Monthly
Status Report
September,
2005
800 Days without a Contract
Massachusetts' most vulnerable
patients are threatened by Gov. Romney's disrespect
of the state’s RNs and health professionals
Today,
September 7, 2005, marks 800 days that state-employed
registered nurses and health professionals have
gone without a contract, a situation that is
preventing the recruitment and retention of the
professional staff needed to adequately care
for the state’s most vulnerable residents,
including the severely mentally ill, mentally
retarded and disabled veterans. The Romney administration
refuses to make Unit 7 jobs competitive with
the private sector despite what their own people
are telling them and they continue to drag their
feet and won't agree to even negotiate until
some time in October.
“Governor Romney—while
traveling the country to curry favor with voters
in his bid for the White House—has abandoned
this state’s responsibility to care for
its most vulnerable residents,” said Bill
Fyfe, RN and president of the Massachusetts Nurses
Association’s chapter of state-employed
health care professionals, which includes more
than 1,800 members. “He has shown a total
disrespect for those dedicated professionals
who have sacrificed so much to care for them.”
State-employed health professionals
include registered nurses, physicians, pharmacists,
psychologists, occupational therapists, physical
therapists, dentists, speech and hearing therapists
and podiatrists. They work in soldiers’ homes
for disabled veterans; state hospitals for the
mentally ill; residential facilities for mentally
retarded adults. They also work at centers for
HIV and drug-affected mothers and children; group
homes for those cannot live independently; and
high-security wards for violent adolescents or
suicidal/homicidal residents, mentally ill prisoners,
and clients sent for pre-trial evaluations.
“We are the safety net for
the state’s most troubled and helpless
citizens, we’re the last stop, and without
our care and services, many of these people would
end up homeless and many would die,” said
Fyfe. “The Governor’s treatment of
the state’s caregivers represents the shredding
of the state’s safety net. We will not
allow him to continue his campaign for personal
gain without waging our own campaign for respect
and decency for ourselves and for those truly
in need.”
Negotiations between the Romney
administration and the health professionals began
on July 23, 2004. The administration came to
the table with more than 100 proposals to cut
benefits and no pay increase. The administration
has also sought to strip the nurses and professionals
of all their rights to have input on staffing
conditions at the facilities. According to recent
surveys, staffing levels are dangerously low—which
severely compromises the quality and safety of
care in the state’s facilities.
“In order to ensure patient
safety, compensation and staffing levels in state
facilities must be competitive with the private
sector,” Fyfe explained. “Working
conditions at one state hospital were so bad
that the turnover rate was over 80 percent in
a five-year period. Patients are not safe under
these conditions, and these conditions also make
it extremely difficult to recruit and retain
qualified staff.”
Poor Care Statewide Due to Staffing
Shortages
The MNA's claims of poor care are supported by hundreds of official reports
of unsafe staffing submitted by professionals at a number of the state's facilities
in recent years. This includes the results of recent surveys of staff in a
number of state facilities for the mentally ill and mentally retarded. Surveys
at two of the state’s largest mental health hospitals, Taunton State
Hospital (TSH) and Worcester State Hospital (WSH) had the following alarming
results:
- 97 percent of the professional
staff at TSH and 96 percent of the staff at
WSH reported that their units were dangerously
understaffed some or most of the time.
- 95 percent of the staff at
TSH and 89 percent of the staff at WSH reported
that staffing levels have been chronically
inadequate for the past two years.
- 89 percent of the TSH professionals
and 77 percent of the WSH staff believe current
working conditions force them to provide a
level of care below their professional standards.
- 100 percent of the TSH professionals
and 81 percent of the WSH professionals reported
they lack the sufficient time to prove the
level of care their patients require.
Survey results were even more alarming
for two residential facilities that specialize
in the care of the profoundly mentally retarded—Wrentham
Developmental Center and Templeton Developmental
Center.
- 100 percent of the registered
nurses and professionals at Templeton and 69
percent of registered nurses and professionals
at Wrentham believe their facility is dangerously
understaffed some or most of the time.
- 89 percent of the staff at
Wrentham and 80 percent of the staff at Templeton
reported an increase in medical errors due
to understaffing.
- 89 percent of the Wrentham
professionals and 75 percent of the Templeton
professionals reported that current working
conditions force them to provide a level of
care below their professional standards.
- And in both surveys, nearly
75 percent of the professionals report they
are seriously considering leaving.
“We can no longer allow people
with severe mental illness and disability to
continue to receive a diminished level of care
in an under-funded system,” Fyfe concluded. “It
is our ethical and professional obligation to
advocate for our patients and that is what we
intend to do.”
