Hi Everybody,
Bargaining resumed today. Next bargaining is Friday August 29^th, North Hollywood. What better way to kick off and celebrate Labor Day weekend than to negotiate a contract!

We continued to work on the Floating language, including the clusters.
Our bargaining team have been discussing “Hours of Work” and ESL/EIR. We’re getting ready to resubmit those proposals to management.

We’d like to improve access to ESL/EIR. That’s what so many nurses have been asking for. I can’t be specific here, but  the bargaining team or I  can share specifics with you when we have a moment. 

We’re trying to make “Hours of Work” clearer and more simple. It involves painstakingly reading what’s  written in the yellow book. The next step is the hardest--figuring out what the intent of the yellow book is. Finally, we get busy trying to figure out ways to help the contract speak in a more straight forward manner.

The CHW team invited their pension expert, Paul Nordine, to speak to us and answer questions about the CHW pension plans. He had some very interesting and tantalizing tidbits!

Paul explained to us about the benefits connect website. If you are looking for statements  of accrual, or future projected benefit, it sounds like you can’t go wrong if you  visit  the CHW benefits connect website: (password is needed to login)
http://chwbenefitconnect.com/

 I believe you should look for a tab called “Retirement Connect”. That’s where you can “model” your savings, your longevity, and glimpse  what the future may hold for you. Retirement Connect should take you to  a tab called “My savings plan”  and one called “mysavings@work.com/chw

I’m not a CHW employee, I can’t login in and verify  the pathway to get to some of the tools, but they do sound helpful and pretty nifty!

Please try out the benefits connect website and let the team know if navigating the website was easy or hard, helpful or not.

Call or e mail me or text me if you have questions or issues or worries, or anything. I can’t always fix everything, but I am very happy to try.

 

Are you prepared to vote for a strike? If you have any questions at all, now is an excellent time to contact your Union Reps.

St John's Pleasant Valley and St John's Regional
Chris Slane RN 805-279-1198, e mail slanec@seiu121rn.org

Northridge
Mimi Holt RN 213-247-4589  holtm@seiu121rn.org

Ingela Dahlgren RN  is also assisting with all three hospitals and and she can be reached at 818-738-8292 or by e mail dahlgreni@seiu121rn.org

A 121RN Nurse’s Guide to Bargaining New &Improved Float Matrix/Clusters.

Northridge Hospital has distributed a thoughtful, positive memo to the nurses about the floating matrix/clusters. But the bargaining team thinks Northridge  puts too positive a spin on one of  THE major issues of this 2008 negotiation table. Here’s why:

Floating is one of the most frustrating aspects of a Northridge RN’s professional career.

RNs aren’t always given a chance to complete “competency checklists” and may lack essential professional expertise in the receiving unit. Reflect on the last time you floated within your matrix and had to do discharge teaching on a patient.  Was it memorable, for all the wrong
reasons?

Patients and patient families often perceive they are assigned a nurse who lacks expertise. As a result, patient satisfaction is negatively impacted.

Our floating proposal, which we have submitted across the table again and again would go much further to protect Northridge nurses from unsafe floating practices. CHW’s current proposal  falls way short. For safety’s sake med-surg nurses should not be required to float to tele floors. OB/NICU  units should not be required to  float to each other’s units. ICU nurses should not be required to float to PICU. It’s a matter of safety. See attached for our complete proposal.

CHW has rejected and mocked our superfloat proposal. We think the superfloat proposal is a good one and would address some of the competency issues in a meaningful, and proactive way.

What the BRN says about floating:

It is the RN’s responsibility to determine whether she/he is clinically competent to perform the nursing care required on the new unit or with the new patient population. If the RN is not clinically competent to perform the care, she/he should not accept the patient care assignment. The RN may accept a limited assignment of nursing care duties, which utilizes his/her currently existing clinical competence….The Nursing Practice Act and the Standards of Competent Performance apply in all settings where RNs practice nursing. If the RN accepts an assignment for patient care and is not clinically competent, the RN license can be disciplined. Nursing administrators, supervisors, and managers have a crucial responsibility to assure appropriate and competent nursing care to patients/clients. The BRN requires nursing administrators, supervisors, and managers to only assign patient care to RNs who are clinically competent. Nursing administrators, supervisors and managers may have their licenses subject to discipline if they do not ensure assignment of clinically competent RN staff.
Taken from “RN RESPONSIBILITY WHEN FLOATING TONEW PATIENT CARE UNIT OR ASSIGNED TO NEW POPULATION”  available on the web  http://www.rn.ca.gov/pdfs/regulations/npr-b-21.pdf
Questions? Worries? Concerns? Please call your Union people: Mimi Holt RN 213-247-4589 or Sue Weinstein RN 213-247-4586

