The NYSNA Handbook: A Member's Guide [Private] by New York State Nurses Association

the NYSNA Handbook

A MEMBERâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S GUIDE

NYC Office 131 West 33rd Street, 4th floor New York, NY 10001 Phone: 212-785-0157

nysna.org

nynurses

@nynurses

info@nysna.org NYC Private Sector 2018

con t e n t s

Contents Who is NYSNA?...................................................................................4 • Who is NYSNA? What is a union?

How to get involved...................................................................5 • Member leaders moving forward with the new NYSNA • NYSNA members’ paths to involvement and leadership in a powerful RN movement

Nurses’ rights................................................................................. 7 • • • • •

Your contract Your rights under federal, state and local laws Your right to advocate If management calls you into the office Protection from unjust treatment

our vision..........................................................................................9 • Patients or profits? • A new direction • NYSNA RNs up to the challenge

Safe staffing for patients......................................................10 • • • • •

public health advocacy......................................................... 21 • • • • •

Protecting our profession Challenging corporate healthcare Healthcare for all Protecting the safety net Promoting a healthy environment

OUR LEADERS...................................................................................24 • The board of directors • NYSNA staff organizational structure

CONTRACTS & LINKS...................................................................... 27 • • • • • •

NYSNA Representatives at the NYC Office NYSNA Contracts Pension & Health Benefits SPAN (Statewide Peer Assistance for Nurses) Social Justice & Civil Rights Committee Political & Community Organizing

HOSPITALS REPRESENTED BY NYSNA........................................28

Protecting our patients by protesting unsafe assignments Our fight for safe staffing – bargaining and political action Safe Staffing Captains Political action for safe staffing Research shows safe staffing makes the difference

what we won..................................................................................16 • Our contract campaign • Contract highlights

keeping nurses healthy and safe.......................................19 • Health and safety • Safe patient handling • Workplace violence

NYSNA advances nurses and nursing.............................. 20 • • • • •

Nursing practice resources Continuing education Certification Review workshops e-leaRN TM Statewide Peer Assistance for Nurses (SPAN) affected by substance abuse disorders

NYSNA HANDBOOK: A MEMBER’S GUIDE

How to get involved

We are! We are a union of 42,000 frontline nurses standing together to defend our workplace standards, strengthen our practice, achieve safe staffing, and promote healthcare for all. The New York State Nurses Association was formed on April 16, 1901, and helped create New York’s Nurse Practice Act. We are New York’s oldest and largest union and professional association for Registered Nurses.

There are so many ways to get involved in NYSNA, whatever your level of experience or time you have available. The heart of our work is building power on the job through workplace organizing. NYSNA members volunteer as unit representatives and staffing captains. Members also serve as local bargaining unit leaders or join NYSNA’s statewide leadership as elected convention delegates.

What is a union? As a union of healthcare workers, our commitment is to protecting our patients and profession. But we are also dedicated to a just and humane society, where everyone has a right to quality healthcare and economic security. As union nurses, we fight for safe staffing at the bargaining table and in the statehouse. We work with other unions and community groups to promote single-payer healthcare (Medicare for All), so everyone has access to quality care. Unfortunately more and more hospitals are heading in the opposite direction, putting the bottom-line ahead of patient care. That is why our union is working hard to: • Secure safe staffing standards • Guarantee quality healthcare for all • Protect our profession and our scope of practice • Improve standards for RNs across the state: better wages and pensions, sustainable schedules, and working conditions that help recruit and retain excellent nurses Unions are one of the most important ways working people, including RNs, can build power on the job. When workers from different industries join together, we form an entire labor movement. Together, we can get

NYSNA HANDBOOK: A MEMBER’S GUIDE

corporations and government to do what working families need and want. Past gains include improvements in the minimum wage, overtime pay, Social Security and Medicare, family leave, pensions and health benefits. To keep moving forward we: • Bargain collectively with our employers • Promote legislation and engage in political action • Organize the unorganized, bringing non-union RNs into NYSNA • Mobilize along with patients, communities and the broader labor movement

Other members engage in nursing practice advocacy, volunteering with facility-based professional practice committees or our statewide Council on Nursing Practice. Others do political action, volunteering in local community and political action, attending lobby days or serving on our statewide Council on Legislation. Other members are active on social justice and civil rights issues, from addressing climate change and health disparities or disaster recovery efforts coordinated by our New York Relief Network.

Member leaders — moving forward with the new NYSNA One good way to get involved is to attend a member leader training session, where you’ll learn about your rights on the job and how to organize. We

have trained more than 1,000 NYSNA members as unit reps and delegates over the past few years, and they are our first line of defense. These leaders organize with their coworkers to fix problems in hospitals, spearhead NYSNA’s political efforts — recruiting members to lobby days — and build solidarity with NYSNA members in other hospitals and with other unions — attending pickets and rallies. Our goal is to recruit and train a member leader on every unit and shift in every hospital. We are up against powerful institutions with deep pockets, who want to slash public support for healthcare and weaken unions like NYSNA. The future of nursing and patient care is on the line. Do your part. Get involved.

how to g e t i n vo lv e d

W ho i s N YS N A?

Who is NYSNA?

Learn more Talk with your Rep about attending a Leadership Training – upcoming classes are listed at bit.ly/2MqkAqQ. Learn more at the NYSNA Convention or Biennial (held on alternating years in the fall) and at other conferences in the spring, such as the Public Sector/ Private Sector Solidarity conference.

