Renown Nurses Hold Candle Light Vigil for Patient Care
Nurses at Renown Regional Medical Center held a candle light vigil to highlight hospital management’s continued reluctance to negotiate a contract addressing nurses’ patient care concerns. Nurses are standing united for nurse-to-patient ratios and other policies that will help recruit and retain experienced nurses at the bedside, where patients need them.
“I’ve worked at a lot of hospitals,” said Stu Talley, a nurse for nearly 24 years who has spent the last five at Renown. “I know that Reno residents deserve a community hospital with a stronger commitment to their patients and their hospital staff than Renown. Nurses and healthcare workers should have the tools and support they need to provide safe, high quality care.”
“For me, nursing is not business. Nursing is personal,” said Robin Marquez, who has been a nurse at Renown for 11 years. “I became a nurse to help care for my brother, a victim of Agent Orange in the Vietnam War. And it has changed my life. As a nurse, I can teach my children that one person can in fact make a difference, and now one of my daughters is also looking to enter care-giving.”
“It is really powerful to see so many community members come out and support us nurses,” Marquez continued. “We are fighting for everyone’s right to get the care they need when they need it.”
Watch a news clip of the vigil
Posted By: Renown RN Team on 6/12/2008 2:46:00 PM
SEIU Nevada RNs at Renown Tell Their Stories! STORY #10 - Reno's Patient Advocates Won't Be Silenced!
RENO, April 10, 2008 - SEIU Nevada nurses at Renown Regional Medical Center
will hold a rally calling on their community to support them in their
efforts to improve nurse staffing standards on the floors of their hospital.
The nurses have been in negotiations with the hospital for several months,
but the hospital has yet to respond seriously to any of the nurses'
proposals.
NEW LOCATION - Join SEIU Nevada Nurses at their Rally!
WHAT: Rally for Higher Quality Care at Renown!
WHEN: Thursday, April 10 at 1 PM
WHERE: Veteran's Park at Virginia Street and Court Street, in
downtown Reno
The rally location was changed to the heart of the Reno community after the
nurses decided they would not allow their hospital to silence their voices
as advocates for improved hospital working conditions, and as advocates for
better healthcare in their hospital and community.
First and foremost, the nurses at Renown are seeking a voice in how patient
care is provided at their hospital. As frontline healthcare providers in
the hospitals, nurses know best what is needed to improve care. Nurses are
looking to improve staffing levels in the hospital through the creation of
nurse to patient ratios that would ensure no nurse has to take on more
patients than they can safely care for.
Improving staffing will also help achieve another goal of the nurses, which
is improving the retention of experienced nurses at the bedside. While Reno
has more nurses per capita than most parts of the country, our community,
like many across the country, faces a shortage of nurses willing to work in
the frantic, stressful conditions caused by understaffing on the floors of
their hospitals. Nurses believe that understaffing at Renown is a major
factor in the hospital's 18 percent turnover rate.
The nurses at Renown are proud to be standing up as advocates for their
patients by educating their community about the challenges they face at
their hospital.
My Story, by Fred Petig, RN, Telemetry
"I became a nurse later than most, when I was in my early 40s. For me,
nursing isn't a career, it is an avocation. I was called to nursing because
I wanted to spend everyday helping people and making their lives easier when
they're having a hard time because they're sick. So, it pains me when one
of my patients asks me a question by beginning - 'I'm sorry to bother you,
because it looks like you're so busy.'
"Doctor's breeze in and out of a patient's room. It is our role as nurses
to provide the one on one our patients need to heal.
"My fellow nurses and I work very hard to ensure our patients receive all
the care they need to heal. What I don't have time to do is sit down with
my patients and educate them about their disease, how they can help care for
themselves, and what to expect with their condition down the road.
"If we had more nurses on the floors of our hospitals, we would have more
time to spend with our patients. The ability to do our jobs fully safely
and well is why we are at the bargaining table, and it's why we are reaching
out as patient advocates to the community - to our patients and their
families and friends. Renown is our community hospital. We are calling on
our hospital to work with us to make it even better."
