Posted on 02/27/2010 7:33:36 PM PST by Saije
The District's largest private hospital has fired 11 nurses and five support staff members who failed to make it to work during the back-to-back snowstorms that paralyzed the region earlier this month.
Dozens of staff members at Washington Hospital Center face internal investigations, union representatives say, and it is unclear how many employees will lose their jobs. On Friday, the nurses union, Nurses United of the National Capital Region, filed a class-action grievance with the hospital.
"I see it as so unfair and uncaring," said Shirley Ricks, a 57-year-old nurse who has spent her entire career at the hospital. "That's it. You call in one day in the biggest snowstorm in history and you're out. No ifs, ands or buts about it. . . . You go from getting a salary every two weeks to nothing. It's scary."
In a letter sent to the staff on Friday, hospital President Harry J. Rider sought to quell rumors that hundreds of people had been fired. He said he expects fewer than 20 people will be dismissed.
"Sadly, we did experience some issue with associates who did not show the same commitment as most of their co-workers to the community, our patients and their fellow associates. They are the few who turned away from their scheduled shifts and who tried -- and are still trying -- to turn the focus on themselves rather than the thousands of Washington Hospital Center workers who fulfilled their commitment to their patients and colleagues, and made it to work," he wrote.
Hospital spokeswoman So Young Pak said she could not comment on specific cases or personnel issues, but "we do not terminate any associates without a fair process. We always review the entire situation with the final decision based on all facts and circumstances."
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
You sure sound like you don’t know anything or else you work in a place run by complete idiots. Maybe both. My hospital has designated staff to work during weather emergencies. We get the notice each year as to who is required to report when a pending weather emergency is declared. The staff bring their suitcase with them to work and whatever food or extras they want to have on hand for themselves and are expected to work until the end of the emergency or until they can be replaced. If staff cannot be replaced after 7 days, the hospital will go into shutdown mode and the patients and staff are evacuated by National Guard troops or other emergency management support. It is ABSURD to expect staff who are off work to come and go from work on a normal schedule during a declared weather emergency when it is dangerous and in most places illegal to be driving during a weather emergency. Those who work during the weather emergency period do not have to work during the next declared weather emergency. This is how it works for all of the hospitals in our region.
But the unions are creeping in for a reason...don't you think it's about time to examine why? If everything is so great, why are the unions getting their foot in the door?
Things are not so great everywhere. Think about it...it only takes a handful of crooks to get their admin degree and then the entire system can go to h@ll in a heartbeat. That's what is happening and if I didn't keep my tinfoil hat on at all times I'd guess it's being done purposfully by big government drones.
I've always been a hardliner and a d@mn hard worker. Telling co-workers to buck up and things will get better. I love my patients and I still work in healthcare..just not in the hospitals. Until someone fixes the problems, it's not worth the extra pay they give.
Our hospital has a hotel up the street that they get rooms at reduced rates for those who need them when a big storm is expected. They don’t PAY for them, but it is better than nothing. A surprising number of people take advantage of them.
I tried sleeping on an empty stretcher one time, and nearly had a heart attack when someone woke me up thinking I was a patient, grabbing my shoulder and shaking it. “Sir...sir...are you okay?” The person thought I had been left there by accident...
I don’t sleep on stretchers anymore...:)
No, dude, I think you misunderstand. Here in the DC area, we had three feet of snow fall in 24 hours. We had whiteout conditions so bad that the snowplow drivers couldn't see to shovel and were told to stop by the side of the road. Hundreds of thousands of people had no electricity for up to a week. In Pennsylvania, the governor closed the major roads.
In this part of the US, we aren't equipped to deal with this much snow all at once, because we've never encountered this before in our history. People don't tend to have snowblowers, and a lot of folks don't even have high winter boots or snowshovels. We just don't need them, as a rule.
I used to live in the Colorado Rockies, and I have also lived in New York State and other cold climates, so I'm not unused to high snow and cold weather. I have been on top of a 10,500 foot mountain in a whiteout with hurricane-strength winds. But this storm represented a real problem. Even when (after many hours of work) my young son and I dug to the end of our driveway, there was no point as we did not have a snowplow come to our neighborhood for several days. I would have had to flounder in thigh-deep snow (no snow shoes here!) for some miles to get to a road that was cleared.
Everything ISN’T great, and it is getting harder and harder. In New England (the Boston area in particular) SEIU has made a concerted effort.