“

Our job as a union is to help members to realize that they can actually change their conditions on their unit or in their community. We give members a space for their voices to be heard and the tools to defend their right to practice nursing safely and under the best possible circumstances. That way, they can do what we all were taught: to take care of our people, take care of our society.” –Judy Sheridan-Gonzalez, RN, NYSNA President NYSNA HANDBOOK: A MEMBER’S GUIDE

Path 1: Workplace Organizing

Path 2: Nursing Practice Advocacy

Steward or Unit Representative Grievance Committee Health and Safety Committee LBU Executive Committee Contract Negotiations Committee Contract Action Team

Elected LBU Leader for Practice Committee Council on Nursing Practice

Path 3: Political Action

Political/Legislative Action Team Council on Legislation Political Action Committee

Path 4: Social Justice Activism

Social Justice and Civil Rights Committee Climate Change and Public Health Committee Single-Payer Healthcare Committee Disaster Relief and Recovery Committee

Your contract

Your right to advocate

NYSNA members in every facility have a contract that spells out their wages, working conditions and benefits. Our contracts address critical issues like seniority and transfers, education benefits, vacation allocations, floating and more. Every NYSNA member should get a copy of their contract and read it. If you have questions about specific contract provisions, ask your unit delegate, one of your LBU leaders or your NYSNA Rep.

Under federal labor law, union (and non-union) nurses have the right to advocate for our patients and for ourselves:

• At work you can talk, give out literature and sign cards on non-work time in non-work areas as long as it doesn’t disrupt patient care. • Non-work time means before and after shifts and during breaks. • Non-work areas mean breakrooms, bathrooms, near the elevator, off the floor, in the cafeteria or in the parking lot. Your rights under federal, • You may also talk about nursing state, and local laws issues at the nurses’ station, the way NYSNA members are protected by you would talk about a birthday federal, state and local laws. For party or weekend plans, while example, you have the right to take you’re on a momentary break, since leave under the federal Family Medical nurses can only take brief breaks Leave Act as well as the state Paid Family on busy occasions. But you must Leave law. You have the right to safe use good judgment about who is and healthy working conditions under around and not disrupt another the federal Occupational Safety and employee who is working. Health Act, as well as protections from • You have the right to participate discrimination for age, race, religion in collective patient advocacy, and sexual orientation. New York State including group letters, petitions law bars mandatory overtime and and meetings. If in doubt, contact guarantees whistleblower protections to your delegate or Rep. healthcare workers who report unsafe patient care conditions.

nurs e s ’ R IG H T S

NYSNA Members’ Paths to Involvement and Leadership in a Powerful RN Movement

If management calls you into the office

“ LBU Leadership

Practice Committees

Political/Legislative Committees

Election as Delegate to convention that sets NYSNA policy and direction Election to NYSNA Board of Directors

NYSNA HANDBOOK: A MEMBER’S GUIDE

Issue Committees

I think it’s important for members to come to me when they have questions about our contract or if they think their rights are being violated. Consulting with a steward early in the process about a grievance could help alleviate the issue.” –Joanne Murray, RN, Steward, Flushing Hospital

Here are some tips to help you keep your cool and protect your rights if you get called into the office for discipline or an investigation: • Ask what the meeting is about. You have a right to know what is being investigated or discussed before the meeting. • Ask for your NYSNA delegate or Representative. You have the right to union representation if the reason for the meeting could be disciplinary. Before you attend the meeting, ask if the conversation could lead to NYSNA HANDBOOK: A MEMBER’S GUIDE

• Keep it simple. Answer management’s questions with clear, simple answers. Don’t fall for their fishing expeditions. • Don’t remember? Just say so. If management asks you about something and you don’t know the details, just say, “I don’t know” or “I don’t remember.” The worst thing you can do is to make up a story and give management an excuse to try to discipline you for dishonesty.

Protection from unjust treatment As a NYSNA member, you have more protection from unjust treatment by a manager than healthcare workers who do not belong to a union. In the rare event that a manager initiates a counseling, verbal warning, or written discipline for you, your union delegate or Rep will help you evaluate if there is “just cause” for such a counseling or discipline. If the manager fails to prove that there was just cause, the discipline may not be proper and could be remedied.

Patients or profits? The future of patient care in New York, and across the country, is in danger. A powerful network of hospital executives, private insurance companies, for-profit hospital chains, Wall Street firms, and private equity hedge fund operators have a goal: to make big profits out of healthcare. They have joined forces with politicians to promote the idea that we cannot afford quality care for all people, even though we live in the richest country in the history of the world. They have used their deep pockets and political muscle to cut taxes for corporations and the wealthy, choking off public funding for healthcare. This has forced some hospitals to cut RN staffing, privatize services, shutter units and close whole facilities. The remaining hospitals are consolidating through mergers and acquisitions and competing for a shrinking pool of well-insured patients. This is a business model that threatens patient care. On our units, management is trying to diminish our unique role, using electronic medical records and scripting to limit the role of our judgment in the delivery of care. So-called nonprofit hospitals, and even public hospitals, are not immune to the drive for healthcare cuts in pursuit of ever higher revenues — cutting staffing and patient care to pad their bottom-line.

A new direction For years NYSNA was not up to this challenge. Nursing managers and administrators dominated our organization’s leadership. Nationally, we were the largest member organization in the American Nurses Association, but they used our members’ dues to oppose nurse-to-patient ratio legislation. NYSNA

NYSNA HANDBOOK: A MEMBER’S GUIDE

O U R VI S I O N

discipline so you can contact your union rep/steward beforehand. If the answer is “yes,” you have a right to representation at the meeting itself and do not have to answer questions until your delegate or Rep is present.

officials even backed state proposals to shut down hospitals! That all stopped in May 2012, when thousands of frontline caregivers came together to change the direction of our union. We eliminated outdated rules that prevented us from functioning as a real union. And we made winning safe staffing our number-one priority. Since then, we’ve transformed our union from top-to-bottom. We’ve trained more than 1,000 member leaders. We’ve united members to fight and win strong contracts and made our voices heard across New York.