SEIU Nevada nurses are asking Renown - help us spend more time helping
patients by fully staffing our hospital!
Posted By: Renown RN Team on 4/10/2008 12:48:00 AM
SEIU Nevada RNs at Renown Tell Their Stories! STORY #9 – Renown’s Priority:Luxuries and CEO Salaries
RENO, April 9, 2008 – Today, SEIU Nevada questioned whether Renown Regional Medical Center, as a not-for-profit hospital, was being a good steward of Reno’s healthcare resources. While the hospital claims that “all net income generated by our medical center is invested back in the community,” Renown’s actual spending seems to reflect different priorities.
“As the largest hospital in the region, we believe Renown should stay true to its legacy as a community resource,” said Jane McAlevey, Executive Director of SEIU Nevada. “It is great that Renown is touting their beautiful new hospital, but the luxuries aren’t enough – we need to do more to ensure there are enough nurses to care for the patients in all those new beds.”
Having brought in more than $35 million in net operating revenue over the past year, Renown Health is a highly profitable hospital corporation. This is much like recent trends for not-for-profit hospitals, whose tax breaks helped make 77 percent of them profitable last year. That is compared to just 61 percent of for-profit hospitals that operated in the black last year.
RENOWN KEEPS RAKING IN THE PROFITS BY:
A recent Wall Street Journal article, “Nonprofit Hospitals, Once for the Poor, Strike it Rich,” outlined several ways that not-for-profit hospitals are increasing profits. Renown is using the following to support its recent operating margins – which were up to 9 percent in FY2006 from more than 6 percent in FY2004.
· Hiking up list prices for procedures and services to several times their actual cost: On average, Renown charges patients 216% more for a service than the service cost to provide.
· Demanding upfront payments from patients: Renown’s own website claims that “if you are receiving non-emergency services, you will be asked to pay 50 percent of your bill before the appointment.”
· Selling patients’ debts to collection companies: If you can’t afford to pay the marked-up cost of care at Renown when you arrive, “you will eventually be turned over to a collection agency.” Renown is so serious about collecting payments from patients, they even own their own collection agency, Remittance Assistance Corporation.
RENOWN IS SPENDING THEIR PROFITS ON:
Like many other not-for-profit hospitals flush with cash, Renown is spending their profits on a fancy new hospital tower and executive compensation.
· Rich Executive Pay: While total payroll only increased by 1.5 percent in the hospital, CEO Jim Miller’s total compensation rose by 84.3 percent from 2003 to 2005. In 2005, he received $1,125,502 in salary, benefits and expense accounts.
· Renown’s Luxury Hospital Tower: This $318 million project includes192 new beds in private patient suites on 11 floors – each of which will have 26-inch flat screen TVs and two pieces of the 400 original works of art purchased by the hospital. In addition, Renown is building a 30,000 square foot “healing garden.” All these luxurious things will improve the patient experience – but shouldn’t come at the expense of investments in patient care necessities like nurses, staff and equipment.
Join SEIU Nevada Nurses at their Rally!
WHAT: Rally for Higher Quality Care at Renown!
WHEN: Thursday, April 10 at 12:30 PM
WHERE: Picket Park, Across from Renown Regional Medical Center
SEIU Nevada nurses are asking Renown – help us spend more time helping patients by fully staffing our hospital!
Posted By: Renown RN Team on 4/9/2008 1:04:00 PM
SEIU Nevada RNs at Renown Tell Their Stories! STORY #8 – A Healing Environment Wouldn’t Burn Out Nurses
RENO, April 8, 2008 – Nevada, like most of America, is facing a crisis of too few nurses willing to work at the bedside. The cause – and result – of this shortage is the stressful environment hospitals create by choosing not to safely and adequately staff our hospitals. Nurses enter their profession to spend time caring for patients, and leave when they are unable to do so.
The result for the nurses and hospital workers left behind is not just job dissatisfaction levels that are four times greater than for the average American worker, but also burnout levels that are higher than for other, non-hospital healthcare workers.[1]
So, it should be no surprise that the 30 percent of Nevada nurses who leave the their first job in their first year out of school, and the 57 percent of nurses who leave in their second, cite patient care concerns such as unsafe patient ratios, not having enough time to spend with patients, and working conditions that are not conducive to safe patient care.[2]
Renown has spent more than $300 million to build a state of the art healing environment for their patients. But, until they start adequately staffing the floors of that hospital, it will continue to burn out hardworking nurses and hospital workers.
