New York Nurse April Westchester/Lower Hudson Valley

New York

nurse Westchester/Lower Hudson Valley Edition | April 2018

the official publication of the new york state nurses association

Albany Medical Center RNs vote to join NYSNA

The power of our union, pp. 7-10

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New York Nurse April 2018

Why do nurses & other professionals need a union?

By Judy SheridanGonzalez, RN, NYSNA President

“The labor movement was the principal force that transformed misery and despair into hope and progress.”

–Martin Luther King Jr.

Advocating for patients. Advancing the profession.SM Board of Directors President Judy Sheridan-Gonzalez, RN, MSN, FNP First Vice President Marva Wade, RN Second Vice President Anthony Ciampa, RN Secretary Anne Bové, RN, MSN, BC, CCRN, ANP Treasurer Patricia Kane, RN Directors at Large Kevin Donovan, RN Jacqueline B. Gilbert, RN Nancy Hagans, RN Tracey Kavanagh, RN, BSN Robin Krinsky, RN Lilia V. Marquez, RN Sean Petty, RN, CPEN Nella Pineda-Marcon, RN, BC Karine M. Raymond, RN, MSN Verginia Stewart, RN Regional Directors Southeastern Yasmine Beausejour, RN Southern Seth B. Dressekie, RN, MSN, NP Central Ethel Mathis, RN Lower Hudson/NJ Jayne Cammisa, RN, BSN Western Sarah Annabelle Chmura, RN Eastern Martha Wilcox, RN Executive Editor Jill Furillo, RN, BSN, PHN Executive Director Editorial offices located at: 131 W 33rd St., New York, NY 10001 Phone: 212-785-0157 x 159 Email: communications@nysna.org Website: www.nysna.org Subscription rate: $33 per year ISSN (Print) 1934-7588/ISSN (Online) 1934-7596 ©2018, All rights reserved

I

n nursing school we’re taught that when we graduate, we earn the title registered “professional” nurse. But what is a professional? l A specialist, an expert, a skilled, proficient, qualified, licensed, certified, trained individual in an area of work or practice. l A person with a degree of autonomy and control over said field. l A n individual with a degree of decision-making authority.

After years of study, we do have much theoretical training and textbook knowledge. After a few years of practice we are on the road to proficiency, enhanced skills and the development of expertise. The term rings true on these levels.

But once we enter the factory-like atmosphere of a health facility, we discover that we have little autonomy to define our practice, nor do we have the authority to determine how our skills and knowledge can best be implemented. While we draw upon our skills to make clinical decisions every day, we don’t have control over the resources and supports required to deliver such care.

And, my colleagues, therein lies the rub.

The illusion of professional autonomy

It is this illusion of professional autonomy that many employers use to convince nurses that we don’t need to unionize in order to ensure that we have what we need to do our jobs. Schemes of so-called “shared governance” help to further this fantasy of control.

Non-managerial nurses do not determine budgets and resources.

Thus governance is never “shared.”

Our input can be sought, our brains can be picked, our clinical and practical knowledge can be mined, but final decisions about what, how much and in what way resources are allocated are the purview of the bosses. And the bosses we see and meet with are not even the final decision-makers. They have

to answer to the CEOs, CFOs and COOs whom we never see or hear from—except for a cute letter sent out on Nurses Week or Christmas.

So what does a union do?

Throughout history, workers recognized the need to unite to deal with employers to improve working conditions, pay and other factors that improved their lots in life. This purposeful and organized unity led to the formation of unions.

Professional caregivers have the same needs as other workers: to improve salary, benefits, hours, working conditions, respect for

the presence and serious sacrifices and struggles of union members and those trying to organize.

Why employers feel so threatened by unions

Union members have elaborate legal rights in both the private and public sectors (NLRA, PERA, etc.).

In addition, we have the ability to push the envelope beyond what is spelled out in statute.

Workers, together, can compel an employer to behave in ways they would not normally prefer to.

A lone worker does not have that power. In fact, the “power playing field” is dramatically altered when a union is present and the workers are engaged. The possibilities are limitless.

This is why corporations and their government accomplices have been so anxious throughout history to destabilize, decertify and destroy unions and the power that workers can aspire to. The Janus case is no

Albany Medical Center nurses

what we do, safety, fair treatment if accused of violations, etc. But Professionals have additional needs: to practice our profession as we see fit, based on our licensure, certification, education and autonomous judgment capability.

Thus, we have a GREATER need to be unified in an organized body to negotiate these terms. But the title “professional” has been used by employers to make us feel that we don’t need unions, that we are somehow “better” than less skilled workers and able to do fine on our own.

Nothing is further from the truth.