NYSNA RNs are up to the challenge With one strong, united voice for patient care, we’ve put the issue of healthcare disparities on the map and kept hospitals open for care. We’ve stopped multiple attempts to turn our healthcare system over to for-profit corporations. Winning hasn’t been easy. Our opponents have deep pockets and a lot to lose, but together, we can continue to make the changes our patients deserve. NYSNA HANDBOOK: A MEMBER’S GUIDE

S A FE S TA FFI N G FO R PATIE N T S

Protecting our patients by protesting unsafe assignments As registered nurses, our top priority is providing quality care to our patients. But sometimes we’re asked to work under conditions that are not safe for our patients, including inadequate RN staffing levels. We can do something about it! Many NYSNA members have won additional staffing by filling out Protest of Assignment (POA) forms, which are like a call bell for our managers! What is a Protest of Assignment (POA)? A POA form should be filled out, if, in your professional judgment, you believe a patient care assignment is unsafe or potentially unsafe. As a registered nurse, you have a legal and professional obligation to notify your employer of an unsafe situation so the problem can be corrected and injury or harm to the patient can be averted. Remember, you can fill out a POA at any point during your shift if conditions change or patient acuity increases. The Staten Island University Hospital POA campaign was covered in the local paper.

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At Staten Island University Hospital, 1,815 POAs have been filed over the last three years that include complaints from over 8,600 nurses, according to NYSNA.... Maddelena Spero, recovery room registered nurse, NYSNA, said, ‘We want to be able to give quality care. We want to protect our patients. This is our community. I live here.’” Staten Island Advance, June 10, 2018

Here’s how filling out a POA can help: • Tracks unsafe staffing • Creates accountability for administrators • Ensures that there is a documented record that can protect your license • Can be used in court, before state agencies, and in legislative hearings The POA form is protected union activity! Management cannot prevent us from filling out a POA, and no RN can be disciplined or retaliated against for raising their patient care concerns by filing a POA.

Here are some examples of when a POA form can be completed: • Unsafe RN or support staffing levels • Can’t reach a doctor for orders on admission • Late lunch/no lunch • Patient acuity requires a higher level of care (eg. An ICU patient housed in PCU) • Rapid admissions between 9 a.m. and 12 p.m., and during shift change • Supplies not available • Not enough staff or equipment to

safely lift a patient • Unable to safely perform charge duties and take a patient assignment at the same time • Lack of training or competency to handle patient care assignment • Mandatory overtime that does not comply with New York State law • Skill mix on unit is insufficient • Unsafe environment or workplace violence • POA Instruction Sheet: bit.ly/2HOcmp0

We protest TOGETHER! When multiple nurses sign on to a POA it protects all of us and shows administration how widely felt a patient safety issue is on the unit.

Keep filling them out! When nurses fill out a POA consistently to track patient care issues, it allows your local NYSNA leadership to identify patient care trends in a unit. This enables us to investigate safety issues and clearly articulate them to management. In cases where we have been able to show these trends to management, we have been able to make gains for our patients, including: • Increased staffing levels on units • Improvements in patient care policies and procedures

How to submit your POA: 1. Give a copy to your employer. 2. Keep a copy for your own records. 3. Give a copy to your NYSNA rep. 4. Fax a copy to NYSNA at 212-785-0429. (Sample form is on page 12.)

NYSNA HANDBOOK: A MEMBER’S GUIDE

PROTEST OF ASSIGNMENT

34425

Patients in need. Not enough nurses. It’s putting New Yorkers at risk.

Print in block letters!

Facility code Date D

Facility name

Name of individual submitting report

Time Management notified (12 hr clock) What type of nursing (shade the type that CCU/ICU/NICU Med/Surg ER Maternity/GYN Peds/NICU/PICU Psychiatry Ambulatory Surgery Other

Code of nursing unit

First

Name of nursing unit

AM PM Manager's Name

unit is this? best applies) Home Care/Public Health School Correctional Facility Ambulatory Care/Clinic OR/Anesth/Recovery Stepdown/Telemetry Nursing Home/Rehab

In 2016, New York nurses submitted more than 27,330 Protests of Assignment (POAs) to their hospitals due to unsafe staffing levels. These documents give formal notice to an employer that a patient care assignment is determined by the nurses to be unsafe.

Last

What was your staffing like today? (write numbers in the boxes) Staffing RN

Normal or Core staff

*Regular is sum of FT/PT/PD

Number On duty today Regular* Float Agency

What you needed

Fulton

TOTAL

LPN

Ancillary

Jefferson

27,330 Madison 29 3

Erie

For what reasons are you protesting this assignment? (shade all that apply)

patient acuity higher than usual inadequate number of qualified staff volume of admissions and discharges not adequately trained for this situation don't have resources I need such as supplies, equipment, or medications case load too high and impedes safe care inadequate time for documentation mandatory Overtime Other

396

Census

Bed Capacity

Clinton

Schenectady

Oneida

450

222

Dutchess 862

Chautauqua 70

Westchester 2,478

Additional Comments Print in

Block letters!

1,151

217

Number of RNs signing this form

456

Cattaraugus

Suffolk 460

Sullivan Rockland

Under the laws of this state, as a registered professional nurse, I am responsible and accountable to my clients. Therefore, this is to confirm that I notified you that, in my professional judgement, today's assignment is unsafe and places my clients at risk. As a result, the Hospital/Agency and you share responsibility for any adverse effects on patient care. ability. I will, under protest, attempt to carry out the assignment to the best of my professionalDate

Signature

295

528 6,706

Chemung

1,125 Y

Richmond

Nassau

6,996

New York

Kings

1,083 3,591

Queens Bronx

Management Comments

Management Signature

Time management responded (12 hr clock)

Date

Protecting our license and our patients is no small task! However, when we work together to track patient safety issues we can have a huge impact on patient care.

