Backus United - John

Union work isn't just negotiations

2012-03-10T06:58:00.001-05:00

I spent Wednesday in Hartford testifying on a bill concerning workplace violence against health care workers. I did so at the request of AFT CT. AFT CT was instrumental in getting legislation passed last year to protect health care workers and this new bill could weaken it. I enclose my testimony below.

Latter, I drove to Foxwoods to attend the United Way Annual Appreciation Event. Backus Federation of Nurses was invited because we have worked with the United Way on two very successful food drives in the past year and anticipate a close relationship with them for years to come.

The hearing in Hartford ran late so I arrived only for the end of the United Way event but that was not a problem because we were also represented by Michelle Hayes, Carol Adams and Kathy Palmer, as well as Greg Kotecki, our field representative.

I mention these events because I think it's important for members to understand what goes on away from the negotiation table in your union, all of which effect our lives and our negotiations.

Testimony of

John Brady, RN

Backus Federation ofNurses

AFT Local

SB 275 – An Act Concerning Workplace Violence and Reporting

Public HealthCommittee

March 7, 2012

Good morning Senator Gerratana, Representative Ritter andmembers of the Public Health Committee. Thankyou for the opportunity to address you today. My name is John Bradyand I'm a Registered Nurse working in the Emergency Department at Backus Hospitalin Norwich. I come before you to ask for your help.
My colleagues and I face the danger of physicaland verbal attacks on a daily basis. It is critical to our safety that Connecticut's workplaceviolence laws be strong. Those who dedicate themselves to the careof others need and deserve the ability to work without our lives beingthreatened. I have seen verbal and physical attacks against nurses and otherhealth care workers leave them so traumatized that they have left bedsidenursing.
I'd like to share with you just one example:
The patient was a big man, well over six feettall. His arms were so large that the blood pressure cuff could notencircle his upper arm and I had to use his forearm instead. He was depressed andhad expressed thoughts of suicide to a friend. He was changed out of his streetclothes and placed under constant observation. He waited in a seclusion room,resting on a stretcher, his back towards the camera used to observe him.
He had been waiting for a couple of hours for the psychclinician to speak with him. Suddenly, the person observing him yelled out forhelp! With his back to the camera, the patient had managed to tie a bed sheetinto a noose, tie it to the stretcher rail, place it around his neck, andwas starting to lay himself on the floor.
I rushed to the bedside and struggled to pull thenoose up and over his head. Somehow I was successful. At this pointhe jumped to his feet and wrapped his massive forearm around my head, pullingmy head towards his waist in a headlock.
To this day I don't know why he didn't snap my neck. Maybe he only wanted attention, maybe it was because I was too afraid toresist, too weak to break his hold, or maybe I'm here before you today onlybecause security arrived just in time to prevent it.
It's taken me time to recover emotionally from this attackand yet under the proposed changes I am not sure it would even meet thedefinition of an "act of violence". There was no loss of life,consciousness, injury requiring treatment, impediment of my breathing, orblood circulation, nor was I restrained by the throat or neck or verballythreatened.
Yet with one twist of my head he could have snapped myneck.
This is just one example of what happens day in andday out in hospitals across Connecticut.
Health care workers are often discouraged from reporting topolice.
I urge you to keep Connecticut's work place violence lawsstrong, for my sake, the sake of my colleagues, and the sake of the patientsand visitors to our hospitals.
Thank you for your time.

then we win

2012-03-08T06:42:00.001-05:00

After Jesus was baptized in the Jordon by John he was moved to go into the desert for 40 days before starting his public ministry. While there he was tempted by Satan.

It's interesting to me that there is no record of temptation prior to this. It seems that only when Jesus became a threat did the temptations begin.

Mohandas Gandhi spoke of this, "First they ignore us, then they laugh at us, then they fight us, then we win."

It isn't ideas that bring the push back, be it from Satan, an oppressive regime, or a management set on denying workers a voice.

When a group of people stand up and become activist, that's when the push back comes. This is true in Syria and in Norwich, CT.

A people compelled to action cannot be silenced anymore than Jesus or Gandhi could.

Union Rally

2012-03-06T16:56:00.000-05:00

This past week has been both busy and productive.

Negotiations last Tuesday ran until 2:30 am. Finally, we have some movement and I am encouraged by that. I believe it's a result of the pressure we have applied and the support we have received from the community in general and the labor community in particular. I want to thank everyone for all they have done.

We are down to the nitty gritty. We have the definition of per diem, pension and 403 (b), insurance, and wages and wage system left to negotiate. We hope to be able to finish these up in the 4 sessions we have left, and we are willing to go all night on these sessions if that will help.

On Thursday, the National Labor Relations Board issued a complaint against the hospital on the denial of our wages and bonus, the trial will be May 14th. The NLRB gave management a chance to settle this without a trial but management refused.

Today we informed management that we intend to hold a rally outside the hospital on March 19, at 4:30 pm. This is a critical time in our negotiations, a time when we need the community's support the most. The rally will be with participation of the entire southeastern Connecticut public and labor community to build support and pressure management to ensure a fair contract.

I urge all nurses to be at negotiations on the March 13, 15, 27, and 29.
I urge all nurses, families and supporters to attend our rally and show management that we will not tolerate their continued violation of our rights and that we stand in solidarity to ensure a just and fair contract.

Please RSVP for the rally @ Backus Rally.

A struggle worth fighting, a struggle we are winning

2012-03-04T17:21:00.001-05:00

Last Thursday, the National Labor Relations Board issued a complaint against Backus Hospital.

A "complaint" from the NLRB is similar to an indictment. The NLRB is charging management with breaking the law and is taking them to court, a trial is scheduled for May 14.

The NLRB gave management a chance to settle this without a trial but management refused.

This is one of 7 times that management has broken the law, first with the security union and now six times with the nurse's union. Each time, until now, they have settled without a trial.

The complaint charges management with withholding our performance bonus, wage increase, and 403(b) contribution, and with prohibiting us from distributing union stickers while on non-working time in a non-working area and denying access to public areas to a non-employee union representative while permitting such access to other members of the public.