My Story, by Ruth Flack, RN, Post-Partum
“I’ve been an RN at Renown for 20 years now and it’s getting more and more stressful all the time. I work part time to help balance the stress and pressure of not having enough nurses on the floor. In order to give my best to my patients I choose to work only two days a week, even if it means I limit my expenditures and am careful with my bills so I can live on less.
“As a post partum newborn nurse, I can have to care for as many as 14 patients in a day – meaning 7 mothers and 7 newborns. People think of mothers and new babies as a nice and calm environment. Quite contrarily, things can get hectic really quickly in the hospital. A baby can choke, a mother can hemorrhage, and a baby can have a drop in blood sugar that can be life threatening. It takes a lot to stay on top of it all.
“The only reason the stress of dealing with these types of frantic situations is manageable for me is because I’ve elected to pursue a lifestyle that doesn’t require me to work full time. Not everyone has that option.
“Often times my license is put on the line. For example, I’ve been required to carry a full patient load and operate as a charge nurse. As a charge nurse, I am taking on tasks like coordinating with the Labor and Delivery Unit to admit patients and allocate them to nurses. I have to monitor the patients and nurses on the floor to determine whether the nurses can take a mother that has had a c-section or a patient on meds that requires closer monitoring. I have to be able to make good decisions to try to balance the workload for my fellow nurses.
“Nurses don’t want to keep working under these conditions. Our level of efficiently begins to degrade with the emotional and physical stress. There is just no time for real care, for real compassionate care. It’s no wonder nurses are leaving the bedside.”
Experts Agree! Understaffing affects nurses and patients.
According to a 2002 study in the Journal of the American Medical Association, “higher emotional exhaustion and greater job dissatisfaction in nurses” is strongly and significantly associated with the number of patients they must care for. Each additional patient over four per nurse is associated with a 23 percent chance of job burnout and a 15 percent chance increase in odds of job dissatisfaction.[3]
Of nurses experiencing burnout and dissatisfaction, 43 percent are likely to leave their job – compared to only 11 percent of nurses who aren’t burned out. Every time a nurse leaves the profession, hospitals and patients and their fellow nurses lose an important resource of experience and training. The costs to replace a nurse are significant.
The same study found that hospitals with low staffing levels not only were burning out nurses, but they also had higher levels of patient mortality. The conclusion? Safe, enforceable staffing ratios “represents a credible approach to reducing mortality and increasing nurse retention in hospital practice.”
Join SEIU Nevada Nurses at their Rally!
WHAT: Rally for Higher Quality Care at Renown!
WHEN: Thursday, April 10 at 12:30 PM
WHERE: Pickett Park, Across from Renown Regional Medical Center
SEIU Nevada nurses are asking Renown – help us spend more time helping patients by fully staffing our hospital!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[1] Linda Aiken, et al, “Hospital Nurse Staffing and Patient Mortality, Nurse Burnout, and Job Dissatisfaction,” Journal of the American Medical Association, October 23/30, 2002, Vol. 288, No. 16.
[2] Bowles, Cheryl and Lori Candela. “First Job Experiences of Recent R.N. Graduates.” Journal of Nursing Administration, 2005.
[3] Aiken, Linda H., Sean P. Clarke, Douglas M. Stone, Julie Sochalski and Jeffrey H. Silber. “Hospital Nurse Staffing and Patient Mortality, Nurse Burnout and Job Dissatisfaction.” Journal of the American Medical Association, Vol. 288, No. 16, 10/23/2002..
Posted By: Renown RN Team on 4/8/2008 1:03:00 PM
SEIU Nevada RNs at Renown Tell Their Stories! STORY #6 - Designing a Better Hospital
RENO, April 6, 2008 - In the wake of the tragedy resulting from the
unethical actions of the health clinics that spread hepatitis in Las Vegas,
our community has been taking a hard look at the safety standards in our
healthcare facilities. Patients rely on their nurses and frontline
healthcare workers to keep them safe and help them heal.
