Registered Nurses at Tacoma General Hold Informational Picket During Stalled Contract
Negotiations
Washington State Nurses Association (WSNA), representing more than 750 registered
nurses at Tacoma General Hospital, held an informational picket and press conference
today to highlight issues critical to patient safety and nurse retention. During
the press conference, registered nurses spoke out about how the administration’s
proposals will negatively affect patient safety and the need to keep Tacoma General’s
wages and benefits competitive with other hospitals in the area. Bringing support
and solidarity from across the state and nation, WSNA President Julia Weinberg,
RN, and National Federation of Nurses (NFN) President Barbara Crane, RN, joined
the Tacoma General nurses in calling on the administration to bring a new, fair
proposal to the table.
While the hospital is operating at a profit, the administration has proposed no
substantial wage increases over the life of the contract. Registered nurses at Tacoma
General have already made sacrifices to help alleviate the financial burden on the
hospital, accepting an increase in their personal share of health care costs just
three months ago. The concern is that stagnant wages will make it more difficult
to recruit and retain nurses at Tacoma General with the possibility of losing experienced
nurses to competitors in the area.
“Today is a wakeup call for the administration. We are standing up and demanding
that the administration value the work that nurses do and provide them with a fair
wage and benefits package. These nurses showed a commitment to Tacoma General when
they stepped up and personally took on extra costs for health care. Now it’s time
for the hospital to show that same commitment and respect for their nurses. I just
find it shocking that while the hospital is making money, they’re turning around
and telling us that they won’t increase wages,” said Christine Himmelsbach, MSN,
RN, Assistant Executive Director of Labor Relations for WSNA.
“We’re out here today picketing and speaking out because we want Tacoma General
to be a great place for nurses and patients. We are in the midst of a growing nursing
shortage. If our wages are stagnant, I worry that new nurses will look elsewhere
for jobs and our experienced nurses will start leaving for better employment options.
That’s bad for patients and bad for nurses at Tacoma General,” added Sally Baque,
a registered nurse at Tacoma General
Patient safety is also the nurses’ main concern over the hospital’s sick leave policy.
Nurses must be able to stay home when they are sick and at risk of spreading communicable
diseases such as the flu. Additionally, studies show that nurses who are fatigued
from working overtime or not getting enough rest between shifts are at a much greater
risk for medical and medication errors. It is important that nurses be allowed and
encouraged to use sick time when they have not had adequate rest due to overtime
work and are unsafe to work the next day. Forcing nurses to use two days of regular
paid time off, such as vacation time, before they are able to access their sick
time effectively discourages nurses from calling in and that is detrimental to patient
safety.
“If I’m sick or haven’t had enough rest between my shifts, the safest thing I can
do is call in. As a fundamental issue of patient safety, nurses need to be encouraged
to stay home when they don’t feel fit to work. Limiting our ability to use earned
illness time discourages us from calling in because we have to use our own time
off or vacation time to stay home. We are still in the midst of a difficult flu
season and we need to be aggressive in promoting policies that protect nurse and
patient safety,” said Marcie Turpin, a registered nurse at Tacoma General.
