CURRENT Summer
staffing challenges
◼︎ THE BIG ISSUES
Staffing challenges continue to escalate across the hospital.
So what has been discussed so far in negotiations?
In March, almost every department in the hospital presented proposals to UPMC corporate focused on improving patient care.
What we are proposing:
Adhering to nationally recognized, evidence-based staffing standards
Proactive approach to anticipating and filling holes, including enhanced off-shift differentials and the use of extra incentive when necessary
Pulling protections
Unassigned charge across day and night shifts
Increasing staffing levels in outpatient departments to ensure adequate time with patients
Investing in experience and elevating compensation so we can recruit + retain skilled nurses
UPMC has told us repeatedly that our staffing proposals would “fundamentally alter how we staff the hospital.” In our recent negotiation session, we raised concerns directly with UPMC about worsening staffing challenges as we get deeper into summer across many of our units.
Summer staffing challenges
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Staffing is reaching crisis levels across many of our units
We are very concerned with recent assignments: for example, we’ve seen five baby assignments in NICU step-down pods, a nurse in charge with two acute seizure patients in the OB ICU, and patients boarded in the ED because of nurse shortages.
The hospital should act now by turning on ESB for units in need and pursuing all options to fill holes, including utilizing casuals and opening up more on-call opportunities.
The hospital should prioritize responding to our comprehensive staffing proposal so we can make long term progress.
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Our CNO said “I actually feel good about our staffing.”
Their view is that some days bring challenges but that we tend to “remember the bad days more than we remember the good days” and that we have not reached our max yet this summer
The biggest drivers of short-staffing are nurses who take parental leave, use PTO, or call off
Nurses already have an effective escalation process for safety concerns, and we should use it; ESB can’t turn on “at the flip of a switch” – it’s decided higher up and Magee doesn’t meet UPMC’s criteria for the activation of ESB
We are calling on UPMC to take immediate action on the staffing crisis by turning on ESB now and to respond to our staffing proposal.
We are signing our membership cards and wearing purple across the hospital to show support for the negotiating committee that is pushing for these goals.
Contact your negotiating committee representative to get your gear!