The management at Renown has been very clear about their priorities -
spending big bucks to rebrand our largest community hospital and build a
luxury, part-hotel hospital tower. But a new logo doesn't heal patients -
nurses heal patients. That's why the nurses and healthcare workers at
Renown remain committed to our top priority - building a better hospital by
building a stronger hospital team.
The nurses at Renown are calling on their community to stand with them to
give nurses and healthcare workers a voice to advocate for their patients in
our hospital!
My Story, by Steve Smagala, RN, Post Anesthesia Care Unit
"Our first role as nurses is always as a patient advocate. And the nurses
at Renown have come together to set higher standards for healthcare in our
community and higher standards for our working conditions in the hospital
because we know that is what our community deserves from it's largest local
hospital.
"We know that as our community learns more about what we are trying to do -
design a better hospital from the inside by ensuring there are enough
trained and experienced local nurses at the bedside providing patient care
so nurses are able to do their jobs without worrying about their health or
losing their license - they will stand with us in asking Renown to do the
right thing.
"It's going to take everyone to improve quality care standards in Northern
Nevada. Together we'll be able to make the changes needed to ensure
patients have the safe, fully-staffed hospital they deserve."
Posted By: Renown RN Team on 4/6/2008 4:47:00 PM
SEIU Nevada RNs at Renown Tell Their Stories! STORY #5 - Patient Experience
RENO, April 5, 2008 - SEIU Nevada nurses at Renown believe that the most
important part of the patient experience isn't signage or valet parking.
The most important part of the patient experience should be high quality
care.
Nurses in the intensive care unit (ICU) at Renown face a tough job caring
for the most critically ill patients. That's why experts recommend that ICU
nurses should only have two patients under their care. That's the standard
SEIU Nevada nurses want to bring to Renown. No patient should experience
needing a nurse - and not having one nearby.
TODAY, SEIU nurses at Renown gathered to make signs and get ready for next
week's patient care rally. Nurses are excited to be working with their
families and the community to raise awareness about their fight for a
stronger voice at Renown.
My Story, by Marc Dunbar, RN, ICU
"Renown is the region's only Level II trauma center - meaning we see the
sickest in northern Nevada. As an ICU nurse, I take of patients that are in
serious critical condition. These patients need to be monitored very
closely, and sometimes the severity of a trauma patient's injuries requires
them to be monitored by two nurses.
"Right now in the ICU nurses are asked to take care of up to three patients.
Management says that a three patient assignment is based on a nurse's
experience and the acuity of the patient. I have seven years of experience,
but that still doesn't mean I can be three places at once if each of my
patients need me.
"I am not able to provide the full continuum of care I was trained to give
patients. I can't even spend the time to give my patient's families up to
date information about their loved ones.
"Even though ICU nurses at Renown give 110% to do our jobs well, it is
stressful to work in such understaffed conditions. My license is on the
line, and every day is psychologically, physically and emotionally
draining. It isn't fair to nurses or patients to keep understaffing the
ICU."
Experts Agree! Patients are at risk at night.
A 2003 study by the Joint Commission,[1] the organization that sets
standards for American healthcare institutions, found that higher nursing
levels in intensive care units mean better outcomes for patients.
For example, patients in hospitals with fewer ICU nurses are more likely to
suffer from complications after surgery and to have a longer length of stay
in the hospital than patients in hospitals with a greater number of ICU
nurses.
On the other hand, appropriate nurse staffing levels have resulted in lower
catheter-related infections of the bloodstream, lower nosocomial infection
rates in pediatric cardiac ICU, and lower rates of decubitus ulcers
(bedsores), and fewer complaints and deaths. That sounds like a better
patient experience to us!
SEIU Nevada nurses are asking Renown - help us spend more time helping
patients by fully staffing our hospital!