Labor history

Life in the United States would look very different were it not for

exception. If you disable the ability of a union to have a treasury, you destroy the most important organizational structure in America, one that gets its funding solely from its members and is beholden to no special interests who can demand paybacks or favors.

Finally, a union is not a “third party” as the union-busting literature likes to describe it. The union is us. We have the ability to craft it in the way that serves our interests and our patients’ needs. Nurses and our patients are the two entities among which the work takes place.

The Employer is the real third party, more often than not, getting in our way and placing obstacles in our path.

NEW YORK NURSE

organizing

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april 2018

Welcome Albany Med!

T

he April 13 Albany Medical Center (AMC) win is still ringing, resonating in the capital and throughout the state and beyond.

Registered nurses voted by a strong majority to join NYSNA and put the power of the union to work for a fair contract, for a real say in working conditions — foremost safe staffing — and for respect. Their patient advocacy for 2,200 members will be enhanced immeasurably, with patients, families and the communities they care for sharing in the win.

The win brought together members, community support and a committed NYSNA organizing team.

Similar concerns

In the face of strident anti-union campaigning across the country (see Special Edition, pp. 7-10), this victory was all the more sweet.

Kathy Whalen, RN, and Albany Medical Center have a long and intimate relationship. Kathy was born at the hospital and started working there before she was 20.

Her tenure at the hospital extends to almost 38 years. For a good number of those years Kathy worked in the NICU, bringing her professional expertise to the most vulnerable newborns.

“I was excited when I learned of the unionizing efforts,” said Whalen. “After attending my first

Albany Mayor Cathy Sheehan front and center with Albany Med nurses at celebration of union vote, April 20

meeting, I found many of us had similar concerns with the direction of our practice.”

“We came together”

What were those concerns?

Staffing issues on many units were on the forefront of RN concerns.

Also raised, according to Whalen, was the issue of unit-to-unit equities. Training young RNs only to have them leave for better jobs — the inability of AMC management to keep them — was a sore subject.

Generally, Whalen said, it came down to doing more with less.

A strong sense of intimidation by management served to put off nurses like Whalen. She was especially offended by what she saw as heavyhanded efforts by hospital management to threaten Filipino nurses on staff. For Whalen, fellow nurses from the Philippines are friends of many years and she felt heartbroken for them during the campaign.

On March 29, Governor Andrew Cuomo directed the Department of Labor to “launch an immediate investigation into the allegations of threatening and coercive behavior at Albany Med,” according to his press release.

“This was a time when we came together and were able to share Continued on page 12

(seated center, L-R) NYSNA Board Members at the AMC victory celebration: Nancy Hagans, RN, Second Vice President Anthony Ciampa, RN, Treasurer Pat Kane, RN, and Jayne Cammisa, RN

Mario Cilento, President, NYS AFL-CIO

“

I am very happy about the prospect of having a real voice for patient care.”

–Kathy Whalen, RN

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New York Nurse april 2018

The lesson of bad grades and understaffing

By Jill Furillo, RN, NYSNA Executive Director

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t came as little surprise to us, but yet with great concern, that grades for acute hospitals in New York were very poor. At the end of April, the annual Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grades were released — a detailed survey of 2,500 hospitals across the United States. New York hospitals received the worst overall scores ever. Our state is one of ten in the nation with hospitals that received “F” grades. These appalling grades should serve as a wake-up call for hospital management in the state and as impetus for everyone concerned with the public’s health to support nursepatient ratios in the Safe Staffing for Quality Care Act before the Legislature.

RN diligence and professionalism

The Leapfrog surveys review data on safety, quality and resource use, including “nursing standards.”

That’s a sore subject.

With diligence and professionalism, we provide hospital management with details of the understaffing on our units and the effects of this profound failure to guarantee enough RNs to do the job.

We take our POAs very seriously.

And so should management. POAs are filled out at the very time RNs observe conditions that might pose safety and quality issues for patients. These are contemporaneous clinic observations attested to by RNs that have evidentiary value in formal hearings. They are a matter of licensure — a legal obligation — in the advocacy for our patients.

POAs and understaffing

A very large majority of POAs are signed by more than one nurse. In fact, on average, each POA is signed by four RNs. In other words, groups of RNs on the unit share the concerns expressed in the document.

With diligence and professionalism, we provide hospital management with details of the understaffing on our units and the effects of this profound failure to guarantee enough RNs to do the job.

And more than 80 percent of problems indicated on POAs relate to understaffing.

At Northwell’s Staten Island University Hospital (SIUH), for example, over the course of the last three years RNs have filed more than 8,000 POAs with thousands of RN attesting signatures on understaffing. SIUH received a “D” grade from Leapfrog. Despite these staffing shortfalls, RNs at the hospital make sure patients receive quality care. Management just makes it harder to get the job done.