It charges management with "failing and refusing to bargain collectively and in good faith" and "interfering with, restraining, and coercing employees in the exercise of guaranteed rights."

The government has done an investigation and found merit in the case. They have offered the hospital a chance to make it right before filing a charge. In this case the government was very clear with management. They offered a settlement to management to avoid filing a complaint and going to trial. The settlement is clear. If management pays out the pieces of the shared rewards program to the nurses they will be in compliance with the law and avoid a complaint.

This has been a long and difficult struggle and repeatedly we have had to stand up for our rights.

It is worth the struggle.

We are starting to get movement at the negotiations table because we are standing up for ourselves.

We cannot control the actions of management, but we can and will refuse to be pushed around. Every time management violates the law we will seek corrective action. We have a legitimate right to stand together, protected by law, defended by every military veteran who ever fought for our rights on the front line and every worker who ever walked the picket line.

It is a struggle worth fighting and a struggle we are winning.

Politicking

2012-03-02T05:00:00.000-05:00

Last Sunday I attended a fundraiser for US Congressman Joe Courtney. Also in attendance were half a dozen Connecticut state representatives. I was there for two reasons, I support the work of Congressman Courtney and I was there to enlist the continued support of Joe and the state representatives for our union.

These are people who can put pressure on Backus management to negotiate in good faith.

In exchange, I pledged to support them, to do what I could when they needed help. Some might say I was buying their support, but it's not that way. These are people with a record of supporting working men and women and their right to organize.

I never wanted to be a politician, and I have no desire to serve in public office, but one could argue that I have become one. I am motivated by the desire to change things at the hospital, to make it the type of hospital where nurses would want to spend their career. This is best for our patients because experienced nurses are good nurses. For this to come about nurses need the ability to speak without fear of retaliation, they need to be compensated fairly and competitively, and they need to have a real voice in their own practice. Without these changes, the talent drain will continue and patients will suffer.

As I work on this I have come to realize that this effects not only Backus, it effects working men and women everywhere. We all desire and deserve the ability to make a living wage.

Getting from these beliefs to enactment is where politics comes in. The rich have money and the ability to influence elections, but workers have numbers. When workers stand together we can elect officials who believe as we do and we can become strong and effect change.

So, a small group of us have been meeting with politicians, labor leaders, and non profits. We have been making contacts with newspapers, bloggers, and radio. The word is getting out every day. People hear our story and become supporters, because ours is an easy cause to support.

We seek a hospital bases on the belief that patients come before profits.

Our Teacher

2012-02-29T05:00:00.000-05:00

Some people come into your life for only a brief period and yet have a profound impact.
I met Glenn last year when we were organizing our local. Glenn is her middle name, she's really Elizabeth Glenn. She came from Texas, a former teacher and an organizer for AFT national.

She and I spent many hours driving the highways and back roads of eastern Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island, visiting and having conversations with nurses from throughout the hospital.

I learned a lot about the concerns of nurses in other departments and about how to have such conversations.
Whenever we left a home, Glenn would gently teach. She would always use positive reinforcement, such as pointing out how my speaking up or remaining silent at a particular time helped the conversation. She could have pointed out what I did wrong, but she didn't, she reinforced the positive, and I think I improved with time.

We had some great conversations, with nurses and with each other, and we had some great times.
Like the time we got stuck in the snow in a driveway in Sterling. It was Glenn's first time driving in snow. We visited an old mill in Rhode Island that sold antiques to call on one nurse. We discovered small, quaint eateries across eastern Connecticut. I explained the history and folklore of an area I have called home my whole life and in doing so realize how special it is.
She marvelled at the plentiful trees, the stone walls, and the fact that one town could have so many small villages with such unique names.

At some of our team meetings she would pull out the white board and give us an organizing lesson.

To two committee members she is known as Elizabeth, because they first met her as a patient, an experience Glenn holds close to her heart.

Glenn is back in Texas now, working for a local AFT affiliate, traveling much less. It's better for her and her husband, and better for Texas.

She was in our lives for only a brief time, but she remains forever in our hearts.

Don't ask, don't tell

2012-02-27T05:00:00.000-05:00

The other day Michelle and I went out to dinner at the Cheesecake Factory. We had a gift card from our Godchild from Christmas. At one point in mid meal the waitress came table to table and introduced another waitress, saying that her shift was ending but that the new waitress would take good care of us.

I had never experienced this in a restaurant. I thought - they're doing bedside report!

Bedside report is one of the new in things at work. Basically, you do what the waitresses had done, give report to the oncoming nurse and introduce them to the patient. We've done it inpatient for a while and recently started in the emergency department.
I was against it but after my experience at the Cheesecake Factory I am now a believer.

Thursday, at a staff meeting, we were told we are going to trial "team triage". Basically, a nurse and APRN or PA will be in triage and see patients there instead of in the area they use now (convenient care). We tried it a few weeks ago but it lasted only about an hour.

I'll spare you the details of why most of the staff thinks it will be a disaster.

One nurse at the meeting asked what the rational was for this and why wasn't staff who do the job included in the decision. From the answer our boss gave I not sure she believes it will work but is committed to us trying.

I don't think team triage will work in the tiny work area we have, but then again, until my trip to the Cheesecake Factory I was against bedside report.

Why was I against beside report and why do I think team triage will be difficult? Setting the merits or lack of merits aside for a moment, it is a continuation of a pattern of ideas that is dictated to us, the bedside nurses, by people who do not do our jobs.

When instituting a change, people involved in the change should be part of the discussion. We have valid ideas and our buy in is needed for success.

Not involving staff is just poor leadership.

We are stardust

2012-02-25T07:30:00.000-05:00

On Ash Wednesday, as has become tradition over the years, our hospital Chaplin, Sister Rita, came down to the emergency room to distribute ashes. Rita is a dear friend and we always kid each other so I asked if she had enough room to work with (with my big bald head) and she responded that she didn't think she had enough ashes. Then she started laughing. It took her a while to calm down and she said "that was bad, maybe I could give up being bad for lent." She's a good soul.

