State grants are being used to help retain nurses across Iowa hospitals.
UnityPoint Health St. Luke’s Hospital in Cedar Rapids is one of the hospitals receiving these grants. About 120 nurses have retired from the hospital over the last five years.
Saint Luke’s was granted just over $200,000 to help 11 nurses get their RN certification. Those employees will be given a scholarship and the time to commit to getting their education.
Hundreds of registered nurses and service group employees are on the third day of a three-day unfair labor practice strike at McLaren Macomb Hospital in Mount Clemens, with registered nurses not expected to return to work until the weekend.
The service group includes employees who draw blood, register patients and sit with patients who cannot be by themselves, as well as endoscopy technologists and critical care technicians, said Dina Carlisle, president of the Office and Professional Employees International Union (OPEIU) Local 40, whose more than 660 union members work at the hospital and are on strike.
The July 7-9 strike aims to address what the union indicated are numerous unfair labor practices by the hospital, hindering its ability to reach fair contracts.
Unionized nurses at Essentia Health hospitals in Duluth and Superior reached a contract agreement Friday, averting a strike that was set to begin this week, though other groups of Essentia employees may still move forward with strikes in the coming days.
The contract must still be ratified by union members. It includes a 9.75% raise over the three years of the contract, plus a one-year freeze on reductions to staffing ratios, the nurses union announced in a press release. The contract covers around 1,500 nurses at Essentia Health-St. Mary’s Medical Center, Essentia Health-Duluth and Essentia Health St. Mary’s Hospital-Superior. The previous contract expired June 30.
Nurses at Adventist Health Twin Cities and Sierra Vista hospitals held informational pickets Tuesday, citing concerns over staffing levels, retention and healthcare coverage as contract negotiations continue.
The nurses, represented by the California Nurses Association, have been in talks with Adventist Health since March. According to union representatives, the goal of the pickets is to draw attention to what they describe as a lack of progress on key issues affecting working conditions and patient care.
In a statement to KSBY, Adventist Health said its bargaining teams at both hospitals have met with the union’s bargaining team “a dozen times” to work toward a new agreement. The organization said its current offer includes a 7.5 percent pay increase for registered nurses in the first year, as well as additional holiday time, enhanced differentials and medical insurance that does not require nurses to pay premiums.
If they want to work in North Carolina, advanced practice registered nurses — in particular, nurse practitioners — are required to work with a supervising physician. Certified registered nurse anesthetists require an arrangement with an organization that employs an anesthesiologist. Nurses say these regulations create unnecessary red tape and costs to the APRNs and to patients.
UConn Health abruptly reversed, calling off a plan to cut stipends aimed at recruitment and retention for 260 nurses. The hospital reached an agreement with the University Health Professionals Local 3837 to extend the stipends for a year after earlier this month announcing the immediate cut of 50% of those stipends, causing outcry from nurses.