NYSNA HANDBOOK: A MEMBER’S GUIDE

AM PM

These numbers are based on a sampling of

In partnership with NYSNA’s Nursing Education and Practice Department we turn our Protests of Assignments into powerful tools to enforce safe patient care conditions on our units.

POAs submitted by NYSNA nurses in 2016.

2016

For-profit hospitals have mortality rates that are 2 percent higher than nonprofits.” –David Himmelstein, MD, Canadian Medical Association Journal

NYSNA HANDBOOK: A MEMBER’S GUIDE

Our fight for safe staffing Patients and their families count on our hospitals to care for their loved ones when they are sick or injured. Nurses are a vital part of safe, successful hospitals. We care for patients around the clock, providing life-saving treatment, medication and support. A safe staffing ratio of nurses to patients is critical to ensuring every patient is properly cared for. That’s why one of NYSNA’s top priorities is winning stafe staffing at the bargaining table and in the legislature.

Safe Staffing Captains At our bargaining tables, we’re pushing for contract language that guarantees safer staffing and protects patients. In addition to filing POAs, you can help by becoming a Safe Staffing Captain. Safe Staffing Captains use a text messaging system to document the real-time staffing conditions we face on our shift every day. By collecting data on nurse-to-patient ratios, NYSNA is better positioned to enforce our contract, and make sure that management lives up to our agreements. We’re also able to provide a picture of staffing conditions to the general public, so they understand what’s going on in our hospitals. Analysis of the data yielded evidence in support of our campaign for the Safe Staffing for Quality Care Act and helped us get the bill passed in the New York State Assembly in 2016.

GET INVOLVED Sign up for Staffing Captain: Just text “captain” to 877-877 Sign up for campaign emails and text alerts on our website! Visit bit.ly/SafeStaffingActionTeam.

NYSNA HANDBOOK: A MEMBER’S GUIDE

Political action for safe staffing Every year we meet with local elected officials in our neighborhoods and in Albany with state legislators to educate them about the benefits of mandatory safe staffing legislation. We also work to elect leaders who share our values. In 2016, Long Island members mobilized to elect Todd Kaminsky, adding a strong supporter of our bill to the State Senate. We’re also part of the Campaign for Patient Safety, with other healthcare unions, patient advocacy groups and community organizations. Together, we lobbied local governments and saw success as five counties, five cities, and towns and villages throughout the state passed resolutions calling on the state legislature to pass our bill.

GET INVOLVED Look for NYSNA Lobby Day in April, Multi-Union Safe Staffing Lobby Day in May, and End-of-Session MiniLobby Days in June. And watch for NYSNA’s Voter Guide for Primary and General Elections at the local, state and federal levels.

Research shows safe staffing makes the difference Overwhelming evidence shows that: • Safe staffing saves lives. Peer-reviewed research found higher nurse staffing is associated with lower mortality rates. Adding one RN per patient day was associated with a 16-percent decrease in failure to rescue in surgical patients. • Safe staffing improves patient outcomes. Studies have shown increased RN staffing lowers the risk of patient outcomes, including hospital-acquired infections and pneumonia, and also cardiac arrest. Higher staffing also reduces hospital readmissions and emergency room wait times. • Safe staffing is cost-effective. The savings associated with lives saved were greater than the increased cost of one additional RN per patient day in intensive care, surgical and medical units. • Safe staffing reduces nurse burnout, turnover and injuries. Adding one patient per nurse increased burnout by 23 percent and job dissatisfaction by 15 percent in one study. Safe staffing ratios in California were associated with an occupational injury and illness rate 31.6 percent lower than what would have been expected. • Safe staffing legislation has a proven track record. Since California’s law was implemented, nurses care for fewer patients, on average, than they did prior to the legislation and compared to other states. • Safe staffing strengthens the safety net. The California legislation increased RN staffing in safety-net hospitals “in which an improvement in staffing has historically been most difficult and most improvement was needed.” • Safe staffing doesn’t hurt hospital performance. No hospitals closed in California following the implementation of minimum nurse ratios there, and hospital margins have actually improved since implementation. Nor did hospitals decrease ancillary staffing. As reimbursements shift to a value-based model, the improved outcomes of safe RN staffing will directly translate into financial benefit for hospitals.

“

Safe staffing is the most important goal of the union. The main purpose of us being nurses is to give our patients the best care possible, to keep them safe. Short staffing undermines the care of each individual patient. I reach out to the nurses on my unit. I encourage them to be active, to file POAs and to be educated about what’s going on at the facility, and to speak up for our patients. Together, we are the gatekeepers for our patients’ safety.” –Phiona Hunnigan-McFarlane, RN, Montefiore Moses, Staffing Captain NYSNA HANDBOOK: A MEMBER’S GUIDE

what w e won

our contrac t campaig n Progress on many issues

“

There were no givebacks. Across the board – in wages, benefits, staffing, enforcement, technology, antidiscrimination – this contract touches many bases.” –Xenia Greene, RN, Children’s Hospital at Montefiore

Hospital hired more nurses

“

At my hospital, Staten Island University Hospital, we made tremendous gains in terms of FTEs. These were challenging negotiations, but we met those challenges. I am very proud to be a part of NYSNA.” –Maddalena Spero, RN, Northwell Health System, SIUH-North

CONTR AC T HIG HLIG HTS In 2014, we made NYSNA history coordinating negotiations for 18,000 members at 22 facilities across all five boroughs in New York City. In addition to gains at each facility, we won a multi-employer agreement for 10,000 members at eight of the largest facilities.