Nurses at the bedside

These poor grades should lay to rest management’s position that RN staffing decisions ought to be a matter of their unilateral discretion. Nurses are at the bedside 24/7, caring for our patients with intimate knowledge of care needs

and unit conditions. The arrogance of management to impose its judgment in the face of RN experience, backed up by thousands of formal POA filings, does a disservice to not just to us, but to patients across the state — and results in very poor grades.

Listen to the RNs

There is a correlation between poor grades and high revenue, because when staffing is limited the hospital’s bottom line goes up.

Making a profit at the expense of the public’s health is a treacherous game. We know from peerreviewed studies that safe staffing results in lower mortality, infection and readmission rates.

It’s time for hospital management in New York to listen to their RNs. Safe staffing saves lives! And gets good grades, too.

NEW YORK NURSE

lobby day

April 2018

Safe staffing saves lives!

T

his year’s Lobby Day brought together more than one thousand members and students in a focused effort to move safe staffing forward.

Governor Andrew Cuomo has publicly stated his support of NYSNA and other RN unions’ sponsored safe staffing. Support for the Safe Staffing for Quality Care Act (S.03330/A.01532) has never been stronger with more than 20 cities, towns, villages and councils passing resolutions in support.

ing right, treatment of patients is better as is quality of care.” What else is a key concern for Bruce?

Comprehensive discharge planning.

More than 300 nursing students came to Lobby Day, an indication of how astute and concerned the new generation of forthcoming RNs is. Among them was Zoe Oner, who completes her studies at St. Lukes, SUNY Orange in December and sees herself in an OR or ER. “This is a fight for Continued on page 6

Palo Wright, RN, Harlem Hospital

Nurses & nursing students together

“

Joan Bruce, RN, who has worked at Bronx-Lebanon Hospital for 20 years, said that in her experience, “almost all nurses put safe staffing at the top of their list, because short staffing is a constant.” On the bus traveling to Albany, she was highly motivated. “If we get our staff-

Short staffing is a constant.”

–Joan Bruce, RN, Bronx-Lebanon Hospital

Judy Sheridan-Gonzalez, RN, NYSNA President

Interfaith Medical Center nurses

Assemblymember Al Stirpe from Central New York signed a pledge card during a lobby visit, adding another vote to the New York Safe Staffing for Quality Care Act.

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New York Nurse April 2018

Safe staffing Continued from page 5

“

We are sometimes overwhelmed and have no lunch on many days.”

–Palo Wright, RN, Harlem Hospital

everybody,” she said. “Without safe staffing, you have to rush through care. We need more time to nurse.”

Seomera Douglas, also at St. Lukes, is planning a career in the OR. “If you are understaffed,” she said, “there is no time to do proper assessments. If we do not have adequate time to care for patients we run the risk of overlooking problems.”

A table of members from Interfaith Medical Center (ICM) talked up the Enhanced Safety Net Hospital Bill, which became law this year and should result in additional funds for the essential safety net facility in Central Brooklyn. The ER at IMC, they explained, is very busy and needs more nurses. All units have staffing issues, they said.

Harlem Hospital’s lobby visit

Nurses from Harlem Hospital sought out State Senator Fred Akshar, a Republican representing District 52, who had a career in law enforcement before being elected to office in 2015. “Open minded” on the safe staffing law, he told the Harlem nurses, some of whom explained crowding on the pediatric floor where RNs take on as many as seven young patients at a time.

Zoe Oner, nursing student

Afterwards, Palo Wright, RN, who works in the pediatric unit at Harlem, explained the stress of caring for children with worried family members present. She said, “ninety-nine percent of the time we are two RNs on the floor with 12 beds, plus four overflows and six ambulatory patients. There can be 18 or 19 patients at once. We are sometimes overwhelmed and have no lunch on many days.”

RNs and students with clinical experience share a fundamental concern: understaffing is pervasive and very stressful. The need to address this profound public health issue is now. RN-patient ratios set by law will guarantee quality care for patients in all New York hospitals.

Harlem Hospital nurses in a lobby session with State Senator Fred Akshar

Assemblymember Aileen Gunther, RN, sponsor of the Safe Staffing for Quality Care Act at the NYSNA luncheon

New York

nurse special edition | april 2018

the official publication of the new york state nurses association

We are nurses!

We are NYSNA!

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New York Nurse april 2018

F

Janus is the enem

of working p

or several decades, some of America’s elite corporate owners and executives, in common cause with policy institutes established to further their agenda, have been campaigning with all their might — and cash — to bring down unions. They want complete control of the workplaces they own in order to bolster the bottom line: more profits. Some are billionaires, other multimillionaires, and they want more.