"Remember that thou art dust and unto dust thou shalt return"

It's a reminder to keep our humility, something I can struggle with. The ashes also remind us to sacrifice, reminding us of a time when people would put on sackcloth and not wash during periods of repentance.

I also listened recently to an NPR show about stardust. It seems that there are clouds of dust moving through the universe and that they contain the building blocks of life. I do not claim to have understood all that they were saying, but it seems that what makes us up may have once been a part of these clouds and when we pass, what is left of us may eventually return to these clouds and form new life. Kind of a cosmic reincarnation.

I thought, cool!
"Remember that thou art dust and unto dust thou shalt return"
How awesome is that?
The entire universe interrelated!

Forming the world in seven days would be a feat, but doing it out of stardust, that would take one mega cool God!
Turns out, Joni Mitchell and Sister Rita are right,

"We are stardust.

We are golden.

And we've got to get ourselves back to the garden."

JUST CAUSE

2012-02-23T07:00:00.000-05:00

There's a good article by Kevin B. O'Reilly of amednews.com about the fear of being punished leading to a continuation of underreporting of medical errors in hospitals.

Numerous studies have shown that when people are afraid of getting in trouble the will not tell on themselves or friends. This leads to mistakes being repeated because often it is a system problem that could be improved.

For more than a decade, patient safety leaders have pushed for this culture to change but little progress has been seen.This article and other reports show that "most physicians, nurses, pharmacists and other health professionals working in hospitals believe their organizations are still more interested in punishing missteps and enforcing hierarchy than in encouraging open communication and using adverse-event reports to learn what's gone wrong."

Underreporting errors is bad for patient safety, and the underlying problem, fear of retribution, causes a multitude of other problems in hospitals and all businesses.

Say you have what you think is a good idea of a new way to do your job. You go to the BOSS and share it. What if the BOSS is put off by your suggestion? Maybe he or she thinks you're trying to move up in the organization and feels threatened that you could replace them. Maybe they go to their boss (the BIG BOSS) and tell them you are being disruptive or a problem. The BIG BOSS tells them to do what they think is best.
And you're fired!

Your friends at this workplace hear the story and no one ever goes to the BOSS with improvement ideas again. Every time the BIG BOSS visits and asks people how things are they all smile and say "great", but things aren't great and they never will be becasue of the culture of fear of retribution.

If you've never seen this happen then you and I have never worked in the same place.

This is a big problem in coporate America today. It is a HUGE problem when patient's lives are at stake.

I cannot be a good nurse if I am afraid to advocate for my patients.

A part of every union contract is this line:
"No employee shall be disciplined or discharged without just cause"

For a nurse it means having the ability to speak up and to advocate for my patients without fear of retribution.

It is important for any worker, it is vital for a nurse. Without this line in a contract a worker is an "at will" employee, able to be discharged for any reason the BOSS sees fit. With it, the burden of proof is on the BOSS to show that there is a legitamite reason for any discipline or discharge, and the union retains the right to grieve any discipline, to defend the employee.

When patient's lives are at stake, this one line in a contract is the most important line, more important than any benifits, econonomics, or other issues.

Alone, it is reason enough for organizing, reason enough for all this hard work by so many people, reason enough to have endured the threats against our livelyhood when we stood up, stood together, and stood tall.

"Just cause" is the foundation upon which a union is built, patient's are kept safe, hospitals become better. Maybe someday it will be law, available to all workers.

It could be different

2012-02-20T06:51:00.000-05:00

I have seen so many young, bright nurses come and go from Backus Hospital and the emergency department in particular. This week we lose another. I say lose because it is a loss, for me and the rest of the staff, for the patients and for the hospital.

Every time a nurse with experience leaves it is a loss.

Some turnover is inevitable. Many of our nurses are young, not tied to a house, or a school for their children, eager to try new things, etc. The come to Backus, spend a year or two going through orientation and getting needed experience and then find themselves being recruited by other hospitals.
Many would like to stay, but they have student loans to pay back, dreams to own a home, and families or plans for a family.

It wasn't always this way.
Backus was once competitive.

About 5 years ago a new CEO was hired and he brought in a consulting firm and the cuts started, as much as $8,000/year for some nurses. On top of that, policies were changed giving bedside nurses less say in their own practice.

If Backus was in financial trouble I guess some of this could be understandable, but last year non profit Backus Hospital spent $11 million on a union busting law firm, gave the CEO a 28% salary increase, and still posted a profit of $24.9 million.
In fact, both our current and former CEO both recieve well over half a million dollars/year.

Last spring when union nurses met with Governor Malloy and he listened to our concerns over turnover. He described Backus as a "starter hospital".

This week Kate leaves.
She came as a new nurse and I was given the task of orientating and precepting her. She became a trusted colleague and a preceptor herself. When I became involved in the formation of the union she followed me. Pregnant at the time, she was one of the 16 nurses who stepped forward and signed our first public petition declaring our intention. She risked a lot to do this, but she loves her patients enough that she had to.
She's shared a lot with all of us; good days, bad days, and the birth of 2 children.
She will be sorely missed by the staff, on both a professional and personal level.

The hospital, the patients, the community, and the staff are all negatively impacted when we lose bright, young, dedicated nurses, and it happens all the time.

And it is so unnecessary.

True Leadership

2012-02-17T14:41:00.000-05:00

Many lessons can be learned by studying the life of Jesus of Nazareth. For a moment I'd like to look at him as a leader.
The following is an excerpt from an essay written by Dr James Allan Francis in 1926:

A child is born in an obscure village. He is brought up in another obscure village. He works in a carpenter shop until he is thirty, and then for three brief years is an itinerant preacher, proclaiming a message and living a life. He never writes a book. He never holds an office. He never raises an army. He never has a family of his own. He never owns a home. He never goes to college. He never travels two hundred miles from the place where he was born. He gathers a little group of friends about him and teaches them his way of life............... When we try to sum up his influence, all the armies that ever marched, all the parliaments that ever sat, all the kings that ever reigned are absolutely picayune in their influence on mankind compared with that of this one solitary life…

essay by Dr James Allan Francis in “The Real Jesus and Other Sermons” © 1926 by the Judson Press of Philadelphia (pp 123-124 titled “Arise Sir Knight!”).

