Unionized nurses from Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor, Maine, are claiming the hospital's report about its staffing levels is inaccurate, incomplete and not in keeping with nationally accepted standards, according to a Bangor Daily news report.
The outcry comes just days before the unionized nurses were set to enter contract negotiations with a federal mediator. According to the hospital's website, staffing levels have followed nationally accepted guidelines for optimal nurse staffing shifts, adjusting for "patient acuity, nursing skill mix and admission and discharge activity."
However, data the hospital used to create the nurse staffing report was "misleading and incomplete," said Vanessa Sylvester of the Maine State Nurses Association. Ms. Sylvester said the report relies on a New England Journal of Medicine article that used data from the 1990s. The report also does not include patients assigned to a unit's charge nurse, she said.
Senior officials from EMMC are denying the allegations.
Read the news report about EMMC nurses.
Read other coverage about patient safety:
- Drugmakers, Device Makers Want Harsher Penalties for Theft
- Study: Shared Decision-Making Leads to Better Results in Elective Treatments
- How to Determine Which Types of Surfaces are Appropriate for Disinfectants: Q&A With Jack Wagner of Micro-Scientific
The outcry comes just days before the unionized nurses were set to enter contract negotiations with a federal mediator. According to the hospital's website, staffing levels have followed nationally accepted guidelines for optimal nurse staffing shifts, adjusting for "patient acuity, nursing skill mix and admission and discharge activity."
However, data the hospital used to create the nurse staffing report was "misleading and incomplete," said Vanessa Sylvester of the Maine State Nurses Association. Ms. Sylvester said the report relies on a New England Journal of Medicine article that used data from the 1990s. The report also does not include patients assigned to a unit's charge nurse, she said.
Senior officials from EMMC are denying the allegations.
Read the news report about EMMC nurses.
Read other coverage about patient safety:
- Drugmakers, Device Makers Want Harsher Penalties for Theft
- Study: Shared Decision-Making Leads to Better Results in Elective Treatments
- How to Determine Which Types of Surfaces are Appropriate for Disinfectants: Q&A With Jack Wagner of Micro-Scientific