New Nurse-to-Patient Staffing Ratios
- Were negotiated in the current contract
- The goal is for new ratios to be in effect in every unit by Oct. 1, 2015.
- The Quality Nursing and Career Development Committee (QNCD), comprised of Local 1991 members and JHS management, has been working since February to accomplish two major tasks — doing the math, and getting new hires through the system.
- QNCD’s work is to evaluate the number of nurses needed on each unit and make sure jobs are posted and hired and trained to meet the ratios. Once that happens in major areas, we’ll engage with management to monitor each unit for compliance.
Progress is slowly being made throughout the system as hundreds of RNS are hired to get to full compliance by Oct. 1, 2015.
It’s a long process and a test in patience to wait for new recruits to be hired, trained and effective on the units, all of which take time. The first battle is getting the jobs posted. An added challenge has been the increase in patient volumes, which is good for business, but adds difficulties to an already stressed staffing model.