Jesus led by example, he had no decree, he held no office, no title, no CEO position. People were and are free to follow him or not.
Many others have led through dictatorship, positions of authority, or bullying. Few have led when those who followed them had complete freedom to follow or not.
Those who lead as Jesus did are often reluctant to lead. Power and fame are not a motivation to them. They lead because they believe so strongly in a cause that they have no choice, they do what needs to be done. They succeed because they understand those who follow them, they listen to them, they live with them, they walk in their shoes, they put the good of others ahead of themselves.
I have been gifted to come to know a group of nurses who fit into this category. Each has their own style, some loud, some quiet, some out front, and some in the background, but each a leader in the their own way.
It's an honor to know these true leaders.

How have Unions helped me?

2012-02-14T19:37:00.001-05:00

The following is an except from an article in several national newspapers a few weeks ago about the current status of Union membership in the United States.

WASHINGTON -- Union membership grew slightly last year, giving labor leaders hope that a period of steep declines has finally bottomed out.
"The devastating losses from 2009 and 2010 have stopped and that's got to be good news for the labor movement," said John Schmitt, a senior economist with the Center for Economic and Policy Research in Washington.
Union membership has declined steadily from its peak of about a third of all workers in the 1950s, and about 20 percent in 1983. The losses have been especially steep in private industry with the loss of manufacturing jobs that traditionally are heavily unionized.
"It is telling that as our country begins to recover the jobs lost during the Great Recession, good union jobs are beginning to come back," said AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka.
As private sector union membership eroded, labor leaders turned increasingly toward workers in state and local governments, where there was often less resistance to organizing.
But future public sector growth in union membership is in doubt.
States and municipalities laid off tens of thousands of workers to balance their budgets after tax revenues plummeted because of the recession. Public sector unions also have faced growing hostility from GOP legislatures in Wisconsin, Ohio and other states that have tried to curb collective bargaining rights.
Among full-time wage and salary workers, the median weekly earnings of union members was $938, compared to $729 for nonunion workers.

Why are unions good for our country and society in general? The following is a list of some of the things that we should be thankful to Unions for, many of them now law through union efforts:

Weekends
All Breaks at Work, including your Lunch Breaks
Paid Vacation
FMLA
Sick Leave
Social Security
Minimum Wage
Civil Rights Act/Title VII (Prohibits Employer Discrimination)
8-Hour Work Day
Overtime Pay
Child Labor Laws
Occupational Safety & Health Act (OSHA)
40 Hour Work Week
Worker's Compensation (Worker's Comp)
Unemployment Insurance
Pensions
Workplace Safety Standards and Regulations
Employer Health Care Insurance
Collective Bargaining Rights for Employees
Wrongful Termination Laws
Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967
Whistle blower Protection Laws
Employee Polygraph Protect Act (Prohibits Employer from using a lie detector test on an employee)
Veteran's Employment and Training Services (VETS)
Compensation increases and Evaluations (Raises)
Sexual Harassment Laws
Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA)
Holiday Pay
Employer Dental, Life, and Vision Insurance
Privacy Rights
Pregnancy and Parental Leave
Military Leave
The Right to Strike
Public Education for Children
Equal Pay Acts of 1963 & 2011 (Requires employers pay men and women equally for the same amount of work)
Laws Ending Sweatshops in the United States

How many of these things would employers have given to workers without workers advocating for them? I'm not sure, but while a few progressive employers might institute some of these on their own, none of these things came about until workers joined together and spoke with one voice.

I am not against people putting their nose to the grindstone, investing their own time and sweat, their own money, and then enjoying the rewards of their own hard work, that's capitalism, that's good.

What I am against is people making money off the the sweat, toil and hardship of another human being.
That is why I am a union advocate.
The following lyrics are from a song which says it better than I, I Don't Want Your Millions Mister.

Now, I don't want your Rolls-Royce, Mister,
I don't want your pleasure yacht.
All I wants just food for my babies,
Give to me my old job back.

We worked to build this country, Mister,
While you enjoyed a life of ease.
You've stolen all that we built, Mister,
Now our children starve and freeze.

Twice Blessed

2012-02-12T16:20:00.000-05:00

I witnessed an amazing event at church this morning.
It was the time for the first of two collections. The usher passing the basket made his way up the aisle. The religious education children were sitting together and when he came to the area of the third grade children he paused, just 2 rows in front of me and across the aisle. The young boy sitting on the end was searching through his pockets, presumably for the money his parents had given him to deposit in the basket. The usher stood patiently, smile on his face, while the lad fanatically riffled though pocket after pocket, unable to come up with the change. The boy looked up at the usher and the usher whispered, "that's OK" and moved on.

The boy's head went down, eyes looking at the floor.

Several seconds latter, a hand came across the aisle and deposited a quarter on the boy's bench. The boy looked up and a young man in his thirties, not a relative of the boy, smiled. The boy placed the quarter in the basket on the second collection with a smile on his face.

Later, at the sign of peace, when we turn and greet each other, a hand crossed the aisle again. This time, the third grader reached out to shake his benefactor's hand.

It was an amazing tribute to the true love that church should be all about, beautiful to see played out just in front of me.

What's more beautiful is that the thirty something young man is my oldest son, Sean.

I have been blessed with 2 wonderful sons, Sean and Thomas.
They have both dealt with serious issues in their young lives. They have had troubles and they have been in trouble. Sean just recently started returning to church, had he not, he would not have been there for this young boy.
Just for today both my sons are healthy and well. Their troubles have not ruined them, they have helped them to become the young men they are, loving and with hearts of gold.

I could not be happier or more proud.

For when I was hungry....

