APRIL 2019
A NEWSLETTER FOR NYSNA RNs AT NYC HEALTH + HOSPITALS/MAYORALS
Saturday Strategy Sessions Yield Proposals Dozens of NYC H+H nurses gave up their Saturdays to participate in day-long strategy sessions on March 16 and 23. Through open dialogue and debate, the Negotiations Committee and Contract Action Team (CAT) members began crafting a list of proposals to inform our bargaining. Below are the main proposals coming out of these sessions.
OVERALL DEMANDS FROM PROPOSALS
1 Protecting Working Conditions of Nurses and Other
Care Givers and Maintaining Equal Access to Quality Care for Patients and Communities
• Minimum Staffing Ratios and Standards Across Disciplines • Time and One Half Pay for Missed Breaks • Written Reponses from Management about Workplace Violence Concerns • Safe Patient Handling and Ongoing Training • 48 Hour Investigation and Response Mechanism to Written Allegation of Management Bullying, Intimidation, Threatening, or Menacing • Respect for Nurses, Direct Care Workers, Patients and the Community • Maintain current health benefits
2 Recruitment and Retention of Nurses • Reduction of Disparities in Pay and Benefits Between Public and Private Sector Registered Nurses • Internal Hiring and Promotion Preferences • Paid Family Leave • Standing Float Pool of Nurses to Eliminate Non-
Emergency Floating, Involuntary Shift Rotations and Changes in Assignments • Increased Tuition and Educational Reimbursement • Provide unpaid leave time for Medical Missions • Reduce the Probationary Period for New Hires to Six (6) Months
3 Democratize the Decision-Making Process for the Delivery of Health Services • Establish Joint Community-NYSNA-Management Health Services Committee • Establish a Joint NYSNA and Management Committee on Equipment and Technology • Establish a Committee on Universal Health Coverage
SPECIFIC MAYORALS PROPOSALS • Clear contract language regarding no out of title task or hiring at any mayoral agency • All Mayoral agencies work week for staff nurses 37.5 hours/week and case managers 35 hours/week • Incorporate all Mayoral case management nurses level 1 and 2 into the care management title with parity pay and all negotiated benefits without changing the current 35 hour work week • Clear contract language regarding 1 hour meal periods at all Mayoral agencies • Clear contract language regarding lateral transfers to and from any Mayoral agency or H+H facility • Investigating, clarifying and creating clear contract language for provisional status
WE ARE NURSES, WE ARE NYSNA!
Ask a Nurse: Marion Parkins, RN, MSN, FNP I give it all back to my profession, my colleagues, and my union. This recognition is not just for me alone—it’s for the kind of work that we are all doing.
Q:
You have done several Medical Missions with NYSNA and have been doing them since 2001 with your church. You’ve traveled the world, including Venezuela, Nigeria, Dominican Republic, South Africa, Albania, Romania, Philippines, Brazil, and India. Why would you recommend nurses go on a Medical Mission?
Q: How long have you been a nurse? I’ve worked at H+H Harlem Hospital for 26, and I’ve been a nurse for about 20 years. I work on the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit.
Q: What’s your favorite thing about being a nurse?
I like to serve, especially the under-served communities—the voiceless, marginalized, immigrants—people who would not have their basic needs met otherwise. I serve from my heart for the greater good of the people. I believe it’s not what you do, it’s how you make them feel. Being an advocate for nurses and patients comes naturally if you live simply, walk humbly and love genuinely.
Q: When did you first get involved in NYSNA?
I began getting more active about 5 years ago, going to Lobby Day in Albany, Executive Council meetings, parades and marches, when our union began getting more involved in these activities. It’s important to know what your union is doing beyond just negotiating for your paycheck. We are really working for the benefit of the community—from civil rights, to social justice, to disaster relief, to climate change. When NYSNA talks, people listen.
Q:
You recently received several awards, including awards from Congress, the New York State Assembly, and City Council for your community service and contributions to the labor movement. How does it feel being recognized for all that you do?
I do two missions a year with NYSNA, and two a year with my church. You realize when you travel that we have more similarities than differences. Diversity binds us together and makes us strong. You also realize when meeting with nurses from different countries that we face some of the same problems with nurse-to-patient ratios and privatization. We may have more supplies or technology than other places, but nurses face the same challenges everywhere.
Q: What do you wish more New Yorkers knew about the services that H+H provides?
We give great care, and we are awesome nurses. It’s no accident that nursing students are told by private hospitals to come to H+H to learn how to nurse.
Q:
Why do you think it’s important to fight for a contract with H+H and the City that benefits patients, as well as nurses? Without patients, there’s no hospital. It’s the patients we are negotiating for—and we care for everybody. We believe every patient is a VIP. When you don’t have the staff to support patients learning, that’s a problem. When you don’t have the staff to care for every patient safely, that’s a problem. We want better staffing so we can deliver an even higher quality of care. We can bring greater equity to the system and be financially sound.
Q:
What do you think would happen if you didn’t have a union? If we didn’t have a union, forget it! We would have to put up with anything. More nurses are coming to understand that we are the union. It’s especially important to get involved and make your voice heard during negotiations. If you don’t speak up, someone else will be writing the agenda for you. I’m really excited about everything that’s happening in NYSNA, and I can’t wait to get even more nurses involved through the Contract Action Team!
A Newsletter for NYSNA RNs at NYC Health + Hospitals
APRIL 2019
Ask a Nurse: Yvonne Lam, RN, BSN, MSN, CCM
Q: How long have you been a nurse?
