We stood together with Dignity, now they propose further takeaways

We stood together with Dignity, now they propose further takeaways—we say NO WAY!

September 4, 2024

Bargaining Update #3 On many fronts this contract must stand in contrast to our last. So much has changed since 2019—our last negotiated contract. In the last four years we have been tested, we stood up for the challenges of the global pandemic. Our families were strained, their mental and personal health suffered during the last four years. We want to build on our last contract.

Imposing changes to our medical insurance plans and having us shoulder the burden and “share” cost is a non-starter.

“Every day, we witness the impact of Dignity’s staffing constraints and performance pressures. Quality care is at risk at both Camarillo and Regional. The Acute Care Unit and Intensive Care Unit utilize our Care Coordinators on a daily basis, whether it’s for discharge planning or hospital transfers for heart catheterizations, which are not performed at the SJHC Cath Lab.
Since the cath lab is underutilized at SJHC, care coordination is used to set up patient transfers, including authorizations and arranging ambulance transport, along with paperwork and coordinating with the multidisciplinary team.
Transfers increase the workload of Care Coordinators and place a heavy constraint on their assignments when they have a caseload of 30-35, sometimes up to 40. Due to the number of caseloads and the need to prioritize hospital transfers for higher levels of care or procedures, the quality of care in providing discharge planning raises the risk of unsafe patient discharge or delays in discharge. Patient safety is at risk if ratios or a decrease in workload is not implemented immediately.”

Dignity wants to radically transform our hospitals into one big float pool. They proposed that Nurses from all units be required to float to ER. They argued that a Nurse’s expertise lies not with their department, but with a patient population. For example, a med-surg Nurse could be required to float to any department to care for med-surg patients, with no accounting for setting. The insults to our profession didn’t stop there. They proposed floating Case Managers between campuses and getting rid of night shift Care Coordinators, leaving our units understaffed.
We say: no way. Your Bargaining Team understands that reality is still relevant. Context, competency, training, orientation, and expertise still matter. Our patients and their care are not hypothetical. Dignity, we will always stand up for patient safety, so come back and join us in the real world.