Highlights from our agreement include: • No givebacks • Four-year contracts — with some variations — with wage increases of 13.1 percent (compounded) • Hiring of additional RN full-time equivalent (FTE) positions • New float pools were established where they did not exist and augmented in hospitals where they already existed. These pools cover sick calls and other episodic absences. These new positions were separate and apart from other increases in staffing negotiated. • Creation of Professional Practice Committees (PPCs) to operate with an expedited decision-making process and with the authority to improve staffing requirements due to census, acuity or staff mix • Technology language to ensure that new technology will enhance patient care • New clauses for workplace violence and improved discrimination language

We are the union

“

We are the union. Getting involved makes us stronger and empowers us. Together we can get it done.” –Minerva Concepcion, RN, NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital

NYSNA HANDBOOK: A MEMBER’S GUIDE

“

There are two aspects of being a nurse: one is a caregiver and the other a fighter. We care for patients and families when they’re at their worst and provide for and console them with utmost respect. While we care for them, we also fight for their rights, advocate for safe staffing and fair working conditions. The past negotiations were tough, but we fought for a fair contract that upholds our values. Our dedication and commitment to the bargaining process and continuous communication with management to enforce the gains we have made only strengthened our members commitment to NYSNA.” –Robin Krinsky, RN, Mt. Sinai Hospital

Our Unity Made the Difference

“

No doubt management saw that the public was listening to what we were saying about understaffing. This was about more than just settling a contract. It was about our patients and communities getting the care they deserve.” –Nancy Hagans, RN, Maimonides Medical Center, LBU President & NYSNA Board Member

NYSNA HANDBOOK: A MEMBER’S GUIDE

Caring for patients shouldn’t turn YOU into a patient Nurses spend their careers working to protect the health of their patients. Ironically, according to OSHA and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, healthcare facilities are some of the unhealthiest places to work. Exposure to cleaning/disinfecting chemicals and hazardous drugs, infectious diseases, patient handling injuries, and violence are just some of the many hazards nurses are exposed to on a daily basis. Understaffing increases the likelihood of injuries and illnesses from these hazardous conditions. Our best protection is a strong union. NYSNA Health and Safety Committee members, delegates, and local health and safety leaders are our first line of defense. Training topics include: • Workplace violence • Safe patient handling • Infectious disease prevention • Chemical exposures • Disaster preparedness • Indoor air quality • Construction hazards • Workers’ compensation

Trained member health and safety leaders are effective on facility labormanagement committees on: • Health and safety • Safe patient handling • Workplace violence NYSNA’s Occupational Health and Safety staff are always available to provide professional assistance to members and to conduct on-site inspections and reach out to city, state and federal enforcement agencies when necessary.

k e e p i n g N U R S Es H E A LT H y & S A FE

members’ strengthened commitment to NYSNA

Learn more If you have specific questions about health and safety hazards at work, talk to your NYSNA delegate or representative right away. They will work with NYSNA’s Occupational Health and Safety Representatives to answer your questions and help improve the safety of your workplace. NYSNA members can also contact Occupational Health and Safety staff directly by sending an email to healthandsafety@nysna.org or calling 212-785-0157. More can be found under Nursing Practice at www.nysna.org. NYSNA HANDBOOK: A MEMBER’S GUIDE

Protecting our profession

Our nursing practice is under attack. Short staffing, de-skilling, unit restructuring and new technology all take away our time from the bedside and harm patient care. You can protect your practice and your patients by working with your colleagues, getting support from the Nursing Education and Practice Department.

Our licensure, professionalism and advocacy for our patients are built upon the skills of each and every registered nurse. That’s why we successfully resisted efforts by the NY State Legislature to erode our scope of practice. One example was the 2017 proposal in the state budget for “Health Care Regulation Modernization Teams” which would have resulted in highly skilled nurses being replaced by workers without the training of an RN. Management would have the power to force non-nurses to take on RN duties

Continuing Education NYSNA offers free and low-cost classes for members, including free online state-mandated courses on Infection Control and Child Abuse. Certification Review Workshops prepare professional registered nurses to take ANCC certification examinations in their specific specialty. Courses are FREE for NYSNA Members, who pay only a $25 materials fee. • For a listing of our Certification Review programs held at locations including NYSNA Offices go to bit.ly/2LRRwaH. • A new series of Certification Review Workshops are now available ON-SITE at various NYSNA facilities. For a listing of these new programs go to bit.ly/2HQe88T. NYSNA has partnered with MEDED’s online learning system to offer certification review classes and other courses. CE post-tests are administered online, with instant results and printable CE Certificates. All NYSNA members receive a 50% discount on course subscriptions.

MED-ED F or more information go to bit.ly/2LOikbD

NYSNA HANDBOOK: A MEMBER’S GUIDE

Other nursing resources e-leaRNTM NYSNA’s online learning system, e-leaRN™, offers free online education courses for NYSNA members. Topics cover New York State mandated courses, including Infection Control Mandated Training and Child Abuse: Identification and Reporting. For more information go to www.elearnonline.net/.

Statewide Peer Assistance for Nurses (SPAN) NYSNA’s Statewide Peer Assistance for Nurses (SPAN) is a confidential education, support and advocacy program for ALL nurses licensed in New York State. SPAN’s mission is to foster public safety and it is the resource for New York nurses affected by substance use disorders. The SPAN program operates on the belief that every nurse deserves access to treatment, help in preserving his or her license and employment, and ongoing support throughout the recovery process. For confidential assistance, call 518-782-9400, ext. 250 or email span@nysna.org For more info bit.ly/2JMKd3l

without proper training or pay, without a clear path for advancement.

Challenging corporate healthcare For-profit companies and providers are collecting the lion’s share of healthcare dollars and its hurting our patients — from pharmaceutical companies to medical device manufacturers to technology and electronic medical records vendors. Then there’s the insurance industry, which drives up costs and waste. No wonder so little money is left for actual care at the bedside.

