NEW ORLEANS — Wednesday afternoon, the management of University Medical Center agreed to let the nurses have a vote on whether or not they want to join a union.
This comes after each side says there have been contentious moments during the process.
The more than 750 nurses at UMC will have a chance to vote on unionizing. The election is set for December 7, 8, and 9. That is one month later than they had hoped. Wednesday attorneys for both LCMC, which manages UMC, and National Nurses United, met to iron out details of the election. Earlier this week, nurses told us about their concerns.
“Safe staffing is a big one, workplace violence protections is another one, and just us having a seat at the table when it comes to decision making that directly affects us in the care that we give our patients,” said UMC registered nurse Tatiana Mukhtar.
“We don't have enough staffing in the hospital, which affects patient care directly. There's not enough rooms in patient units, the way it trickles all the way down to the waiting room where people can wait up to 20 hours,” said UMC registered nurse Margaret Tully.
We obtained an internal memo to the staff from the CEO of LCMC Health, stating that the recent "march on the boss" does not help patient care, staffing, or safety, urging staff to be respectful of others. It also said that bullying in patient care areas, disrespect, and combative actions, are unacceptable, and people will be held accountable.
“We are disappointed, and frustrated that management would choose words as such for the email, and we are very disappointed that they wouldn't even meet with us face to face,” said Mukhtar
For some time now, there has been a national nursing shortage. Overall, hospitals have said they are already operating under tight budget margins. And their concern is that restrictions on hours, and staff to patient ratios, won't produce more RNs to fill the gaps. One long-time nurse tells Medical Watch that you never want to see beds closed down at UMC since it is the state's safety net hospital for people who don't have access to health care. Closed beds, the fear is, could mean a higher mortality rate.
Meanwhile, nurses for the union say they want a voice.
“We'll be able to express what we need, and our patients need, directly to management instead of waiting to hear what they say after we fill out and engagement survey,” said Tully.
We asked both LCMC Health and National Nurses United for comment on this issue, but have not yet gotten one.
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