Protest to focus on forced overtime and other labor issues

Nurses at Cape Cod and Falmouth hospitals have scheduled an informational picket Thursday to protest mandatory overtime and other labor issues currently on the bargaining table during contract negotiations.

Hospitals are forcing nurses to work overtime and to "float" between different units or specialties as a way to deal with chronic understaffing, said Kimberly Adam, co-chairwoman of the Massachusetts Nurses Association chapter at Cape Cod Hospital.

Mandatory overtime forces nurses to work beyond their usual hours, even if they have just come off a 12-hour shift, Adam said.

"It's bad because it allows our patients to be cared for by a nurse who is extremely fatigued," she said. "It's really a safety issue for the community."

A state law passed in 2012 forbids hospitals from making nurses work excessive hours, but it allows language negotiated in the past between nurses unions and hospitals regarding mandatory overtime to stand, Adam said.

She said the contract language allowed the nurses union to chip away at forced overtime, which is being used less often now. But it's still a tool in the hospital scheduling box and nurses want it gone, she said.

"Forced overtime is not a way to staff a hospital," said Phyllis Peterson, co-chairwoman of the MNA chapter at Falmouth Hospital. She said parents of young children who go to work from 3 to 11 p.m. and are forced to work overtime will have been up 24 hours in a row by the time their shift is over.

The solution is simple, Adam said. Hire more nurses, she said. "We need more staffing."

Requiring nurses to work overtime "is very unusual, and we're in full compliance with the state law," said Patrick Kane, senior vice president of communication and business development at Cape Cod Healthcare, the parent company of Cape Cod and Falmouth hospitals.

Less than 1 percent of hours worked by the nurses consists of mandatory overtime hours, he said. Kane said mandatory overtime is used when there is an "unusual influx" of patients or "call outs" by nurses not reporting to work.

Mandatory overtime is used sparingly as a tool  to deal with those situations, Kane said.

MNA leaders also say they oppose a plan by officials at both hospitals to have nurses "float" or work on different units.

The nurses are OK with going back and forth between different units within the same specialty area, Adam said. For instance, nurses on the medical/surgical floor are OK with "floating" between neurology and orthopedics units, as long as they receive proper orientation, she said.

But they are opposed to "floating" between the medical surgical floor and the highly specialized intensive care unit, Adam said. She said it's unsafe for patients and could put a nurse's license in jeopardy if something goes wrong.

Asking a nurse to float among different departments is like asking an English teacher to teach calculus, Peterson said. "Nurses have specialties."

Negotiations have been dragging on and have passed the 20-session mark, Adam said. To the union's satisfaction Cape Cod Hospital Tuesday withdrew a plan to have nurses be on call to staff some units, which MNA officials called another way to force nurses into working overtime.

"It was clearly something that needed further study," said Robin Lord, spokeswoman for Cape Cod Healthcare.

At Cape Cod Hospital, nurses also are asking for a security guard at the psychiatric center across the parking lot from Cape Cod Hospital. It takes eight minutes for security to respond to incidences at the psych center, Adam said.

Kane said the hospitals love and appreciate their nurses, and progress is being made in negotiations.

The hospitals prioritize safety, he said. "Our quality speaks for itself."

The informational picket at Falmouth Hospital on Ter Huen Drive will take place between 7 to 9 a.m. Thursday.

The informational picket at Cape Cod Hospital on Park Street in Hyannis is scheduled for 2 to 4 p.m. Thursday.

Original article: http://www.capecodtimes.com/article/20141210/NEWS/141219946/101017/BIZ
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