Healthcare for all NYSNA’s mission is to care for all New Yorkers. That’s why we supported the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA, also known as Obamacare), which dramatically reduced the number of uninsured Americans. But we still need to expand healthcare coverage, reduce costs and improve quality. That is why we endorse a single-payer Medicare for All system and NY Health, plans which would ensure access to high-quality care for everyone and would also reduce costs. • A single-payer system would replace private, corporate health insurance by extending Medicare to cover everyone living in the United States. Rich or poor, young or old — everyone would have access to the same level of care. • Medicare spends just 2 percent of its income on operating expenditures vs. up to 17 percent for private insurance — which also takes big profits off the top. • A single-payer system would also save money. A 2009 study by the NYS Department of Health found that NY Health was the only plan that would provide healthcare for all state residents and was also the most efficient way to cut healthcare costs. • This will also keep hospitals open for care. From Central Brooklyn to the North Country, struggling community hospitals would get the funding they need to care for hundreds of thousands of patients. • Medicare for All and NY Health are the only way to ensure patients come before profits.

pub l i c h e a lt h a dvocacy

N YS N A a dvanc e s nurs e s & N U R S I N G

Nursing practice resources

Want to get involved?

Speak to your NYSNA delegate or representative about upcoming events! Sign up bit.ly/nysnahc4all for email and text alerts. Email SinglePayerCommittee@nysna.org to find out about joining the SinglePayer Committee of member leaders and active members in this campaign. NYSNA HANDBOOK: A MEMBER’S GUIDE

Promoting a healthy environment Protecting the public’s health also means addressing climate change and responding to the many natural disasters stemming from climate change. We know climate change is real. In 2016 the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), a worldwide committee of hundreds of scientists, concluded that: “Warming of the climate system is unequivocal, and since the 1950s, many of the observed changes are unprecedented over decades to millennia. The atmosphere and ocean have warmed, the amounts of snow and ice have diminished, sea level has risen, and the concentrations of greenhouse gases have increased.” The reason for these changes? “Human influence.” Profound health effects include: • More climate-related deaths. The World Health Organization estimated that in the year 2000 there were 160,000 excess deaths globally due to climate change alone. • Extreme weather and storm surges not only cause drowning and injuries; displaced populations create catastrophic public health threats. • Long-term health problems. Warming temperatures negatively affect air quality, exacerbating respiratory problems and creating other long-term health issues. But there are things we can do! 1. Support adaptive measures that help our communities respond when environmental disaster strikes. Hospitals are also “going corporate,” so whether you work in a struggling community hospital or a rich academic medical center, the bottom-line has become more important than our patients getting the care they need. But NYSNA members are uniting to put our patients over profits — on our units and at the bargaining table.

Protecting the safety net The future of health care in New York State hinges on adequate funding for

NYSNA HANDBOOK: A MEMBER’S GUIDE

our public hospitals, private community hospitals who serve Medicaid and uninsured patients and rural hospitals where no other healthcare services are available. The need for safety net hospitals has never been greater, especially in working class communities of color. NYSNA helped secure legislation to ensure our state’s safety net hospitals get adequate funding. We have also worked hard to defend federal healthcare funding, as Congress considers drastic cuts.

2. Fight for policies on clean air and clean energy to slow, stop and reverse climate change. 3. Spread the word. People trust nurses. This gives us a unique ability to educate the public and advocate for change.

Want to get involved? NYSNA is part of multiple coalitions promoting a healthy environment for the communities in which we serve! To get involved contact your NYSNA Delegate or Representative about upcoming events! Sign up bit.ly/NYSNAClimateJustice for email and text alerts. Consider joining the Climate Change Committee of member leaders and active members who discuss the campaign and contribute their perspectives by emailing ClimateChangeCommittee@nysna.org.

NYSNA HANDBOOK: A MEMBER’S GUIDE

our l e a d e rs

The Board of Directors

Robin Krinsky, RN Director at Large Mt. Sinai Hospital

Lilia Marquez, RN Director at Large, Bellevue Hospital

Nella Pineda-Marcon, RN Director at Large, Mt. Sinai - St. Luke’s Hospital

Verginia Stewart, RN Director at Large, Metropolitan Hospital/HHC

Marva Wade, RN Director at Large, Mt. Sinai Medical Center

Marion Enright, RN Central Regional Director, Nathan Littauer Hospital

Patricia Kane, RN Treasurer, Staten Island University Hospital

Martha Wilcox, RN Eastern Regional Director, Sullivan County Health Center

Anne Bové, RN Director at Large, Bellevue Hospital Center/NYC H+H

Yasmine Beausejour, RN Southeastern Regional Director, LIJ Valley Stream

Jayne Cammisa, RN Lower Hudson / NJ Regional Director, Westchester Medical Center

Sean Petty, RN Southern Regional Director, Jacobi Medical Center/HHC

Chiqkena Collins, RN Western Regional Director, Erie County Medical Center

Setting a course NYSNA is led by frontline nurses elected by our members. Every member has a vote. In this democratic process, we draw upon the knowledge of our members and the local leaders they elect in local bargaining units to set the direction for our movement. We recognize we cannot do it alone; our duty to fully advocate for patients requires a coalition effort — with public health experts, community advocates, religious organizations, elected leaders and other unions.