2012-02-11T08:47:00.000-05:00

Last weekend, The Backus Federation of Nurses, together with the United Way, held a food drive at Stop and Shop in Norwich.
The people of Norwich were extremely generous. We collected 1739 pounds of food!
Our brothers and sisters at L+M locals 5051, 5049, and 5123 held a drive the week before at Stop and Shop in Groton.
Combined, the 4 AFT Connecticut locals, working together and with the United Way, collected 2661 pounds of food and a large sum of cash!
It all goes to the Gemma E. Moran United Way Labor Food Center which provides food to over 14,000 individuals each month. The Center supplies free food to pantries, community meal sites, day care centers, shelters for the homeless, after-school programs, shelters for battered women and children, programs for the elderly, and many, many more.

We received the following letter from the Executive Director of St. Vincent de Paul Place pantry of Norwich:

We went to Gemma Moran yesterday United Way Labor Food Center and picked up 1,739 pounds of food from your food drive. What an amazing food drive! We are so so grateful! Thank you so much for your efforts. Please send me an address that we can send a formal thank you.

Peace,
Jillian Corbin

It was yet another example of all of us coming together for the good of all, labor unions, Stop + Shop, WICH, WCTY, and KOOL 101 radio, the wonderful and generous people of the communities, and the United Way, all working in cooperation.

We have a responsibility as members of a community to help our brothers and sisters. We have an even higher level of responsibility as labor organizations and as health care workers. The 4 AFT locals at Backus and L+M accept and endeavor to fulfill those responsibilities, assisted as always by the greater labor community of southeastern Connecticut, our AFT Connecticut leadership, and all the fine people and organizations listed above.

I'll close by saying thank you for the opportunity to help, in reality we gain as much or more from helping as those we assist. I'd also like to thank those who do this work every day, at all the food distribution centers like the Gemma Moran United Way Labor Food Center and St. Vincent de Paul Place.
Here is a short clip from the Jim Reed of KOOL 101 with a few photos.

Negotiation Update 2/8/12

2012-02-08T14:07:00.000-05:00

I don't know if management just doesn't understand or if they're stalling in an effort to break the union.

Remember that we gave them a complete contract proposal in late July and that they have only responded to about one third of it.
We met last night after 2 weeks off. They had given us some counter proposals and we responded to them.

We agreed to keep shift differential as it is contingent on an acceptable counter on our over time proposal.
We had proposed $8/hour weekend differential which would bring us in line with other area hospitals and with what we had prior to all the cuts a few years ago (20% at that time). They told us last time that this was too far from the current $4.25/hour to even discuss it. We countered last night with $6/hour.
We agreed to maintain charge nurse differential at $1.25 an hour with a clause that says they will never claim that relief charge nurses are supervisors and therefor ineligible for the union.
We came to agreement on Bereavement, Jury Duty, and Court Appearance.

They had countered On-Call Status last time with a proposal that said the nurse must "report to the hospital as instructed within thirty minutes of the hospital's attempt to contact him or her. Not complying with the requirements of this section of this article is just cause for termination and is not subject to the grievance and arbitration provisions of this agreement."
We countered with a proposal that said "the employee would be subject to discipline up to and including discharge except in a case of an unavoidable documented event or a documented emergency where the employee was medically unable to call. In the event that the employee on call lives beyond 30 minutes from the hospital he/she shall have the 30 minute call period adjusted to accommodate the employee's ability to arrive safely to the hospital."

We asked if they had any new counter proposals for us to consider, they did not.

They then took a 3 hour caucus to look at our counters. Since they had given us no new counter proposals, there was nothing for us to consider.

When they came back they gave us a new counter on weekend differential of 10%.
They held on their proposal on 30 minutes or termination.

After 7 months to consider our proposals, 2 weeks since the last negotiations and a 3 hour caucus.......
that's what they came back with.

What followed was a long discussion in which nurse after nurse spoke and tried to explain how their proposals were unworkable and would hurt hospital operations, nurse recruitment and retention and patient safety.

We took a short caucus and then gave them counters which they will consider and we will discuss on Thursday.

That brings me back to my original statement, do they not understand or are they stalling?

It probably doesn't matter.

The way it is now, without a contract, we have no voice.
The hospital lawyer is trying to negotiate a contract that changes this as little as possible.

We will get nothing without a fight.

I am willing to fight.

The negotiating team is willing to fight.

Are You?

That is what we must all ask ourselves. Do we care about our hospital, our patients and our families enough to do what is needed to pressure them into a reasonable and fair contract?

I cannot answer this for you.

Attendance at negotiations does matter. Wearing buttons and stickers does matter. Attending rallies and informational picketing does matter. Community out reach does matter. It all matters. If we demonstrate strength we negotiate a contract that is good for us, the hospital and our patients.

In 1961 JFK challenged us to step up and act. He said "ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.......ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man."

I'm saying this. Don't ask me or the committee what we will get for you, ask what you can do to help get it. This is your union.

Walking in another's shoes

2012-02-06T05:00:00.000-05:00

Sometimes, as much as we want to understand and help another person, we cannot unless we have walked in their shoes. My dad always had a little wooden placard on his dresser in his bedroom. It read,

"Never judge a man until you walk a mile in his moccasins".

Our actions teach our children more than our words. That placard was backed up by how my dad lived.

The twelve step programs understand this saying. They are entirely based on the belief that only another person so affected can help, and in so doing help himself.

I cannot understand what it's like to be homeless, alcoholic, or an addict. Nor can I understand what it's like to be rich, or a women or mother, or a person of color. I can do my best to understand but I should always remember that I cannot walk in their shoes.

Others cannot know what it's like to be me, understand my issues, my concerns, my fears, my hopes, unless they also share them.

One of the problems in society, and this includes work, is that people don't remember this concept.

They think they understand what others are going through and they think others understand what they are going through. The only way we can hope to understand each other is to be in the same trenches with each other, to walk in each other's shoes.

I'll share with you a scene from West Wing. Josh has cut himself in a fit of anger and has just come back from talking with a councilor about it. Leo, a recovering alcoholic, tells him this story.

