Say Hello to Our West Hills CEO & CNO
Just in case you haven’t heard, RNs who have not met a “core measure” have been told that they need to meet with CEO Beverly Gilmore, CNO Janet Brooks, and their manager.
Many of us have never met the CEO and CNO. Some of us have never even seen them before. Then to have to meet them under what seems to be investigatory or disciplinary circumstances? How intimidating is this?
RNs who have been told to make an appointment with the CEO and CNO have already talked to their managers about the issue, so what’s the point? What else is there to say?
Examples
If you haven’t been called in to meet our CEO and CNO, here are some examples of why RNs have been “invited” to meet with the CEO and CNO:
- A patient left the hospital against medical advice and the RN didn’t offer the patient a flu shot.
- The RN followed the doctor’s order to take a blood sugar reading, but the manager thought the nurse should have taken an extra blood sugar reading that was not part of the doctor’s order.
Clearly our CNO and CEO are taking a hands-on approach to what they perceive as missing core measures. If they have extra time on their hands, it would be more helpful if they would address our staffing concerns. If we had fully staffed units including RNs, CNAs, Unit Secretaries, and Monitor Techs, our Charge RN could relieve us for breaks and lunch and we would have more time to tend to patient care and core measures. This most certainly would boost morale and create a better work environment.
Our Right to Union Representation
If you are called into an investigatory or disciplinary meeting with the CNO, the CEO and/or your Manager, you have the right to union representation.
Investigatory meetings are meetings at which you are asked questions by management which you believe may lead to discipline. If you are at an investigatory meeting, you have the RIGHT to have a Union steward/representative at the meeting with you. These are called Weingarten Rights. Our contract gives us the right to have a union representative with us for disciplinary meetings.
Here’s what you say to management, even if you are in the middle of a meeting:
“I request to have a Union Representative present on my behalf during this meeting because I believe it may lead to disciplinary action being taken against me. If I am denied my right to have a Union Representative present, I will refuse to answer accusatory questions and any I believe may lead to discipline.”
If management insists that the meeting is not investigatory and will not result in discipline, document who said what in the event that management changes their story later on.
Click here to view and/or print complete flyer.