Judy Sheridan-Gonzalez, RN President, Montefiore Medical Center Anthony Ciampa, RN First Vice President, NY Presbyterian Hospital

Karine Raymond, RN Second Vice President, Montefiore Medical Center Tracey Kavanaugh, RN Secretary, Flushing Medical Center

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Judith Cutchin, RN Director at Large, Woodhull Hospital/NYC H+H Seth Dressekie, NP Director at Large, NYC Human Resources Administration/ NYC H+H

Jacqueline Gilbert, RN Director at Large, Harlem Hospital/NYC H+H Nancy Hagans, RN Director at Large, Maimonides Medical Center

NYSNA HANDBOOK: A MEMBER’S GUIDE

Executive Director Jill Furillo, RN, BSN, PHN, became a registered nurse in 1985 and has worked as an ER nurse, an organizer, the executive vice president of the RN Division of 1199, and the national bargaining director of National Nurses United (NNU). She successfully shepherded the country’s first law setting safe nurse-to-patient ratios through the California legislature. New Organizing

Executive Director

External Strategic Campaigns Political Affairs & Public Policy Internal Organizing

Field Operations

Strategic Campaigns

Administration

Nursing Education & Practice (Health & Safety) SPAN Research Labor Education IT & Security Membership

CO N T R AC T S & LI N K S NYSNA Representatives at NYC Office: 212-785-0157 www.nysna.org Sign up for text alerts and email updates salsa4.salsalabs.com/o/50772/p/salsa/web/ common/public/signup Like us on Facebook www.facebook.com/nynurses Follow us on Twitter twitter.com/nynurses NYSNA Contracts with NYC Private Sector Hospitals Log on (Register with) NYSNA Members Only webpages in order to access a PDF copy of your contract: www.nysna.org/user#.WyQizE20WUk Bronx Lebanon Hospital Center Brooklyn Hospital Center Flushing Hospital Interfaith Medical Center Maimonides Medical Center Montefiore Medical Center Montefiore Mt. Vernon Montefiore New Rochelle Mt. Sinai Hospital Mt. Sinai St. Luke’s Roosevelt Northwell Health System Staten Island University Hospital NYP Brooklyn Methodist Hospital NY Presbyterian Hospital Richmond Univ Medical Center Wyckoff Medical Center

PENSION & HEALTH BENEFITS Retirement Benefits, Comprehensive Medical Benefits, Including Dental and Prescription Drugs NYSNA Pension Plan and Benefits Fund 800-342-4324 or 518-869-9501 Fax: 518-869-9529 Pension questions: pensions@rnbenefits.org Health benefit questions: benefit@rnbenefits.org or visit www.rnbenefits.org SPAN: Statewide Peer Assistance for Nurses For confidential assistance, call 518-782-9400, ext. 250 or e-mail span@nysna.org www.nysna.org/nursing-practice/statewidepeer-assistance-nurses SOCIAL JUSTICE & CIVIL RIGHTS COMMITTEE Contact NYSNA delegate or representative or Karen Jarrett, Downstate Director, Political & Community Organizing Sign up here (hyperlink below) bit.ly/cmtejustice

con t rac t s an d l i nks

NYSNA S taff Org aniz ational S truc ture

POLITICAL & COMMUNITY ORGANIZING 518-782-9400, ext. 283, legislative@nysna.org www.nysna.org/our-campaigns/political-action

Communications Legal

Regional Teams Upstate/Western NY Westchester/Hudson Valley/Rockland Long Island • Brooklyn/Queens/Staten Island/NJ NYCHH • Manhattan Teams (NYP, Sinai) Bronx Teams (Montefiore)

Human Resources & Administration Meeting & Planning NYSNA Office Operations Finance Funds

NYSNA HANDBOOK: A MEMBER’S GUIDE

h o s p i ta l s r e p r e s e n t e d by n y s n a 28

list of hospitals represented by NYSNA Adirondack Medical Center - Saranac Lake Administration for Children’s Services - New York Albert Einstein College of Medicine - Bronx Alice Hyde Medical Center - Malone Allegany Cty Health Department - Belmont Amityville Union Free School District - Amityville AO Fox Memorial - Oneonta Arlington Central School District - Lagrangeville Bellevue Hospital Center - New York Bellevue Women’s Center - Schenectady Bertrand Chaffee Hospital/Jennie B. Richmond Nursing Home - Springville Beth Abraham CenterLight Health System - Bronx Borough of Manhattan Community College (CUNY) - NY Bronx Community College (CUNY) - Bronx Bronx-Lebanon Hospital Center (Concourse) - Bronx Bronx-Lebanon Hospital Center (Fulton) - Bronx Bronx-Lebanon Special Care Center - Bronx Brooklyn Hospital Center - Brooklyn Brooks Memorial Hospital - Dunkirk Brunswick Hospital Center - Amityville Canton-Potsdam Hospital - Potsdam Carthage Area Hospital - Carthage Catskill Regional Medical Center - Harrison Cayuga Cty - Auburn Champlain Valley Physicians Hospital - Plattsburgh Chemung Cty Nursing Facility - Elmira Chemung Cty - Elmira Chenango Cty Public Health Service - Norwich Claxton Hepburn Medical Center - Ogdensburg Coler Specialty Hospital/Nursing Facility - Roosevelt Isl. College of Staten Island (CUNY) - Staten Island Coney Island Hospital - Brooklyn Copiague Union Free School District - Copiague Correctional Health Services - New York Cortland Cty Health Dept - Cortland Cumberland D and T Center - Brooklyn Delaware Cty Nursing Service - Delhi Department of the Aging - New York Department of Correction (City of NY) - Corona Department of Sanitation (City of NY) - New York Dr Susan Smith McKinney Nursing/Rehabilitation Ctr Brooklyn East NY D and T Center - Brooklyn Eastern Niagara Hospital (Newfane) - Newfane NYSNA HANDBOOK: A MEMBER’S GUIDE