Collective bargaining, enshrined in our federal laws in the 1930s, has

been the central mechanism to level the playing field in this country.

Let workers present their demands for wages, benefits and workplace conditions in a unified way, head to head with corporate management.

And it worked for many years.

In this way, unions were able to build the middle class and enable communities to prosper — workers were able to have decent lives and retirements and confidence in the future.

With bold and decisive efforts, however, corporate owners have

tried to break down unions. Their goal is to usher in an era of an America without unions. Janus v AFSCME is key to their efforts.

Public sector workers targeted

Janus targets public sector workers, invoking a very twisted argument that says everything carried out by a union in the public sector, from firefighters to police to nurses in public hospitals, falls under the First Amendment’s free speech protection. All public sector union activity, the argument goes,

The power to advocate for

“

We can stand up together here in New York and make a difference. We have a powerful voice.”

(L-R) RNs Helene Malaspina, Kim Guzzo and David Long

– Judith Cutchin, RN, President NYSNA's H+H/ Mayorals Executive Council, March 14

“ “

As a professional critical care nurse, being in a union allows me to be the voice for patients not only that I personally care for, but also the advocate for patients in hospitals throughout the state!

I refuse to sit back on the sidelines while irresponsible decisions are made by people who could care less about my patients. And knowing that 42,000 nurses in NYSNA agree with me, gives me hope, courage and strength.”

–Xenia Greene, RN, Montefiore

Being in a union makes you feel like people are behind you. Nurses are the patient advocates.

We’re the front line of care. We deserve a union that will hold our standards high. In no other profession do you have to be everything to everybody. Nurses make sure our staff and patients and environment are safe. It’s a big responsibility. Sometimes we have to fight for basic things like good computers and the equipment to help us do our jobs. Thank god NYSNA has helped. I’ve been here 33 years. I could never have survived without NYSNA. Yo owe it to yourself to pay your dues.”

– Helene Malaspina, RN, Westche Medical Center Heart Instit

NEW YORK NURSE april 2018

my people should be seen through a filter of “speech” and union member free speech rights supersede union dues requirements.

Simply put, under Janus, public sector union workers have a constitutional right not to pay dues to their union. The “free ride,” whereby a member gets all the benefits of union collective bargaining without paying dues, becomes a federallyprotected right.

Beneath this tortured argument is a very simple goal: to bankrupt public sector unions and move on to

the private sector, making America a right-to-work nation and making unions a matter of history.

What happened in Wisconsin?

The example of Wisconsin is important to understanding what happens when public unions are attacked. Wisconsin’s Act 10, also known as the Wisconsin Budget Repair Bill, was signed into law in 2011 by Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker and it dealt a crippling blow to hundreds of thousands of public sector workers, hobbling collective bargaining rights and other employee protections.

It was also the opening salvo in a national campaign targeting federal employees.

Vice President Mike Pence has made clear that Wisconsin is ground zero for ideas on similar legislation in Washington.

When Act 10 passed in Wisconsin, nurses, social workers, teachers, prison guards, healthcare and other public sector workers in the once proudly pro-union Badger State lost the right to negotiate for their pensions, their health coverage, their safety, their sick leave, their hours and their vacations.

Only raises were left to bargain over, and even those were capped by inflation and hampered by Act 10’s recertification vote requirement. Thanks to Act 10, in order to bargain over base pay, public sector unions must now hold a recertification vote each year and win by a majority — not only of those voting but of all members eligible to vote.

The results have been devastating. By 2014, wages in Wisconsin had dropped by more than 10 percent for most government Continued on page 10

r our patients

g

e

ou

ester tute

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“

It’s important that nurses and everyone in the union movement understand the importance of solidarity. We need to encourage unions in this country. Unions are the reason we have the benefits we have, and even people who are non-unionized have benefited from unions. Unions are the reason we have rights like minimum wage and family leave. We need to make sure our rights are maintained and enhanced. The only way to do that is to strengthen and support the union movement.”

– Anne Bové, RN, and NYSNA Secretary

“

As an RN, it’s important to be educated about the challenges our profession faces, as well as the challenges our patients face in accessing and affording healthcare. It’s inhumane to make people pay outrageous amounts of money for the basic right to healthcare. Our patients, many of whom are already disadvantaged, may not seek care because of these political decisions. Our jobs could be dramatically changed because of these political decisions. Nurses being educated about what’s going on and advocating will make us a more powerful force— both for ourselves as nurses and for our patients.”