Prayer of St Francis

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.

Where there is hatred, let me sow love.

Where there is injury, pardon.

Where there is doubt, faith.

Where there is despair, hope.

Where there is darkness, light.

Where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master,

grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled, as to console;

to be understood, as to understand;

to be loved, as to love.

For it is in giving that we receive.

It is in pardoning that we are pardoned,

and it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life.

Amen.

A face made for radio

2012-02-02T22:00:00.000-05:00

Thursday morning I made my radio debut on two Norwich stations, WICH, WCTY, and KOOL 101, New London.
My goal, to tell about the upcoming

FOOD DRIVE

SATURDAY, 9-2

STOP and SHOP
42 TOWN SREET

NORWICH

This is the second joint food drive between the BACKUS FEDERATION of NURSES and the UNITED WAY, our first being last summer when we collected over 1300 pounds of food and over $200. The United Way runs the GEMMA E. MORAN UNITED WAY LABOR FOOD CENTER which last year distributed more than 1.7 million pounds of food through more than 90 free food programs which in turn helped provide meals and snacks at no cost to those in need throughout New London County. The Food Center is a time-tested partnership between United Way, Labor and the entire community that works.

This drive is in response to an plea for help from a United Way food distribution partner, St. Vincent de Paul, to restock their food pantry. Our 3 AFT locals at L+M held a food drive last week at Stop and Shop in Groton and collected almost 1 ton of food! This is something they do annually.

This will be our fourth community outreach project as a young union, continuing a tradition of unions in general and AFT in particular. Besides the food drive last summer, we also participated with the Lisbon Volunteer Fire Dept in the Lisbon Safety Day at Lisbon Landing in the fall.
A few weeks ago we held a blood pressure check at St Mary Star of the Sea Church, New London, where Father Bob Washabaugh is pastor. We were real busy, it was extremely rewarding and we will be looking to do more of these.

I'd like to thank the local radio stations, Stop and Shop and the United Way for the opportunity to contribute to our community. Special thanks to Laura Giannelli and Sharon Peccini of the United Way and Dan Durant of AFT CT for setting this up.

Please stop by, say hello, and help out as best you can on Saturday. If you know of any other community outreach projects that we could get involved in let us know, we're here to help.

My radio debut went well, they said I had "a face made for radio".

Don't piss off a pig

2012-02-01T19:11:00.000-05:00

Sometimes a story is just too good for me to leave alone. This is just too funny.

Those radical little puppets, the Muppets, are causing trouble.
Recently Fox News accused the new Muppet movie of "brainwashing children with anti-oil, anti-corporate propaganda"
Fox Business' Eric Bolling accused "The Muppets" of pushing an "anti-corporate message" and a liberal agenda. The film's villain is an evil oil magnate named Tex Richman.

Business anchor asks: "Are 'The Muppets' brainwashing our kids?"

Never accuse the Muppets from backing down from a fight. When asked about the accusations at a news conference the Muppets hit back.

"They were concerned about us having some prejudice against oil companies - that, I can tell you, is categorically not true," Kermit told reporters. "Besides, if we had a problem with oil companies, why would we have spent the entire film driving around in a gas-guzzling Rolls-Royce?"

Miss Piggy added, "It's almost as laughable as accusing Fox News as, you know, being news."

"Boy, that's going to be all over the Internet!" Kermit quipped

It's not easy being green.

Turn the other cheek

2012-01-31T07:56:00.000-05:00

Although I eventually caught up, I was always one of the smallest in my class in grammar school. Partially because of that I was a target for bullies. We used to walk about a mile home from school and sometimes I would get pushed around by larger and older kids. One day, as this was happening, my Dad's car pulled up, he jumped out, and gave a tongue lashing to the bully. I don't remember my Dad and I speaking of it and I don't remember being picked on again.

My only fight ever in school happened a couple of years later when I stood up for a classmate who was repeatedly picked on by the class bully. The kid was what we would now call a nerd, he didn't stand a chance. The bully had issues, and to make himself bigger in his own eye and in the eyes of the other kids he would pick on this nerd on a regular basis. One day I had enough and told him to stop. That lead to a short fight between us that was more wrestling match than fight. I'm sure he had the best of it, and I'm ashamed to say I don't know how the nerd made out after that, but I gained the respect of the bully and my classmates.

At the same time, I was being taught in church and school to "turn the other cheek", to choose non violence.
To this day Gandhi, King and Jesus are my heroes.

This has caused me internal ethical conflict, and I wonder if others feel the same.

Then I heard an explanation that helped.
The Gospel of Matthew says,
"If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also."

At the time of Jesus, indeed even today in some parts of the world, only the right hand would be used to strike someone because the left hand was used for unclean purposes. So, striking someone on the right cheek would require a strike with the back of the hand. At that time striking someone deemed to be of a lower class with the back of the hand was used to assert authority and dominance. Today, we use the remark, "I'll give you a backhand" and "backhanded compliment" to mean much the same thing.

So, if after being struck in such a demeaning manner, the victim then turned and offered the other cheek, he would force the offender to strike with the open right hand, because using the left hand was forbidden. However, sticking with the open hand was something that was done as a challenge or a punch and was seen as a statement of equality.
Thus, by turning the other cheek the persecuted was in effect demanding equality.

When seen in this way, "turn the other cheek" is far from a passive, submissive statement, it is a statement to demand respect and fair treatment in a nonviolent way.
When I study the lives of Gandhi and King it is obvious that they understood it in this way.
When I study the life of Jesus it is obvious that he believed in nonviolence, but he equally believed in the dignity of each person, and he was far from passive, he challenged authority and he challenged their thinking and way of acting.

So, in this light, the actions of my Dad and the lessons I learned are consistent with what I was taught.
Violence is to be avoided, conflict is not.
It is noble to stand up against that which denies dignity and respect and fairness but it is just as important how you do it.
I like to think that I follow these giants down the path they blazed and that I will do my part. When it is my turn, I plan to stand firm when struck and turn the other cheek. I pray I have the strength to do so.