We met with management on July 11th.They somewhat heard our request to bring someone from Northridge Nursing Administration.  They brought three nurse directors from  Northridge. Unfortunately the three didn’t seem to have any real power to effect change.
One of them “had to leave by 11;00 am”. Ann DeChairo-Marino, the Northridge CNE is on vacation.
We continued to discuss floating clusters. We  explained over and over how unsafe floating creates patient safety issues because of  differences in skill sets and competencies. Management felt the problem can be attributed to systems errors and to  nurses not following policy. We asked the question,   “How can you follow policy if you don’t have time to read the them?”
At one point they asked what the solution was. Again, we patiently walked them through our Super float proposal which they originally dismissed outright.
Next steps: We're bargaining again July 21 and 22nd, here in North Hollywood.
Please join us, we'd love to have you!
4146 Lankershim Blvd. North Hollywood 91602. 4th floor. FREE Valet parking!

Posted date: 7/3/2008

Northridge Nurses Stage Picket

 By Nadra Kareem

San Fernando Valley Business Journal Staff

An estimated 250 nurses at Northridge Hospital staged an informational picket July 2 to draw attention to what they say are staffing shortages at medical facilities serving the San Fernando Valley and Ventura County.

The nurses belong to Local 121RN of the Service Employees International Union, which represents more than 1,500 nurses at Northridge Hospital, St. John’s Regional Medical Center in Oxnard and St. John’s Pleasant Valley in Camarillo. SEIU nurses have been negotiating with parent company Catholic Healthcare West since February about contract proposals to relieve understaffing, among other issues.

“We made several proposals to ensure RNs would be available all the time, including during hard-to-staff shifts, but management rejected them all outright,” according to Sue Weinstein, head of the nurses’ negotiating team.

 

Both info pickets were f a b u l o u s!  If you weren't there, you missed out on something really nifty!
Here's a few photos that might give you a taste of the energy, the enthusiasm and the passion of Northridge and St Johns. When our nurses are determined to do something, they do it in a big way!

Nurses protest staffing at hospital

By Terria Smith
tsmith@ VenturaCountyStar.com
Wednesday, July 2, 2008

Dana Rene Bowler / Star staff Oxnard 07/01/08 John Welborn, Radiologist for St. John's Regional Medical Center in Oxnard, holds up signs in support for the nurses contract Tuesday afternoon. "My wife Joan Welborn has worked for St. John's for 30 years as a nurse. I am out here for her and for all the nurses at this hospital," Welborn said.

More than 100 nurses and supporters in purple T-shirts holding yellow signs filled the sidewalk Tuesday afternoon in front of St. John's Medical Center in Oxnard.

Nurses held signs that read "Safe staffing = Safe patient care" and "CHW Nurses Demand Safe Patient Care."

It was the first of two protests in the midst of a contract dispute between the Service Employees International Union Nurse Alliance Local 121 and Catholic Healthcare West management, which operates St. John's hospitals in Camarillo and Oxnard, as well as Northridge Hospital Medical Center. Contract negotiations began in February.

Chris Slane, union representative for the Camarillo and Oxnard hospitals, said the picket was informational and not a work stoppage. The emergency room nurse, who is on a temporary leave of absence, said union nurses at the hospitals have been working without a contract since mid-June. The nurses' biggest concerns are staffing, unsafe floating practices (stationing nurses where they're not trained to work) and depletion of support staff, he said.

He noted that state law sets the ratio of nurses to patients for hospitals, with different departments requiring more nurses than others.

"For medical/surgical, it's five patients to every nurse; in telemetry, it's four to every one nurse; for ICU, it's two to one," he said.

Hospital administrators were not available for comment.

However, in a prepared statement, they said the union's demands "would threaten our ability to continue our healing ministry." The statement also said the hospitals "will maintain safe and effective staffing levels" during the dispute.

At the picket line, nurses complained that the hospital is not following state standards. Some of the nurses said staffing disparities have affected their ability to provide quality patient care.

Debra Cardoza, a registered nurse in the neonatal intensive care unit, has worked at St. John's in Oxnard for 12 years. She said that lately, the lack of sufficient staffing has caused her to work through her lunch breaks.

Nurses on the picket line said they were also disappointed that they were only offered a 2 percent wage increase.

"They've rejected all our proposals, and they have rejected every one of them without any real discussion on any of them," Slane said.

The administrators' statement said the hospital values the "contributions, loyalty and success of our registered nurses" and is committed to granting them fair compensation and benefits.