–Sarah Chmura (holding sign), RN, and NYSNA board member

Among the many benefits that union organizing and actions are responsible for: Weekends l All Breaks (Including Meals) l Paid Vacation l FMLA l Sick Leave l Social Security l Minimum Wage l Civil Rights Act/Title VII (Prohibits Discrimination) l 8-Hour Work Day l Overtime Pay l Child Labor Laws l 40-Hour Work Week l Occupational Safety & Health Act (OSHA) l Worker’s Compensation (Worker's Comp) l Unemployment Insurance l Pensions l Workplace Safety Standards and Regulations l Employer Health Care Insurance l Collective Bargaining Rights for Employees l Wrongful Termination Laws l Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 l Whistleblower Protection l Employee Polygraph Protect Act l Sexual Harassment Laws l Veteran’s Employment and Training Services l Raises l Unbiased Evaluations l Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) l Holiday Pay l Privacy Rights l Military Leave l Employer Dental, Life, and Vision Insurance l Public Education for Children l Pregnancy and Parental Leave l The Right to Strike l Equal Pay Acts of 1963 & 2011 l Laws Ending Sweatshops in the United States l Workload Limitations

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New York Nurse April 2018

Janus is the enemy Continued from page 9

“

I work very hard and I know that if we don’t have a union, we won’t have anyone to fight for us. If people don’t want to contribute dues, eventually the union won’t exist. Then who will we turn to when we need support?

Keeping your job and your respect is more important than saving a couple of dollars each paycheck.”

employees, with some workers reportedly on food stamps. Teacher salaries were frozen in some school districts, the retirement age was pushed back, and health plans were revamped in ways that undercut benefits. Other public sector employees were paying as much as 6 percent more toward their pension and at least 12 percent more toward their health plans. At the same time, in some districts “just cause” for terminations was no longer a part of the deal.

Moving on to the private sector

The Wisconsin State motto is “Forward,” but with wages in decline and without the “fair-share” requirement (Act 10 made union fees optional for public employees who are union members), the future for Wisconsin does not look bright.

In 2015, emboldened by his success, Governor Walker took aim at Wisconsin’s private sector unions.

Once again, he won, making Wisconsin the 25th state to adopt a right-to-work law.

This was bad news for workers and particularly noteworthy in Wisconsin. Act 10 and right-to-work run counter to the spirit of the state, whose laws and traditions institutionalized two of our nation’s groundbreaking worker protections. In 1932, Wisconsin was the first state to found a union local: (Local 1) of the American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees.

Twenty-seven years later, in 1959, Wisconsin was front and center again with the first law in the country to allow public sector unions to negotiate contracts. In 2011, that hard-won right virtually disappeared with a stroke of the governor’s pen, along with all the worker protections and benefits it safeguarded.

A promising trend

Union membership is on the rise among young people for the first time in decades. According to the Economic Policy Institute, in 2017, there were 262,000 new union members in the United States. Of this number, 75 percent were young people (aged 34 or under). Young people are now reported to have the most favorable attitudes toward labor of any generation and their support for political parties skews heavily toward those that support pro-worker policies, specifically opposing right-to-work laws.

– Sarita Jones, RN, Jacobi Post-Partum Unit

Sarita Jones, RN

New AN ACT to amend the civil service law, the general municipal law and the state finance law, in relation to union dues and the duty of fair representation Successful legislative changes to the state’s Taylor Law that help our public employee union rights were signed into law by Andrew Governor Cuomo on April 12, 2018.

lW ithin

Some of the highlights:

lW ithin

lU nion

dues deductions shall be commenced as soon as possible, but no later than 30 days after the dues deduction cards are signed;

l I f

a union member wishes to withdraw as a member, it must be in conformance with any language stated on the deduction card;

l I f

a union member leaves the employment for no more than one year, the dues deduction card remains valid;

l I f

a union member leaves or is removed from the payroll or placed on voluntary or involuntary leave of absence, whether paid or not, his or her membership status automatically reinstates upon restoration to active service;

the first 30 days of employment or reemployment, the employer shall notify the union of the hiring, transfer or assignment of the member into the bargaining unit; 30 days of receiving notice from the employer of the hiring, the union shall have a meeting with the employee for a reasonable amount of time during work time without charge to leave credits unless directed otherwise by the collective bargaining agreement;

lF or

purposes of the union’s duty to fairly represent a nondues paying member, the union shall not be obligated to represent the person in any investigation of employee misconduct, evaluation, grievance, arbitration or any other contractual process concerning evaluation or discipline;

lT he

union shall be mandated to represent the non-dues paying member as it relates to the enforcement or negotiation of terms of a collective bargaining agreement.

westchester, lower hudson valley

NEW YORK NURSE/WLHV April 2018

NYSNA by our side

T

ime and again, public surveys show that nurses are among the most trusted professionals in the workforce today. But earning the trust and respect of hospital management can often feel like an uphill battle.