Negotiation Update, 1/27/12

2012-01-28T07:18:00.001-05:00

You know the background. We voted to join together as a union May 11, to gain a voice for ourselves and our patients and to demand the respect we deserve.

In August we gave management an entire contract proposal. They have had 8 months to adapt to the idea that we are standing up for ourselves, 6 months to consider our proposal and let us know what they think and where they stand.

They promised to come to us this week with economic proposals, something they had not done after 8 months.We met twice this week, for 12 hours.

They responded to our August proposals on shift and weekend differentials, on call status, charge pay, bereavement, jury/court appearance, FMLA, and military leave.

Most of these are current policies.

We can agree to jury/court appearance and charge pay. The rest need clarification and/or more negotiating.

They did not respond to our August proposals on overtime, holidays, sick time, dependent care days, wellness days, child care center, personal leave, disability leave, vacations, tuition reimbursement, insurance, pension, 403B, or wages.

After 8 months of us organizing and 6 months of negotiations we are no closer to knowing where they stand on these issues.
To be honest, I don't know if THEY know where they stand.

What does this mean?

There are two thoughts that come to mind.
Either they are still intent on busting our union or they hope to stall long enough that we tire and accept whatever they are willing to propose.

I'm getting mixed messages. On the one hand they have hired a new human resources director who has successfully worked with a union at another hospital and but then they announced a new vice president/chief nursing officer who is on record as being strongly anti-union.

What are our options?

I see 3.

1. Accept whatever they propose.

2. Strike for what we deserve.

3. Engage is organizing actions.

Number 1 is unacceptable,

2 is something none of us want and is not being considered at this time.

That leaves us with number 3.

(commercials, reaching out to board member, doctors, the community, other union brothers and sisters, our political friends, and attending negotiations and rallies)

We have to remember that EVERYONE HAS A BOSS. The hospital lawyer and the hospital negotiation's team answer to the CEO and he answers to the board of directors. In practice the board should answer to the community.

We have a responsibility to stand up for ourselves, our families, our patients and our community.

We will fulfill that responsibility.

Food Drives

2012-01-25T09:16:00.001-05:00

A couple of recent newspaper articles caught my attention.

One was in the Diocese of Norwich's monthly paper, Four County Catholic and the other was in the Norwich Bulletin.

The Catholic Campaign for Human Development unveiled a new initiative, the Poverty USA campaign, to promote a better understanding of poverty in America.
According to the U S bishops' conference 15% of Americans and nearly 25% of children live in poverty.
Bishop Jaime Soto of Sacramento, who leads the new effort, notes the widespread scourge of poverty in America and the importance of finding solidarity with those who struggle in any capacity.

"We march with immigrant families toward a society made stronger and safer by their inclusion," he said. "We embrace the mother and her unborn child, giving both of them hope and opportunity." "We measure our own health by the quality of care we give to those most vulnerable. We labor with those whose work is burdensome."

At the same time an article appeared in the Bulletin about a severe food shortage at the St Vincent de Paul food pantry in Norwich.

I contacted Dan Durant, community outreach organizer for AFT CT, asking if we could help.
We have already done a food drive with the United Way and a blood pressure screening at St Mary's in New London and Dan coordinates these for us.
I was not the only one who noticed, as evident by the following that also appeared in the Bulletin.

Many thanks to the kind and generous people of Norwich and the greater Norwich area. After an article describing the shortages of food at St. Vincent de Paul Place appeared in The Bulletin, you repeated the miracle of the loaves and fishes. Food has been coming in — and just in time. Thank you.
The article did not mention a most valued partner agency, the Gemma Moran Food Center run by United Way of Southeastern Connecticut, the backbone of the fight against hunger in our region. They are the largest single source of food for St. Vincent's. Each week, we get close to 3,000 pounds of food from the center in New London — that's two pickup trucks filled to overflowing. Not recognizing their help was like not acknowledging our right-hand man. Thank you again and God bless.
CORINNE KELLY
Chairman of the Board of Directors, Harold Lindner Food Pantry coordinator, St. Vincent de Paul Place.

As Bishop Soto said, "We measure our own health by the quality of care we give to those most vulnerable. We labor with those whose work is burdensome."

We have a fundamental responsibility to help our fellow man, as health care workers we have an even greater responsibility.

We cannot cure all the ills of society, but we can do our part.

The 4 AFT locals at L+M and Backus will hold food drives with the United Way to help out.
January 28, Groton Stop and Shop, 9-2 (the 3 L+M locals)
February 4, Norwich Stop and Shop 9-2 (Backus Federation of Nurses)

If you can help out for an hour or so please let us know. If you can stop by and donate food, please do.

Together we can make a difference.

The gloves are off

2012-01-22T19:00:00.000-05:00

We voted May 11 to form a union. We started negotiating in August and gave management a complete contract proposal. Management has had 8 months to come to grips with the fact that we are a union and get serious about negotiating with us.
To date they have refused to discuss any economic issues, nothing about pay, sick time, vacations, holidays, benefits, insurance, nothing! They continue to want to talk about nothing but "nuts and bolts" issues, about how the union/management relationship will function.

Now, this is important, but 8 months!
Come on.

We unionized because we want a voice and we want respect. Management continues to deny us that voice, that respect. They will not negotiate with mutual respect, they will not even agree to call us by our chosen name, the Backus Federation of Nurses, in the contract.

Why? What are they up to?

I cannot read their minds but one real possibility is that they wish to stall long enough so that we give up.

Enough is enough!

We gave them time to negotiate with respect and they have failed to do so. Now we must stand up for ourselves and demand respect. It will not be easy. I am a nurse, not an activist, but it is not only us and our families that suffer when we are disrespected, it is our patients, our community, and our hospital.

We've been extremely patient, the gloves are now off........or, since we're nurses, maybe I should say the gloves are on!

