Nurses and Supporters of Nurses
Join the Nurses of Cape Cod & Falmouth Hospitals
As they Conduct Informational Picketing on May 19 and 20 for a
Fair Contract with Safe Staffing and Limits on Mandatory Overtime
WHERE:
Cape Cod Hospital 27 Park Street, Hyannis MA 02601
Falmouth Hospital 100 Ter Heun Drive Falmouth, MA 02540
WHEN:
Cape Cod Hospital: May 19, 2011 2 – 5 p.m.
Falmouth Hospital: May 20, 2011 2 – 5 p.m.
The registered nurses of Cape Cod and Falmouth Hospitals, who are represented by the Massachusetts Nurses Association, are conducting joint informational picketing outside their respective facilities on Thursday, May 19 (outside Cape Cod Hospital) and on Friday, May 20 (outside Falmouth Hospital) to protest Cape Cod Health Care (CCHC) administration’s refusal to provide adequate RN staffing, safe working conditions, and the resources needed to ensure patients receive quality patient care at these two facilities serving all of Cape Cod.
The 900 nurses, who are currently involved in negotiations for a new union contract, have been meeting for months with administration to reach an agreement, and the last several sessions were held with the assistance of a federal mediator. The nurses are outraged that despite posting a record $30 million in profits over the last two years, the hospital continues to object to needed improvements in RN staffing levels, continues to force nurses to work extra hours and double shifts to cover for staffing shortages, and refuses to grant nurses a modest pay increase in light of the sacrifices they have made to promote the hospitals’ strong financial performance.
According to the nurses, on many floors, and on many days, the hospital is failing to meet contractually mandated staffing standards and they are refusing to adjust RN staffing to meet the needs of the patients. When this happens, nurses are forced to care for too many patients at one time, resulting in inadequate patient care.
Nurses are seeking improvements to the RN staffing plan on specific floors/units to ensure quality care, as well as strict limits on the use of forced overtime as a staffing tool. The limits sought by the nurses are in place at dozens of hospitals across the state, and are in keeping with recommendations by the Institute of Medicine, the nation’s foremost authority on safe medical practices.
We encourage all nurses and those who support nurses to join these caregivers in their campaign to improve the quality of care for patients on Cape Cod. For more information, visit www.massnurses.org
__________________________________________
Founded in 1903, the Massachusetts Nurses Association is the largest professional health care organization and the largest union of registered nurses in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Its 23,000 members advance the nursing profession by fostering high standards of nursing practice, promoting the economic and general welfare of nurses in the workplace, projecting a positive and realistic view of nursing, and by lobbying the Legislature and regulatory agencies on health care issues affecting nurses and the public. The MNA is also a founding member of National Nurses United, the largest national nurses union in the United States with more than 150,000 members from coast to coast.
“
