SEPTEMBER 2018
A NEWSLETTER FOR NYSNA RNs AT ERIE COUNTY MEDICAL CENTER
Nurses Say Yes to Safe Staffing, No to Mandatory Overtime The nurses in ECMC’s Operating Room handle a heavy caseload. That load has seemed even heavier since last winter, when nurses on the day shift were routinely being asked to stay late—often on very short notice. Towards the end of a shift, nurses would be told that if they didn’t volunteer to stay late, they or one of their coworkers would get mandated to work overtime. Because no timeframe would be given, nurses could be working for an extra 15 minutes or several extra hours, depending on the needs of the patient or the level of emergency. “We all have responsibilities outside of work,” explained Lee Barnett, RN, an OR nurse of over three years at ECMC. “It’s very nerve-racking to not know when you’re going to leave. We’re a tight-knit team, so people definitely felt pressure to volunteer instead of risk having a colleague mandated. If nurses didn’t volunteer so often, we probably would have been mandated even more than a few times a month.” Instead of utilizing resources like scheduling overtime or calling nurses to come in and cover a shift, managers relied on mandation, and on nurses volunteering for overtime. The schedule was manipulated daily and often overbooked, leaving a staffing crisis when nurses were supposed to leave work.
Nurses were feeling frustrated by the situation and filed a class action grievance in February. We also took our concerns to a Labor Management meeting in April. Management admitted that staffing and staff retention were the primary reason that nurses in the OR were being mandated and asked to volunteer so often. They committed to work on the problem. Almost a decade ago, NYSNA nurses fought for and won a law that places limits on how many hours nurses can work, and under what circumstances our employers can mandate overtime. (See page 2 for more details about the law). Unfortunately, the law does not apply to surgical techs and other healthcare workers, who can still get mandated without limits. After our step 1 grievance hearing, ECMC management responded in writing that, moving forward, they would follow the letter of the law when it comes to mandatory overtime. They also hired additional staff in the OR. It goes to show that when nurses are empowered to speak up and advocate for our patients and each other, we can make a change! It also goes to show that nurses need to be vigilant in understanding and defending our rights on an ongoing basis. Mandatory overtime cases are decided case-by-case, so nurses need to speak out and reach out when experiencing a problem. Lee Barnett, RN concluded, “Staff in the OR are going above and beyond and willing to stay late, but the onus is really on management to have the OR properly staffed so that people don’t have to make these hard choices.”