_____
[1] Joint Commission on Accreditation of Health Care Organizations. "Health
Care at the Crossroads: Strategies for Addressing the Evolving Nurse
Crisis." 2003. Retrieved on 3/6/2007.
http://www.jointcommission.org/NR/rdonlyres/5C138711-ED76-4D6F-909F-B06E0309
F36D/0/health_care_at_the_crossroads.pdf
Posted By: Renown RN Team on 4/5/2008 3:11:00 PM
SEIU Nevada RNs at Renown Tell Their Stories! STORY #4 – Concept to Construction Nurses are Health Care Advocates
RENO, April 4, 2008 – Nurses enter the nursing profession out of a desire to care for patients. An important part of that role is being a patient advocate. As frontline caregivers at the bedside, we know what works and what we need to do to improve patient care. As SEIU Nevada members, Renown nurses want to be advocates for better patient care for our whole community.
Renown nurses have been in contract negotiations since November 2007, but have decided to take their cause to the public as the hospital has yet to seriously consider any of nurse proposals to improve patient care.
Consider a recent news report on Reno’s Channel 4 – Renown Chief Nursing Officer Ron Laxton had nothing to say when asked about his response to recommendations from nurses to help make sure there are enough staff at the bedside. That same news report validated nurses’ concerns about the lack of appropriate staffing at Renown, and the consequences for patient care and working conditions for nurses.
This Saturday, nurses are holding a Rally Sign-Making Party. The rally next week is to encourage their hospital to commit to improving healthcare standards by agreeing to a contract at Renown that respects nurses as patient advocates!
My Story, by Lori Millard- Streeter, RN Labor and Delivery
“I became a nurse because I wanted have a job where I made a difference every day. Being an advocate for my patients is a big part of that. Patients and their worried families shouldn’t have to wonder about the quality of care they receive – they need to know that their nurse will be able to take care of them.
“I joined SEIU Nevada so that, together, my co-workers and I could have a voice to improve health care standards for our community. We all have a stake in making sure nurses can do their job.
“My family and I are really looking forward to the pre-rally party tomorrow. I know the Reno community will stand with their nurses and that together, we can all work to improve health care standards.”
Join the Nurses at a Rally Sign-Making Party!
WHAT: SEIU Nevada members and their families gather to make signs for a rally for quality care.
WHEN: Saturday, April 5, 10:30 AM
WHERE: Girl Scout Conference Center: 605 Washington St.
SEIU Nevada nurses are asking Renown – help us spend more time helping patients by fully staffing our hospital!
Posted By: Renown RN Team on 4/4/2008 6:15:00 AM
SEIU Nevada RNs at Renown Tell Their Stories! STORY #3 – The Emergency Room Isn’t a Private Patient Suite
RENO, April 3, 2008 – America’s emergency rooms are in crisis. Since 1997, wait times have increased every year by 4%.[1] The new emergency department at Renown was supposed to streamline and improve the flow of patients from the emergency room to their own private patient suites. While the inpatient beds for admitted patients are there, but the staff to care for those patients isn’t. The result – patients at Renown are STILL waiting in the emergency department longer than necessary.
My Story, by Jeff Pierce, RN, ER
“I’ve been taking care of patients for 32 years at Renown, as an ER nurse since 1980. Never before have I felt so concerned about my ability to get my job done without risking my own safety and my nursing license.
“I’ve seen a lot of changes over the years. It’s hard to imagine at one time we had the staffing and equipment we needed, especially considering the working conditions now. Reno is growing fast, and the staffing levels at Renown haven’t been increased to keep up. We as nurses are feeling the strain of the workload.
“I think if we had the proper staffing levels that I could make a bigger difference. Patients would be less stressed and confused. Nurses would be able to talk through what’s going on and what to expect as far their treatment goes. With 5 or more patients with all types of conditions, this just isn’t possible.
“I have a fear of losing my license. I come home exhausted. It’s really draining to have to run from room to room and not be able to deliver the kind of care I would want a family member to have.
“I’m really glad we’re taking our cause to the public. Nothing can make up for the fact that there isn’t enough staff. That’s why we’ve all united together to make sure management does the right thing.”
Experts Agree! Patients are at risk at night.
