The registered nurses of St. Vincent Hospital in Worcester, Mass., will hold a one-day strike for patient safety on May 6, as contract talks continue to stall over staffing levels at the hospital, according to a news release.
The nurses began negotiating a new contract with hospital management Vanguard Health Systems in Dec. 2009 and a total of 39 negotiating sessions have been held to date. The current contract expired on Dec. 31, 2009, and has been extended by mutual agreement until May 4, 2011, which is the last scheduled session before the strike.
At the negotiating session held yesterday, talks ended with the hospital making "its last, best and final" offer, which would add more nurses to a few floors, close nine beds in the ICU, increase patient assignments for nurses on a floor caring for patients recovering from open-heart surgery and eliminate a team of patient support nurses who assist other nurses with complex cases.
Read the news release about the one-day strike at St. Vincent Hospital.
Related articles on nurse staffing levels:
10 Recent Nursing Strikes, Lawsuits and Unionizations at U.S. Hospitals
Study: Higher Nurse Staffing Levels Can Reduce Infection Rates
EMMC Nurses Call Hospital Report on Staffing Levels Inaccurate Amid Contract Negotiations
The nurses began negotiating a new contract with hospital management Vanguard Health Systems in Dec. 2009 and a total of 39 negotiating sessions have been held to date. The current contract expired on Dec. 31, 2009, and has been extended by mutual agreement until May 4, 2011, which is the last scheduled session before the strike.
At the negotiating session held yesterday, talks ended with the hospital making "its last, best and final" offer, which would add more nurses to a few floors, close nine beds in the ICU, increase patient assignments for nurses on a floor caring for patients recovering from open-heart surgery and eliminate a team of patient support nurses who assist other nurses with complex cases.
Read the news release about the one-day strike at St. Vincent Hospital.
Related articles on nurse staffing levels:
10 Recent Nursing Strikes, Lawsuits and Unionizations at U.S. Hospitals
Study: Higher Nurse Staffing Levels Can Reduce Infection Rates
EMMC Nurses Call Hospital Report on Staffing Levels Inaccurate Amid Contract Negotiations
