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March 24, 2008, 11:02 am
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Nurses: Shortages frustrating

Union efforts at Mercy signal desire for voice

BY CLIFF PEALE | [email protected]

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Nurses at the five Mercy Health Partners hospitals here still want to join a union, a week after a spat between two labor groups scuttled an election that could have allowed them to do just that.

About 1,600 nurses and more than 4,200 employees overall were scheduled to vote March 14 on whether to organize with the Service Employees International Union.

But the rival National Nurses Organizing Committee picketed hospitals here and throughout Ohio, leading Mercy and parent company Catholic Healthcare Partners to cancel the vote. No vote is scheduled now.

That leaves nurses with the same concerns about staffing and working conditions that they have had for years. They love the flexibility the profession provides and say salaries are not as big a problem as the fact that there aren't enough nurses, leaving them unable to provide the patient care they would like to give.

For example, many don't take breaks during a 12-hour shift and spend hours afterward writing reports on every patient.

With a national nursing shortage that some estimate will create the need for 1 million new nurses by 2020, and with the average Ohio nurse about 48 years old, the problem is likely to get worse before it gets better.

Peggy Vaughn, of Colerain Township, a nurse for 28 years at Mercy Hospital Western Hills, said the lack of nurses makes her job a lot more difficult, and those in the profession want a voice in how to solve the problem.

"I want to stay there," she said. "I don't want to find another job in another field. But I feel like that could happen."

Vaughn praised Mercy for its willingness to deal with the SEIU and hold the election.

Pat Davis-Hagens, chief nursing officer at Mercy Hospital Fairfield, said the hospital implemented a Web-based scheduling system to try to help, but acknowledged nursing shortages were a hindrance.

"Staffing is always a challenge," she said. "We have to react to the patients as they come in."

Ginny Summe, a nurse at Mercy Hospital Western Hills from Mack, said nurses in her unit often care for seven or eight patients in a shift.

"If you're the seventh patient, and you're a fresh post-op and you don't get seen until two hours into the shift, that's a concern," she said. "It stretches you thin."

The nursing shortage touches the entire industry, leading to potential solutions including:

In Columbus, the hospital industry supported a bill to require hospitals to talk with employees and write a formal staffing plan. The House has passed the bill, but the NNOC said it hopes to introduce a stronger proposal this year to mandate specific ratios for nurses in specific departments.

"I think (the hospital-backed bill) is reasonable, it's transparent, and hopefully it will identify the areas where we need to improve the ratios," said Sharonville Republican Jim Raussen, chairman of the House's Health Care Access and Affordability committee.

Marilyn Albert, a nurse in Cleveland and an NNOC national organizer, said there should be no more than two patients for every nurse on a critical-care floor and no more than four patients for every nurse on a medical-surgical floor.

The University of Cincinnati's College of Nursing graduated 208 nurses from its baccalaureate program last year, up 39 percent compared to five years ago. The college has expanded offerings to its Clermont College campus in Batavia and partnered with two local hospitals to use clinical nurses as instructors for on-the-job coursework.

Finding enough nursing faculty also has been a problem, said Dean Andrea Lindell.

"I can increase my enrollment but I don't have enough faculty," she said.

University Hospital has implemented an "acuity staffing model" that evaluates every incoming patient and uses that to determine staffing levels in each department.

About 1,100 University nurses are represented by the Registered Nurses Association, which negotiated a contract last summer. Jennifer Cook, vice president of the union, said adequate staffing will just help nurses do their jobs.

"You want to go home at the end of the day feeling like you've taken the best care of your patients that you can," she said.

I honestly though that with the amount of persons being trained to be nurses, the market would more or less be saturated. There are many unemployed persons sitting at home, maybe they can go get trained and filled these vacancies. The government could also offer free training or heavily subsidise it so that more persons would be able to access those course and then bond them to the government service for a few years.

Nursing is not an easy profession and it isn't for everybody. Not only do nurses have to be trained medically but they must have a good bed side manner. I've seen many nurses who are just cruel to their patients. On the other hand I've seen nurses who wonderful and caring.

Their hours are long, their on their feet a lot, and they never seem to have time for themselves.

I don't think I could ever be a nurse but I give credit to those people who enjoy nursing and do a great job. They should get whatever they need.

I know where I live they are always on the lookout for nurses even though they continue to train new ones. It is a tough profession as they put in long hours and work many double shifts. Have nothing but respect for nurses.