NYPNU RNs explained that once a tech is being used for a 1:1 the RNs in that zone no longer have anyone to assist and end up performing many non-nursing functions. We will continue to monitor progress regarding the need for additional support staff. RNs in the ER should continue fax their violation forms to the union office.
Ancillary Staff
Recently, the violation forms submitted to NYPNU have a common theme, "no nurse's aide, nurses aide was pulled, or no ward clerk. We have noted that this is happening throughout institution. It is a contractual right that NYPNU RNs do not perform non-nursing functions on a routine basis. Please continue to forward these violations to the union office, as we track these occurrences to present to management.
Case Managers
The NYPNU Case Managers recently elected a temporary RN Case Manager delegate since their permanent delegate is out on a disability leave. I am pleased to announce that Ms. Theresa Chung won the election and we are happy to have her serve as a temporary delegate.
We will be scheduling a meeting with management to discuss many concerns in the case management department including float pay, float differential, posting of three new pre-Authorization specialist positions, current vacancies and a host of other concerns. We are happy to have Ms. Theresa Chung to assist in resolving case management issues.
7 Lachman
NYPNU held a meeting with management and staff RNs on April 5th to discuss the concerns of the nurses. The RNs on the unit have been overwhelmed with their workload. Management is aware of the problem and assured them that the hiring of additional staff RNs for the unit will alleviate the burden on the existing staff. The RNs were also concerned about the admissions criteria on 7 Lachman as an ICU stepdown unit. They expressed that many of the patients on 7 Lachman meet ICU criteria and should be in the ICU with a 1:2 ratio and not on 7 Lachman with a 1:4 ratio. This presents a serious patient safety issue.
RNs also expressed the need for additional nursing aides on the floor since many of their 7 Lachman patients require complete care.
Management also introduced a new clinical educator that is in the process of meeting with the RNs on the unit to access their individual and unit needs.
We will continue to monitor progress on 7 Lachman.
Endoscopy
We have had a pending grievance / arbitration in the endoscopy unit since 2009 due to mandatory overtime, lack of support staff and other issues. We reached a settlement agreement in 2009 to address these issues. Although the situation has improved, some nurses still cannot get out on time due to double booking of cases for the same doctor, the booking of longer cases later in the day when there are less RN staff on the schedule, "emergency" add-on cases, lack of adequate numbers of transporters, and inadequate housekeeping services to turn over the room between cases etc. Management has now agreed to self scheduling which will hopefully ensure that enough staff and unit based per diems are scheduled for the day. If problems continue to exist, we will reschedule the previously adjourned arbitration.
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Radiology
At the beginning of 2010, RNs in the Radiology Department were informed that they would be cross trained, effective immediately, to cover all services in the Radiology suite. The nurses were alarmed at the sudden change, and were concerned about not having the proper equipment to work in the various areas. NYPNU asked management to suspend cross training until a variety of concerns were addressed and our members were assured of their safety.
Subsequently, a meeting was held with NYPNU representatives, staff RNs, the nurse manager, nursing leadership, the Chair of the Radiology Department and the Vice President of Human Resources. We were informed that these changes were necessary to make the Radiology Department more efficient, to ensure all RNs had unified skills sets and that the cross training in effect would make the RNs more valuable to the organization.
NYPNU insisted on a detailed cross training plan that included competency checklists, training modules and a schedule for precepting. Management agreed to have all RNs fitted with the proper lead and eyewear to ensure they are protected while in the procedure room. They also agreed to form a departmental task force to ensure better communication and planning moving forward. NYPNU will continue to have periodic meetings with radiology management to ensure compliance with the staffing standard, and to ensure the proper equipment, lead aprons and eyewear are provided to our members.
New Contract Provisions
The new contract will be at the printer as soon as possible, however, please be advised that we will have it available on our new NYPNU website shortly. In the meantime, please be mindful of some new contract provisions.
Voluntary Overtime
If you have volunteered to work overtime, the new contract provisions state that the hospital must cancel within 2 hours, and employees must cancel within 4 hours. This is the same notification for calling out sick. Please note that "employees who volunteer for OT and are subsequently cancelled and then called into work for the same shift, shall be paid at the OT rate for the entire shift."
Sick Leave Notification
Employees are now required to notify his/her supervisor at least (4) hours in advance when calling in for sick days. Emergency day (k day) advance notice is still (2) hours notice. According to the Hospital, the additional time will be used by the scheduling office to recruit per diems, agency nurses, and staff RN's interested in working overtime. All 77th Street calls should be made to 212-434-2210 and all 64th Street calls should be made to 212-605-3774.
Proof of Illness
Per Article XV, Section 3 (f) of the contract, states the following "if an employee involved in progressive discipline for attendance violations" is absent the scheduled work day before and/or the scheduled work day after a paid legal holiday or day in lieu thereof, or a day either preceding or following a holiday weekend, the employer may demand proof of illness.
LHH New Attendance Policy
Please be aware that Lenox Hill Hospital has instituted a new attendance policy that was implemented on April 1, 2010. NYPNU has filed a class action grievance in protest of this policy. The grievance will be held on May 6th. We will keep you informed of the results of that grievance hearing.
In the meantime, if you need a copy of the new policy to ensure your compliance, please visit our website.
In addition, there are some nurse managers who have inadvertently applied the policy retroactively to January 2010. Management has agreed that this was an unintentional error. If you know someone who has received a warning notice retroactively, please ask them to notify their supervisor to remove it. Call the Union office if assistance is needed.
Ratios
NYPNU has received several calls from our members, especially from our night RNs expressing that they are being told by night ADNS that ALL nurses on inpatient units can be over their ratio by one patient. This is not true and is a clear contract violation.
In Article XXVI, Nurse Patient Ratio, Section 3 it clearly states the following, "On units where the ratios at full census require one (1) additional nurse being assigned to care for two (2) or fewer patients over the ratios, the additional nurse may or may not be added based on patient acuity, except where the nurse's assignment is two (2) critically ill patients. (CBA, p.87) This means that if, and only if your unit is at full capacity, 1 or 2 nurses can be over the ratio. We raised this issue during negotiations at our last meeting with the Administration prior to reaching a tentative settlement. Phyllis Yezzo, Glenn Courounis and their attorney Rob Weisen, all agreed with our interpretation of this language.
If you have been told that ALL RNs on your unit can be over ratio by one patient, please call the union office with dates and times that this has occurred. We will report the offenders to the administration.
Login to New NYPNU Website
NYPNU is launching our new website. To allow you secure access to the "member's only" section of the new site, we have created a private account with a username and password for you. We have been unable to get in contact with a number of our members, due to faulty contact information. If you believe your contact information is incorrect, and you would like to retrieve your login information for the new website, please call the union office or drop by to update your records.
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