When it comes to advocating for our patients, making sure we have the resources needed to provide the best possible care, resolving conflicts with management or simply negotiating a contract, nurses need a strong voice to break through.

That’s where unity with our fellow nurses and the backing of a union make the difference.

In recent years, we’ve seen unfriendly politicians and greedy businesses set their sights on destroying unions for working people. The Janus vs. AFSCME case being decided by the Supreme Court right now has the potential to dramatically weaken our collective bargaining rights and, ultimately, our ability to organize, advocate and provide for our patients (see Special Edition, pp. 7-10).

Growing support

And yet, support for unions is growing among the younger generation of workers entering the workforce. From public school teachers in Kentucky to hotel workers in California, taxi drivers in Maryland to casino employees in Nevada, our brothers and sisters across the country have united to fight back against attacks on collective bargaining and worker protections — and the list of union victories continues to grow.

The history of our country has shown that nothing will ever be stronger than workers standing together in solidarity.

This month, NYSNA traveled across the state to find out exactly what being part of this union means to you, our members.

Zina Klein, RN, a nurse at Westchester Medical Center for 27 years, experienced firsthand the influential role NYSNA played when the nurses were in contract negotiations. “If it wasn’t for NYSNA putting support and resources behind us, we’d probably still be fighting for that contract,” Klein said.

need to work together and be on our ‘A’ game. We deserve a union that will hold our standards high.

Being in a union makes you feel like people are behind you. Being in a union gives us the will and inspiration to guide newer nurses.”

Helping families

Wilma Wynter, RN

With the union’s support, more than 600 nurses from other units came out to support their fight for a fair contract. As a result of the new contract, nurses at Westchester Medical Center are now among the highest paid in New York State.

“Regardless of what facility you work at,” said Klein, “we NYSNA nurses are united as one. You do not stand alone when you’re in a union—that’s for sure.”

Wilma Wynter, RN, a Westchester Medical Center nurse since 1993, agreed: “I love being a NYSNA nurse because of the camaraderie when we’re together.

It’s knowing someone’s got your back. Being in a union has helped us with safe staffing. It’s helped with our contract. I remember the days when we worked 24 hours.

Now management can’t just use mandating as a way of staffing the unit. That was not safe, and we changed that as a union. Now they can only mandate for four hours.”

Working together

Helene Malaspina, RN, of Westchester Medical Center Heart Institute echoed their sentiment.

“I’ve been here for 33 years. I could never have survived without NYSNA,” said Malaspina. “One of our old managers targeted us, would intimidate us, separate us and isolate us if there was a problem. But together, we could see that what we were fighting for was correct.”

Malaspina explained the importance of being a part of a union: “We are the patient advocates.

We’re the front line of care. We

For some, NYSNA membership hits even closer to home.

Janna Walter, RN, a nurse at Sullivan County, has been a NYSNA member since 2012. One of her children was born with a chronic medical condition called neurofibromatosis (NF), which causes tumors to grow on nerves and can lead to blindness, deafness, loss of limbs, severe disfigurement, cancer and death. NF is a costly illness, as treatment includes annual MRI, CT and PET scan imaging, and frequent surgeries to remove tumors or correct bone deformities.

Currently, there is no cure.

“My daughter is a patient at the Boston Children’s Hospital and Dana-Faber Cancer Institute,” said Walter. “She is a cancer survivor who has endured over 13 surgeries in her 21 years of life.”

Before becoming a NYSNA nurse, Janna did not have a good health insurance plan. She found herself battling with representatives to obtain approval for her daughter’s medical needs.

That all changed with NYNSA. The NYSNA benefits plan has helped her family maintain her daughter’s care in Boston.

“I am incredibly thankful for our health insurance plan. We have never been denied service. During the most troubling times—as my daughter was fighting for her life—I never had to worry about coverage. I knew the NYSNA benefits team was behind me. When calling in with questions, I am always treated with kindness, respect and never treated like a number. Thank you NYSNA for being there for us! It’s such a great feeling to have such a powerful team of NURSES standing behind us!”

NYSNA will always fight to protect our members, our standards, our right to organize and for legislation that improves patient outcomes. Whether you’re in the hospital providing for the patients, sitting at the negotiating table, or rallying in the streets for healthcare, NYSNA has got your back.

Janna Walter, RN (at right)

Zina Klein, RN

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New York Nurse April 2018

Welcome Albany Med! Continued from page 3

our concerns and experiences,” said Whalen. “We wouldn’t have been able to do so had it not been for some RN’s reaching out to NYSNA. The effort gained momentum steadily.”