Several recent studies have pointed to the lack of staff both in emergency rooms and throughout hospitals as a contributor to emergency department crowding. A 2008 Harvard study published in the prestigious Health Affairs journal noted “shortages of hospital staff” as one reason for yearly 4% increases in emergency room wait times.
In 2006, the Institute of Medicine,[2] studied the crisis in America’s emergency department system – everything from diverted ambulances to overcrowded emergency rooms where patients wait first to be seen and then for an inpatient bed. The study found that a lack of nurses willing to work in the tough conditions of both the emergency department and inpatient units at hospitals to exacerbate the problem.
SEIU Nevada nurses are asking Renown – help us spend more time helping patients by fully staffing our hospital!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[1] Andrew P. Wilper, Steffie Woolhandler, Karen E. Lasser, Danny McCormick, Sarah L. Cutrona, David H. Bor and David U. Himmelstein, “Waits To See An Emergency Department Physician: U.S. Trends And Predictors, 1997–2004,” Health Affairs, 27, no. 2 (2008): w84-w95.
[2] Arthur L. Kellermann, “Crisis in the Emergency Room,” New England Journal of Medicine, Sept. 28, 2006, Volume 355:1300-1303.
Posted By: Renown RN Team on 4/3/2008 7:33:00 AM
SEIU Nevada RNs at Renown Tell Their Stories! STORY #3 – The Emergency Room Isn’t a Private Patient Suite
RENO, April 3, 2008 – America’s emergency rooms are in crisis. Since 1997, wait times have increased every year by 4%.[1] The new emergency department at Renown was supposed to streamline and improve the flow of patients from the emergency room to their own private patient suites. While the inpatient beds for admitted patients are there, but the staff to care for those patients isn’t. The result – patients at Renown are STILL waiting in the emergency department longer than necessary.
My Story, by Jeff Pierce, RN, ER
“I’ve been taking care of patients for 32 years at Renown, as an ER nurse since 1980. Never before have I felt so concerned about my ability to get my job done without risking my own safety and my nursing license.
“I’ve seen a lot of changes over the years. It’s hard to imagine at one time we had the staffing and equipment we needed, especially considering the working conditions now. Reno is growing fast, and the staffing levels at Renown haven’t been increased to keep up. We as nurses are feeling the strain of the workload.
“I think if we had the proper staffing levels that I could make a bigger difference. Patients would be less stressed and confused. Nurses would be able to talk through what’s going on and what to expect as far their treatment goes. With 5 or more patients with all types of conditions, this just isn’t possible.
“I have a fear of losing my license. I come home exhausted. It’s really draining to have to run from room to room and not be able to deliver the kind of care I would want a family member to have.
“I’m really glad we’re taking our cause to the public. Nothing can make up for the fact that there isn’t enough staff. That’s why we’ve all united together to make sure management does the right thing.”
Experts Agree! Patients are at risk at night.
Several recent studies have pointed to the lack of staff both in emergency rooms and throughout hospitals as a contributor to emergency department crowding. A 2008 Harvard study published in the prestigious Health Affairs journal noted “shortages of hospital staff” as one reason for yearly 4% increases in emergency room wait times.
In 2006, the Institute of Medicine,[2] studied the crisis in America’s emergency department system – everything from diverted ambulances to overcrowded emergency rooms where patients wait first to be seen and then for an inpatient bed. The study found that a lack of nurses willing to work in the tough conditions of both the emergency department and inpatient units at hospitals to exacerbate the problem.
SEIU Nevada nurses are asking Renown – help us spend more time helping patients by fully staffing our hospital!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[1] Andrew P. Wilper, Steffie Woolhandler, Karen E. Lasser, Danny McCormick, Sarah L. Cutrona, David H. Bor and David U. Himmelstein, “Waits To See An Emergency Department Physician: U.S. Trends And Predictors, 1997–2004,” Health Affairs, 27, no. 2 (2008): w84-w95.
[2] Arthur L. Kellermann, “Crisis in the Emergency Room,” New England Journal of Medicine, Sept. 28, 2006, Volume 355:1300-1303.
Posted By: Renown RN Team on 4/3/2008 7:27:00 AM