Slane said the union's bargaining team of 15 nurses will meet with a five-member management team representing Catholic Healthcare West on Thursday and again July 11.

The union will picket Northridge Hospital Medical Center today from 3 to 6 p.m.

"I hope our staffing doesn't get cut. We have critically sick babies we need to tend to," Cardoza said.

"It's important for the community to know that these nurses like working at this hospital. Some of them have been here 10, 20, 35 years. We want to keep these nurses here. But with the current conditions, we might lose some of them," Slane said.

 

St Johns' : Lots and lots of nurses! Nurses came from all over St Johns, and from Northridge, from Pacifica and as far away as Pomona! Thank you Pomona Nurses!

For release June 27, 2008

Media contact Steve Weingarten
    (626) 675-2156 cellular

Tues., July 1 at St. John’s Regional in Oxnard
Wed., July 2 at Northridge Hospital

Hundreds of Registered Nurses will put down stethoscopes and pick up picket signs next week to underline contract proposals to ease chronic understaffing at major medical facilities serving the San Fernando Valley and Ventura County.

Local 121RN of the Service Employees International Union represents more than 1,500 nurses at Northridge Hospital, St. John’s Regional Medical Center in Oxnard, and St. John’s Pleasant Valley in Camarillo. SEIU nurses have been negotiating with parent company Catholic Healthcare West since February.

The head of the nurses’ negotiating team said the hospitals violate patient ratios all the time. “And bad things happen because of it,” said Executive Director Sue Weinstein. “We made several proposals to ensure RNs would be available all the time, including during hard-to-staff shifts, but management rejected them all outright.”

Weinstein said staffing levels are supposed to be determined by how sick patients are, not to meet financial goals set by company accountants in San Francisco. The union has also proposed competitive salaries and wage differentials to recruit and retain quality RNs.

This is not a work stoppage, and no picketing is planned at St. John’s Pleasant Valley in Camarillo. Call Steve Weingarten at (626) 675-2156 to arrange interview with Sue Weinstein and union nurses.

Informational Picketing – Not a Strike

Tues., July 1    Wed., July 2
12 to 3 p.m.    3 to 6 p.m.
St. John’s Regional    Northridge Hospital
1600 N. Rose Ave.    18300 Roscoe Blvd.
Oxnard 93030    Northridge 91328

Purple Thursday went without a hitch! More and more departments are turning Purple!

Here's a couple of photos

We're bargaining next on June 16th, 23rd and 24th in North Hollywood. All  Northridge and St Johns Nurses are more than welcome to attend. We had three Northridge nurses drop by  during the course of the day on the 22nd. It was lovely for the bargaining team to feel the support. And it was good for management to see that  interest in this contract is at a very high level.
We extended the contract through the 16th of June. Please join the bargaining team on June 16th --or any scheduled bargaining date. Here's the bargaining team, gearing up for Purple Thursdays. Dont for get this coming Thursday, wear purple!

Nurses from Critical Care and 3G came to observe bargaining and to support the team. It makes a huge difference!

Highlights
3G -Cardiovascular at Northridge was so thoroughly puple they were even eating purple food (ube)!
Rehab: The CAT on Rehab launched purple Thursday in grand style!
We're going to build on a very successful purple day. Next Purple Thursday: May 22.
Wear purple to work if you are scheduled to work,  or if you are off, please join us at bargaining in North Hollywood.

Ventura County Star

From staff reports
Friday, May 2, 2008

After two days of bargaining, nurses and management at two Ventura County hospitals have agreed to extend contract negotiations through May.

St. John's Regional Medical Center in Oxnard and St. John's Pleasant Valley in Camarillo will continue talking with nurses, represented by SEIU Local 121RN.

The nurses' contract, negotiated annually, was set to expire at midnight Wednesday.

The union's executive director and chief negotiator, Sue Weinstein, said bargaining sessions are scheduled for May 8, 9, 22 and 23.

Hospital officials were not available for comment Thursday.

Negotiations have centered on patient-care issues and compensation, according to information on SEIU's Web site. If a full agreement isn't reached by May 31, the negotiation team will make a decision whether to extend the contract.

The union was able to reached tentative agreements on several proposals, according to the Web site.

"Some of the most in-depth discussions centered around staffing and floating," the Web site said.

Union negotiators were at another hospital Thursday and couldn't be reached for comment.

The SEIU is also countering an effort by the California Nurses Association to persuade nurses at the two hospitals to join its union. Last week, nurses at Scripps Memorial Hospital in Encinitas voted to decertify CNA.