Nurses, hospital reach labor agreement
 

"We got the basic things we went for," said nurse Janet Thompson. Chief among those issues was a say in patient care. In an effort to improve the quality of care at the hospital through increased staffing levels, the union — nurses agreed in a near unanimous vote to be represented by the Service Employees International Union last year — will establish a staffing committee composed of nurses, physicians and top managers.



Nurses also will receive pay raises each of the next three years the labor contract is in effect. They will earn a 6 percent raise retroactive to January 2006 that will be paid in a lump sum; an 8 percent pay raise for 2007 and 5 percent for both 2008 and 2009. The premiums they pay for health insurance will be frozen for the duration of the labor agreement. They initially wanted 12 percent pay raises.



Nurses wanted medical, dental and vision insurance paid by the employer — a benefit they enjoyed when the county ran the hospital — but nurse Sherry Boluna said nurses compromised in the spirit of good faith negotiations.



Pay and perks aside, nurses agreed inadequate staffing was the major sticking point. Thompson said too many patients for each nurse could have resulted in missed treatments or medications.



"Were very understaffed," she said. "Nurses are working extra shifts, long hours, and tired nurses make mistakes due to fatigue."



To increase staffing levels, the hospital will aggressively recruit nurses already living in Elko, specifically those who are nearing graduation from the nursing program at Great Basin College.



According to nurse Debbie Gardner, every department is short a minimum of two full-time nurses; positions that are being filled by traveling nurses.



Thompson said management agreed to phase out the traveling nurse program and recruit locally. However, as Boluna pointed out, traveling nurses — nurses who sign 13-week contracts with hospitals and then move on — will always have a niche to fill. "We just dont want them taking the place of a full-time nurse," she said.



Hospital management will have a chance to make good on its promise in May when roughly a dozen students are scheduled to graduate from the GBC nursing program.



One other patient-care aspect nurses hope to change is the formula used when assigning patient loads to nurses. Currently, said Boluna, the hospital uses a matrix to determine how many patients a nurse can care for on any given shift, but nurses believe one that is acuity based (meaning nurses who care for patients with the most serious conditions would have responsibility for fewer patients) would enhance the level of care.



"Our population is aging," Thompson explained. "We have a lot more responsibility these days."



After more than a year of negotiations that seemed to pull the two sides apart rather than together, more than 90 percent of nurses, roughly 60 employees, agreed to strike last week if it appeared a stalemate loomed.



"The hospital knew that," Thompson said, indicating the potential work stoppage forced managements hand.



Hospital CEO David Hensen said he was happy the negotiations concluded on a good note. NNRH is the only facility owned by Tennessee-based LifePoint with a unionized workforce.



"Im pleased we reached an agreement that seemingly will be well received by the nurses. I know both sides want to mutually work together over the next few years to offer a high standard of health care to the community."



Thompson concurs. "Were glad we have a contract because now both sides can work together. Were not going anywhere. We want people to know they can come to the hospital and receive good care. We want them to trust us so they dont feel like they have to go somewhere else."



Other elements of the contract include retaining a 36-hour work week and per diems that will pay part-time nurses a reasonable wage when they fill in on weekends or vacations.



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