I’ve been a nurse since 2006. I got my clinicals and allaround training as a floor nurse in MedSurg, and then I got into Case Management. I am bilingual and speak Chinese, so I became the point person for Chinese speaking patients.
Q:
What’s your favorite thing about being a nurse and a care manager? I love to see positive outcomes. I deal with a lot of chronically ill patients. I enjoy bringing them resources that improve their care and save the hospital money. I had a patient that was readmitted every month in the emergency room. I was able to intervene and place that patient into a safe and appropriate level of care. I would love for our model to be more preventative and continuous—with nurses and care managers and home care nurses all working together to improve public health.
Q: When did you first get involved in NYSNA?
I got involved in 2017 after I had a grievance about my 12hour shift being reduced at Woodhull. I was impressed by how my Rep handled it, and she encouraged me to run as a Delegate. With NYSNA, we are fighting for each member for the right reasons, and using the contract to protect each member. I want to be there to protect other members, because nurses work so hard every day and go above and beyond to protect patients.
Q: I understand you recently accepted a Certificate
of Merit from Assistant Speaker of the NYS Assembly, Félix Ortiz, on behalf of NYSNA for our role in this year’s Lunar New Year celebration. How did it feel being recognized for our contribution to NYC’s Asian community? I feel really grateful and happy that I was able to represent NYSNA and all the nurses, because we are servicing everyone in New York from all communities. The parade was a great way to advertise ourselves to the communi-
ty. Every patient deserves a nurse and deserves the education that we can provide at H+H. I would like H+H to do more to attract patients from the Asian community, many of whom have private insurance.
Q:
Why do you think it’s important to fight for a contract with H+H and the City that benefits patients, as well as nurses? Our contract should benefit the patients—we are public workers and we are here to serve the community. We need the correct ratio of nurses to patients, so patients receive the proper care and teaching. We need the resources that let us deliver the level of services that patients expect these days if we want to increase H+H’s revenue. Also, I’m dedicated to my community. I did my student rotation here at Woodhull, and have been here ever since. I grew up and still live within a mile of the hospital. I see what Woodhull brings to the community, and I also see what the community is lacking. I think H+H facilities could fill even more community needs—especially if they asked the nurses, who are members of these communities, what is needed.
Q:
What do you think would happen if you didn’t have a union? I think that without NYSNA, the nurses wouldn’t be treated fairly or have a good contract. Through NYSNA, we are connected and always learning, along with nurses from all over the country and even the world! Management is always going to focus on reducing costs and the bottom line, but NYSNA is here to remind everyone that the nurses are here for the patients!
UPCOMING EVENTS
(For more information or to register, ask your NYSNA Rep or visit www.nysna.org/events)
✚
MEDICAL MISSION & DISASTER RELIEF
✚
CRITICAL CARE CERT. REVIEW
✚
CARDIAC SURGERY CERT. REVIEW
✚
LOBBY DAY
✚
2019 SEMINAR AT SEA
✚
MEDICAL MISSION & DISASTER RELIEF
✚
WORKPLACE VIOLENCE PREVENTION
April 23 - May 9, Brazil April 25 & 26, NYSNA NYC Office May 2 & 3, NYSNA NYC Office May 6, Albany May 12 - 19, Barcelona, Spain May 13 - 19, Cusco, Peru May 15, NYSNA NYC Office
Several NYSNA nurses celebrated International Women’s Month by participating in the Red Carpet for Social Justice. Jacobi nurse Dora Acevedo, RN, (above) is representing Chile.
NYC H+H & MAYORAL EXECUTIVE COUNCIL CHAIRS RNS: • Naomi Greene, Administration for Children’s Services • Todd Schultz, Bellevue Hospital Center • Jovana Woodley, Coler Specialty Hospital & Nursing Facility • Ray Briggs, Coney Island Hospital • Audrey Morgan, Correctional Health Services • Florence Exinor, Cumberland D & T Center • Keysha Morris, Department of Correction • Theresa Minarik, Department of Sanitation • Patricia Morris, Dr. Susan Smith McKinney Nursing & Rehab Ctr • Deborah Gatson, East NY D & T Center • Pauline Williams, Elmhurst Hospital Center • James Ambery, Fire Department • Kittie McGee, Harlem Hospital Center • Grace Lee, Gouverneur Healthcare Services • Peter Pacheco, Henry J. Carter Specialty Hosp. & Nursing Facility • Rivka Elyahu, HHC Health and Home Care • Yelena Levin, Human Resources Administration • Mary Simon, Jacobi Medical Center • Curlean Duncan, Kings County Hospital Center • Marsha Wilson, Lincoln Medical and Mental Health Center • Charles Mighty, Metropolitan Hospital Center • Nicole Smith Ferguson, Morrisania D & T Center • Lynne Sanderson Burgess, Police Department • Sharon Greenaway, North Central Bronx Hospital • Lindella Artman, Queens Hospital Center • Stephen Nartey, Renaissance Healthcare Network • Kimberly Yeo, Sea View Hospital Rehabilitation Center & Home • Natalie Solomon, Segundo Ruiz Belvis D&TC • Judith Cutchin, Woodhull Medical & Mental Health Center
GET ANSWERS/STAY IN TOUCH Dental benefit questions: www.Aetna.com, 877-238-6200 Prescription benefit questions: www.optumrx.com, 888-691-0130 For all other benefits: www.ASOnet.com, 888-692-7671 NYSNA NYC Office: www.nysna.org, 212 785 0157 NYSNA Board of Directors: www.nysna.org/board-directors
nynurses
@nynurses
nynurses