Albany Med nurses now join NYSNA members in Schenectady and Gloversville, the North Country and the Hudson Valley, as the reach of the union grows in Upstate New York.

“

New York is a union state and we have zero tolerance for any attempts to illegally interfere in the fundamental right to join a union. At a time when organized labor is under attack, New York is stepping up for our union brothers and sisters and those seeking to organize– especially the nurses who serve our sick and elderly at hospitals across the state."

Social media made a difference

NYSNA’s organizing effort was underscored by a social media campaign that allowed the 2,200 nurses — on different shifts and varying units — to effectively get to know and speak to each other through a digital platform. Whalen and oth-

ers complimented the effectiveness of this outstanding campaign.

Social media posts highlighted RNs like Chris Lee who wrote, “We treat our patients with respect and compassion; we deserve to be treated the same way.” And a post came from Lisa Eberhardt, RN: “I want a union at AMC so that my patients have the safest and highest quality care.” Mike Fitzsimmons, RN, said “We had an organizing drive at AMC 17 years ago. What’s different this time is we’re very well prepared to stand up for our rights.”

“Congratulations to the registered nurses of Albany Med for standing up for their rights to organize and fight for stronger benefits, wages and staffing schedules — they will be stronger for it,” wrote Governor Cuomo in the aftermath

– Governor Andrew Cuomo in an April 15 directive to the Department of Labor

AMC nurses holding authorization cards signed by a supermajority of their colleagues at the National Labor Relations Board.

Nurses came together from every department to form an organizing committee.

RNs Marivic Vergonia, Lisa Eberhardt, and Cerrise Ramirez from M5 Vascular showing NYSNA spirit.

of the union vote. “New York is a union state, and we believe in the power of organized labor to fight for fairness, decency and respect.”

(See sidebar for a chronology of the governor’s statements.)

NYSNA a stronger union

“I was pleased to hear that someone was taking our concerns seriously — the issues and allegations surrounding behavior used by management to discourage union talk between coworkers,” said Whalen.

“And it wasn’t just anybody, it was Governor Cuomo.”

In the aftermath of the Albany Med vote to unionize, Governor Cuomo publicly stated his support of NYSNA and other RN unions’ sponsored safe staffing legislation (see Lobby Day advances RN agenda, pp. 5-6).

The 40,000 members of NYSNA offer a heartfelt welcome to our new members. The union makes us strong and you make our union stronger. Solidarity!

NEW YORK NURSE

public health

13

April 2018

Renovation Hazards Can Impact Patients and Frontline Staff

SIUH nurses experience hazards of hospital renovation first hand

ICU

nurses are used to working in a challenging environment. Recently, NYSNA members in the ICU and other units at Staten Island University Hospital SIUH) found conditions to be not only challenging, but hazardous.

Chemical fumes from a construction project on the floor above them had drifted down into their unit. Nurses started to experience dizziness, burning eyes, respiratory distress and nausea. “There was suddenly a metallic taste in our mouths,” one nurse explained.

Some staff went to the emergency room. One became so disoriented that she had to be escorted to the ER. Incident reports were filed and management was notified of the hazardous condition. Yet ICU staff working the next day encountered the same conditions, and at 5 p.m. that day, some of them also went to the ER for treatment.

A manager said, “I don’t know how you can work in this.” A doctor stayed for 15 minutes and left.

The health and safety officer did not have an answer as to whether people should evacuate or what they should do.

Hazardous fumes

The culprits were styrene and isocyanate fumes from epoxy and adhesive being used in the renovation of a cardiac cath unit a floor above. Styrene is a carcinogen that also targets the central nervous system. Isocyanates have some similar effects. The fumes had actually spread throughout the Cardiac Tower at the hospital, which houses a number of units.

Three months later, some of those exposed are still experiencing health effects. Some have filed for workers’ compensation and are meeting with one of the New York State Occupational Health clinics for health screening and advice. The duration of the event — over several days — is an indication of the extent

of the failure in management prevention and response plans.

When construction and renovation take place in healthcare settings, chemical fumes are just one of a range of hazards that can be unleashed. Other hazards include dusts (including asbestos and silica), mold, volatile organic compounds, noise and vibration.

When construction and renovation take place in healthcare settings,

chemical fumes are just

Other renovation hazards

Basic physical hazards can also be involved. In another example This ventilation pipe in the renovation area had been from a NYSNA patched with masking tape. Faulty ventilation could have employer, workers been one cause of the chemical vapor exposures at SIUH at Flushing Hospital in January. were injured when a walkway ceiling colOSHA also has specific stanlapsed during maintenance work. dards on how construction work Patients, visitors and other staff is performed, aimed at protecting could have been injured as well; construction workers. fortunately none were. OSHA cited Failure to control risks the employer over the incident.

