NOVEMBER 2018
A NEWSLETTER FOR NYSNA RNs AT NYC HEALTH + HOSPITALS
NPs in Queens Get Their Due Nurse Practitioners are invaluable in the NYC Health + Hospitals system. With advanced nursing practice and increased responsibilities should come increased pay. Throughout NYC H+H, nurses with BSN, MSN and NP certification are entitled to additional certification pay that is specified in our negotiated contracts. Some Nurse Practitioners at Elmhurst and Queens Hospitals were very concerned when they stopped receiving their certification pay earlier this year. Recently hired NPs were not getting certification pay. When NPs asked payroll why they were no longer getting paid correctly, they were told that NP certification is a requirement of the position, and therefore certification pay would not be paid. Human resource personnel stated this was a new policy from downtown. “I could not find a written policy supporting this punitive action regarding NP certification pay,” said Mary C. Madden, NP, Chairperson of the Nurse Practitioner Council at Elmhurst. “We pursued it with Nursing Payroll, HR, and main Payroll.” NYSNA filed a grievance on the nurses’ behalf, and then
made our voices heard at a payroll task force meeting in July. It was acknowledged that all certified NPs were owed certification pay. Nurse Practitioners were soon made whole, and NYSNA was able to withdraw the grievance. NP Madden concluded, “The disparity in salary between the private sector NP and the public sector NP is tremendous. NPs who choose to work for the poor and underprivileged need to make sure that we get every penny that is contractually due. It’s the hospital’s responsibility to make sure that happens, but it’s also each nurse’s responsibility to know what should be in our paycheck. It is really important for all professional nurses to be aware of how much money they get paid, what categories they’re supposed to get paid for, when their certification paperwork is due, when experience differential is supposed to kick in, and how much that differential is supposed to be.” This year, the American Association of Nurse Practitioner designated November 11-17 National Nurse Practitioners Week, in recognition of the exceptional care that NPs provide. We can’t think of a better way to celebrate NPs than to make sure they receive the proper pay—and respect—they deserve!