Elizabethtown Community Hospital - Elizabethtown Ellis Hospital - Schenectady Elmhurst Hospital Ctr - Elmhurst Erie Cty Dept. of Social Services - Buffalo Erie Cty Youth Services - Buffalo Erie Cty Health Dept - Buffalo Erie Cty Medical Center - Buffalo Erie Cty Senior Services - Buffalo Eugenia Maria De Hostos Community Coll (CUNY) Bronx Fire Dept (City of NY)/Emergency Medical Services Brooklyn Flushing Hospital Medical Ctr - Flushing Gouverneur Hospital - Gouverneur Gouverneur Healthcare Services - New York Gracie Square Hospital - New York Harlem Hospital Ctr - New York Health Alliance - Mary’s Ave - Kingston Henry J. Carter Hospital & Nursing Facility - New York HHC Health and Home Care - New York Horseheads Central School District - Horseheads Hospice and Palliative Care - New Hartford Hunter Community College (CUNY) - New York Interfaith Medical Center - Brooklyn Jacobi Medical Center - Bronx Jewish Home Lifecare (Manhattan) - New York Jewish Home Lifecare (Bronx) - Bronx Kings Cty Hospital Ctr - Brooklyn Kingsborough Community College (CUNY) - Brooklyn Kingsbrook Jewish Medical Ctr - Brooklyn Lackawanna School District - Lackawanna LaGuardia Community College (CUNY) - Long Island City Lincoln Medical and Mental Health Ctr - Bronx Lindenhurst Union Free School District 4 - Lindenhurst Livingston Cty Health Dept - Geneseo Loeb Ctr for Nursing and Rehabilitation - Bronx Madison Cty Health Dept - Wampsville Maimonides Medical Center - Brooklyn Massena Memorial Hospital - Massena Medgar Evers College (CUNY) - Brooklyn Metroplus Health Plan - New York Metropolitan Hospital Center - New York Montefiore New Rochelle (formerly Soundshore Med Ctr) - New Rochelle Montefiore Home Health Agency - Bronx

Montefiore Medical Center (Weiler Division) - Bronx Montefiore Medical Center (Moses Division) - Bronx Montefiore Mt Vernon (formerly Mt. Vernon Hospital) Mount Vernon Montefiore Westchester Square - Bronx Morrisania D and T Center - Bronx Moses Ludington Hospital - Ticonderoga Mount Sinai Hospital - New York Mount Sinai/St Luke’s - New York Mount Sinai West - New York Nathan Littauer Hospital - Gloversville NY Dialysis Management Inc. (Montefiore Dialysis) Bronx NY Dialysis Management Inc (Western NY Artificial Kidney Ctr) - Tonawanda NY Dialysis Services (Soundshore Dialysis) New Rochelle NY Dialysis Services (ABC Sites) - Brooklyn NY Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist Hospital - Brooklyn NYPresbyterian Hospital (Columbia-Presbyterian) New York Nistel, Inc - Lake Katrine North Central Bronx Hospital - Bronx Northwell/Plainview - Plainview Northwell/Southside - Bay Shore Northwell Staten Island Univ Hospital/North Staten Island Northwell Syosset - Syosset Northwell /LIJ Valley Stream - Valley Stream NY Dialysis Services (NephroCare and NephroCare West) - Brooklyn NY Eye and Ear Infirmary - New York Nyack Hospital - Nyack NYC Department of Social Services - New York Olean General Hospital - Olean Oneida Healthcare Ctr - Oneida Onondaga Cty Dept. of Adult Long Term Care - Syracuse Onondaga Cty/Correctional Health - Syracuse Onondaga Cty/DSS Hillbrook - Syracuse Onondaga Cty/Mental Health and Fairmont - Syracuse Onondaga Cty Health Department - Syracuse Opioid Treatment Center (Division of St Joseph’s Medical Center) - Jamaica Ozanam Hall Queens Nursing Home - Bayside Parker Jewish Institute Health Care and Rehabilitation New Hyde Park Parker Jewish Long Term Home Health Care and Hospice - Lake Success

Peconic Bay Medical Ctr - Riverhead Police Department (City of New York) - New York Queens College (CUNY) - Flushing Queens Hospital Ctr - Jamaica Queensborough Community College (CUNY) - Bayside Renaissance Healthcare Network - New York Richmond University Medical Ctr - Staten Island Royalton-Hartland Central School District - Middleport Samaritan Medical Ctr - Watertown Samaritan Summit Village - Watertown Schafer Extended Care Ctr (formerly div. of Sound Shore Med. Ctr) - New Rochelle Sea View Hospital Rehabilitation Center and Home Staten Island Segundo Ruiz Belvis D and TC - Bronx Shore Memorial Hospital (dba Shore Medical Center) Somers Point (NJ) St Cabrini Nursing Home Inc (Cabrini of Westchester) Dobbs Ferry St Catherine of Siena Medical Ctr - Smithtown St Charles Hospital - Port Jefferson St Elizabeth Medical Ctr - Utica St John’s Riverside Hospital Cochran School of Nursing - Yonkers St Joseph Hospital - Bethpage St Joseph’s Hospital (Arnot Health) - Elmira St Joseph’s Medical Center - Yonkers St Vincent Hospital Westchester (div of St Joseph’s Medical Ctr) - Harrison Sullivan Cty - Liberty SUNY Staffco - Brooklyn SVCMC - US Family Health Plan - New York Terence Cardinal Cooke Hlth Care Ctr - New York Terrace View Long Term Care - Buffalo Union Community Health Center - Bronx Vassar Brothers Medical Ctr - Poughkeepsie Visiting Nurse Association Staten Island - Staten Island Visiting Nurse Service Schenectady - Schenectady Washington Cty Public Health - Hudson Falls Westchester Community College - Valhalla Westchester Cty Dept of Health - White Plains Westchester Cty Dept of Social Services - White Plains Westchester Medical Center - Valhalla Woodhull Medical and Mental Health Ctr - Brooklyn Wyckoff Heights Medical Ctr - Brooklyn York College (CUNY) - Jamaica NYSNA HANDBOOK: A MEMBER’S GUIDE