At my institution, we actively examine why unions are infiltrating, and take active steps to salt the soil for them. (by salt the soil, I mean make it an infertile environment for them)
If the unions think it is fertile ground, they are going to push for it. They are evil, but they aren’t dumb. They look for weak hospitals where employees may have legitimate grievances, and try to exploit that.
Unions are nobody’s friend. The steel industry found that out long ago, the coal industry is finding it out with this current administration, and the auto industry is going to implode before they have a chance to find out.
Look, I don’t doubt you worked at some bad places. But not everyplace is that way.
Well we can at least be in agreement on that. Also that unions are no good for anyone.
I've seen when hospitals work well and I guess that makes me an old foggie or something....but the doctors and nurses need to run the hospitals like they used to...it' as simple as that.
And what is with this crap happening in NY?...I thought the health care workers in NY were already unionized?
Exactly! Thanks for posting it. My fiancee is a nurse, and as you said, **** happens. Yes, you try to get out there, but a little respect goes a long way.
“It is ABSURD to expect staff who are off work to come and go from work on a normal schedule during a declared weather emergency when it is dangerous and in most places illegal to be driving during a weather emergency.”
Wow, a little common sense.
Call the hospital...They are willing to send an Ambulance to get staff. Besides it is not impossible to drive through snow, or the police and emergency vehicles would also be stuck...great time to rob a bank. I am not being a smart a$$, I have driven through deep snow many times. The point I tried to make is that the hospital did not shut down, others found ways to work. The work is too vital to just stop. Belive me if your job is in critical care...the hospital will send you help, just be prepared to stay for a long shift. Once in Kansas I was snowed in while at work and spent 2 days in house providing care. Thanks.
Oh and this UNION crud is just that. The hospital is not a plantation where they beat us to get us to produce. I don’t have a love for administrative bosses because they don’t affect my job. I do whats right regardless of what the boss says. If you deliver quality care you never need to hear from the boss. I don’t give a rats behind about their bonus plans because I have never felt the need to ask them what they get. You guys harping about the slave like working conditions and the need for Unions sound like every young nurse we have. If we just had a union this...If we just had a union that....BS! Gee its tough when you can only be gone from work for 7 unexcused absences before they fire you. I haven’t had 7 occurances in a 12 month period in my career. And please understand if you miss 12 days in a row with a sick kid it counts as one occurance. Please!
Work is hard, and providing care for the sick has to be done. A Union is not going to help reduce patient/nurse ratios, they will just take your money and run. Its not a moral act to go on strike when you are leaving sick people without adequate care. If you are in the business, its understood that you will work 12 months a year for a teachers salary, without a pension...so what? We do what we do out of duty and compassion, because the money will never be enough to be crapped on, bitten by someone with aids, or be exposed to diseases that can kill us. SCREW nursing unions. The only good thing about nursing unions, is the money is good for those willing to pick up extra $$$ working a few extra hours helping break the strike! Scab money spends real good!
“It is ABSURD to expect staff who are off work to come and go from work on a normal schedule during a declared weather emergency when it is dangerous and in most places illegal to be driving during a weather emergency.”
________________________________________________________
Right Screw the patients...(sarcasm ON)
Maybe the Union Bosses will come in for you and earn those Union Dues! (Sarcasm OFF)
I believe it. Where I used to work, I saw the same entitlement mentality of managers.
I think that it depends on their work history and where they were commuting from.
It did take some people a few days to get plowed out but there were certainly some people who took advantage of the situation to stay home.
I'm a nurse, and that just happened to me 2 weeks ago.
Well, that is part of it...I work for a physician run hospital. To be realistic, that has it ups and downs, too, but on the whole, I think it works okay.
Its a push for universal health care. Note how the opening sentence tells us that its a "private" hospital. The insinuation being that this wouldnt happen at a public government run hospital.
Every time the government closes because of snow, the announcement is that the offices are closed .. but EMERGENCY PERSONNEL are to report.
What strikes me as ironic in this discussion is that the clerk at our local 7-11 managed to make it to work and keep the business going.
“If you deliver quality care you never need to hear from the boss.”
Depends on the boss. My fiancee got let go for being the most expensive of all the nurses due to overtime and covering for others. ‘Quality’ never entered the picture. Her cronies however, all stayed on.
I suppose thats always true that it depends on the boss. Every once in a while they do complain about overtime costs, but usually within 24 hours they need you to work another double! Gotta wait em out...
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