Blessing nurses consider unionizing

QUINCY — A group of nurses at Blessing Health System are looking to form a union to combat a number of issues they say include high turnover, high patient-to-nurse ratios and lower pay than travel nurses who are brought into the hospital.

The nurses are seeking to unionize with IAM Healthcare, which is under the umbrella of the Machinists Union. Jon Irvine, healthcare coordinator for the union, said the organization represents about 13,000 nurses and health care personnel nationwide. None of them, however, are currently in Illinois.

Lynn Doellman, a nurse for 14 years, is helping spearhead the unionization effort. She said she was frustrated with what she called high turnover rate at Blessing, which she attributed to poor staff retention and patient-to-nurse ratios she described as “overwhelming.”

“It takes an emotional toll on both experienced and new nurses,” she said. “Why aren’t we keeping staff? People are getting frustrated because we’re the front line. We’re the ones people look at when they are sick.

“This can be very overwhelming to a seasoned nurse such as myself, but when I see the young nurses coming in and they’re expected to do the same things I am … I catch them crying because they don’t know what to do, or they just can’t take it anymore and it doesn’t seem like anything is being done. They’re leaving. I want it to be a place where we’re a part of the community, where people come and they want to stay, and they want to make a career out of it.”

Shawnee Deters, an RN/C3, and Tyler Plant, RN, are other staffers who are involved in the organizational effort.

Irvine said is seeking information and data as the vote approaches and is asking for Blessing officials to:

• Investigate the current staffing situation, including the number of open positions and the percentage of travel nurses.
• Explore ways to improve staff retention, such as reviewing compensation and benefits packages, and implementing programs to support and develop the nursing staff.
• Schedule a meeting with the nursing staff to better understand their concerns and gather feedback on how to improve the work environment.
• Develop a plan to address the travel nurse situation, including strategies to incentivize experienced nurses to stay and support the development of new nurses.

Irvine said for unionization to pass they need 50 percent + 1 vote of support by those who vote. For authorization cards, he said he would like to see 60 percent support, but they only need 30 percent in order to file for voting. He said earlier this week he had no timetable for when a vote would be held.

Those pushing for unionization have more than 1,200 signatures on an online petition supporting the effort.

Brian Canfield, president and CEO of Blessing Health System, provided a statement to Muddy River News and said hospital leadership is aware of the effort to unionize.

“Our leaders are currently sharing facts and information with employees to help them make an informed, personal choice about unionization and collective bargaining,” Canfield said.

He referred the public to www.blessinghealth.org/getthefacts to see the company’s perspective on the situation.

“While we respect the rights of employees to consider union membership, at Blessing we prefer a collaborative relationship between leaders and staff,” Canfield said.

Canfield said Blessing’s designation as a magnet hospital by the American Nurses Credentialing shows the hospital is committed to “advance nursing excellence and embody a collaborative culture through shared governance.”

He said 10 percent of the nation’s hospitals have this designation.

“This structure gives our nurses a direct voice in decision-making that impacts their clinical practice and, ultimately, is in the best interests of our patients and the communities we serve,” Canfield said.

Canfield also said a mix of nurses are needed to provide quality care.

“Blessing relies on full-time, part-time and per-diem staff as well as an internal float pool of nurses who are deployed throughout the hospital,” he said. “Like the majority of hospitals in the U.S., we also use a small number of agency nurses to ensure the safest staffing for our patients.”