Patients and staff alike can be in the line of fire, making it a patient care concern as well as an occupational health issue. Because of this, the joint commission has specific requirements. In part they state that: “When planning for demolition, construction, renovation or general maintenance, the [organization] conducts a preconstruction risk assessment for air quality requirements, infection control, utility requirements, noise, vibration, and other hazards that affect care, treatment and services.

“The [organization] takes action based on its assessment to minimize risks during demolition, construction or renovation.”

(EC.02.06.05)

So how did things go wrong at SIUH? NYSNA members are working to find that out — and make sure it does not happen again. Two elements are clear at this point. Systems were not in place or failed that were meant to control fumes from the epoxy.

Even more disturbing was the ongoing exposure to the fumes over 24 hours later, indicating that management had not anticipated this risk and was unable to control it.

We need to make sure renovation work does not become a hazard for patients and frontline staff. Contact NYSNA Health and Safety at healthandsafety@nysna. org for more info or help with issues in your facility.

one of a range of hazards that can be unleashed.

14

New York Nurse April 2018

O Social

media at work for Albany Medical Center

Still images of nurse videos from Albany Med

ne of the keys to success in the Albany Medical Center (AMC) campaign was the innovative use of digital media that enabled nurses to effectively expand the audience getting their message.

First, it was necessary to create an inoculation video to prepare nurses for the anti-union campaign that management was preparing to run.

There were many veteran nurses who had been involved in previously unsuccessful efforts to organize and their insights were keen.

AMC nurse leaders spoke

The video that initiated the campaign featured several nurses reflecting on how best to respond to the anti-union messaging. This first video was extremely successful, receiving over 17,000 views, including over half of Albany Med nurses. The reason this video resonated so well was that well-known nurse leaders were featured and their testimonials were clear and compelling. Their messages helped to ease the anxiety among RNs as

management began to exert pressure on them.

Next, we expanded the audience that the nurses had built by posting short videos on a near-daily basis.

Most were short 30 second videos featuring a nurse who regretted voting “no” in a previous election to the ubiquitous theme in all social media: cat videos!

The measured quality of the content was very persuasive, we found. Also important were the videos featuring nurses from other NYSNA hospitals, such as Putnam and Bellevue. These provided critical nurse-to-nurse communication on the realities of being a nurse at a unionized hospital.

A series of videos followed

It was also important to have the communication materials in the digital realm mirror what nurses were using in the hospital. The same day, for example, that we distributed a booklet with 1,000 signatures and pictures of hundreds of nurses in support, we created a video slideshow of this material.

It was shared digitally, receiving thousands of views.

By continuing to create relevant, new content, a real appetite was created for the next video or meme, culminating in our “We’re Voting Yes” video, featuring over 100 nurses telling colleagues with short messages that they were voting “yes.” The sincerity of these messages was compelling and this simple video went viral, receiving over 41,000 views, among th nurses, friends, the community and beyond. It became the mostwatched NYSNA video ever. This momentum helped carry NYSNA into election day with the confidence to win a landslide victory.

Digital interest in NYSNA and the Albany Med nurses was only just beginning. The Facebook post announcing the victory was viewed by over 170,000 people across the country and subsequent videos of these nurses are shared throughout the U.S., proving that NYSNA nurses are ready for the 21st-century outreach.

NEW YORK NURSE April 2018

NYC – “What I love about being a member of

NYSNA is the support the union gives to nurses and to the patients,” said Elizabeth Lafargue, RN (center).

long island

– “‘Do no harm’ sometimes means

saying no. In that situation, I am able to focus on the safety of the patients because I know that the union has my back," said Emily Wood, RN (center).

Around the state 9

capital/north country

– “I feel that the

central region

– “[NYSNA has] improved our

union keeps us on a level playing field with management, and they are there to watch my back,” said Fred Durocher, RN.

working conditions ... this benefits nurses and patients,” said Valerie Chamberlain, RN.

western region – ”[NYSNA] will have my back when

staten island

I retire and advocate and represent nurses no matter how young, old, new or experienced,” said Judy Chambos, RN (L).

– “NYSNA is supportive and

continues to encourage nurses to become more proactive on the issues at hand,” said Roseann Devincenzo, RN.

15

NEW YORK NURSE april 2018

Non-Profit US Postage Paid NYSNA

131 West 33rd Street, 4th Floor New York, NY 10001 2 WLHV

INSIDE

Lobby Day, pp. 5-6

Renovation hazards, p. 13

Albany Med nurses celebrate their winning vote.