Backus employees know the truth

2012-01-20T19:57:00.000-05:00

"We all know that the hard work of bargaining does not occur through commissioned polls, television ads or in the newspapers. We remain committed to good-faith negotiations at the bargaining table, not in the media" Backus Hospital spokesperson Shawn Mawhiney said in today's newspaper.

Oh really?

Then why did I just get word through a friend at the Norwich Bulletin that one of their editors is writing an editorial denouncing our recent telephone survey as being not fact based and bias? Could it be because David Whitehead's last job was at the Bulletin?

Here is the truth.

Our poll was an independent poll by Benchmark Polling Group. The Benchmark Polling Group conducts independent, scientific polls. They are a unionized business. It is the labor community's policy to use unionized businesses whenever possible.

The poll showed what we nurses already knew.

1. Backus employees feel that they are not listened to by management.

2. Backus employees know that "Pay for Performance" is a sham, it does not judge job performance at all.

3. Backus employees are not happy with their current Health Insurance plan.

4. Backus employees have had pay and benefits cut while upper management has received 28% salary increases.

5. Backus patient's have felt the pain of decreased services and supplies in an effort to save money.

I don't know if the paper will run this editorial. If it does, remember this.....Backus employees know the truth.

Survey says....

2012-01-18T18:59:00.000-05:00

Sitting at the negotiation table is a little bit weird for me. It's almost like I need to change hats when I'm there. At work, I'm a nurse. My focus is on my patients. At the table I am one of 450 nurses.

Our recent discussions about schedules might illustrate my point.
We discussed the process for filling open shifts after a schedule is posted. The hospital proposed that if several people volunteered for the same shift then it would go to the most senior person.
I don't pick up many open shifts, just don't have the time. Also,in my department there are so many open shifts that they regularly go unfilled. So to me, this seemed like an idea that would work.
As usual, we took a break to talk it over and I found out that in some departments this would create problems. Certain shifts are preferred and they are filled on a rotating basis so that one person doesn't always get the prime shifts. Relying solely on seniority in these departments would decrease retention of junior nurses, something none of us wants.
We're still working with management on this.

This brings up a larger issue. How do we know what is important to 450 different nurses?

This summer we filled out surveys on what was important to us both in paper form and on line. We have open negotiations and have great conversations with all those who can make it and we meet for updates from time to time in conference room 1 at the hospital. These surveys and conversations, and all the conversations we have in the cafeteria, in the hallways, on the shuttle bus, etc. help keep us all connected and on the same page.

It's also helpful to once in a while do a more formal polling of everyone.
Recently we hired a polling group, Benchmark Polling, to conduct an independent telephone poll of our members to gage their feelings.

172 nurses were reached over 4 days of polling. Normally 10% is considered a large group for statistical accuracy, we had 48%.

Several questions and answers stand out to me.

Have you followed negotiations between the Hospital and the Union?
91% said Yes.

Have you read any of the newsletters/contract updates distributed by the Union?
91% said Yes.

Do you support the current Hospital paid for performance wage system?
11% said Yes.

Do you support the Union's proposal of a wage scale that includes step increases upon a successful yearly evaluation over the current Hospital system?
87% said Yes.

Do you believe the Hospital has bargained fairly?
13% said Yes.

Do you believe the Union's bargaining team has acted in member's best interest?
87% said Yes.

Do you believe the Union has kept members informed?
88% said Yes.

When asked what they would do to help secure a fair contract, 6 of 10 nurses said they would join a rally in front of the hospital.

I encourage you to pick up a copy of the entire poll at work or at one of our negotiations, the next negotiations are next Tuesday the 24th and Thursday the 26th at the Courtyard in Norwich. We will also get it posted on our web page Backusunited.org.

Many of us work a full shift, go home and care of children or older parents, deal with mortgages and other bills, in short, we are very busy. And yet, the poll shows we are staying informed and engaged in the process. That's wonderful! This is our union.

The results of the poll are encouraging, they show we are on the right tract.

I have said this before. The journey may be long but we'll get there, together.

Tired? No! We're just getting warmed up!

2012-01-15T18:21:00.001-05:00

I had this blog written on Friday, it was all about how we've been at this organizing and negotiating for 18 months now and how this week was busy with one meeting and 2 negotiations and how at times, I and everyone else I think, just gets tired from it all.

Then one of my coworkers asked how negotiations went this week. She's come to several of them but couldn't this week. When I said they were going slow her response was what I needed to hear.
She said, "We can be patient, they won't wear us down."

Then I spent this morning in New London at St. Mary's Church. We were invited by Fr Bob Washabaugh to do a blood pressure and health screening clinic after the 2 masses.
With me were Kim Carrigan, Casie Kury, and Naomi Yates from Backus and Lisa D'Abrosca from L+M, all nurses, and Dan Durant and Efrain Torres, organizers from AFT CT, and Dan's son, Josh.
St. Mary's has 2 masses, 9:30 in English and 12:00 in Spanish. People came down after the masses and we would take their BP and answer questions for them. We had literature in both languages for them to take home.

I did not understand ahead of time how rewarding it would be.

The opportunity to help in this way was more a gift to me than the gift of our time and experience were to the parishioners of St. Mary's.

At mass, Father had said that when God calls you He expects action from you. I consider my later in life career change to nursing to be a calling, it has given me much satisfaction and I'm sure I've given back to many people in my work, but this.....this was different. It's hard to put into words, but if you've experienced it, you know.

So, I had to sit down and rewrite this blog. You see, I'm not tired any more.

Val Bantley's words of encouragement and the comradery and chance to help this morning were what I needed.

I thought I was tired, but I just needed to be reminded that we are many, we are strong, we are united, and we are doing His work.

On this, the birthday of Martin Luther King, I cannot tell you how long our journey will take, but our cause is just and our direction is clear.

"The greatness of America is the right to protest for rights": Martin Luther King

2012-01-14T09:45:00.000-05:00

Monday we celebrate the birthday of a great American, Martin Luthur King, born January 15, 1929.

Dr King was a Baptist minister, a leader in the civil rights movement, a student of nonviolence as taught by Mahatma Gandi.
In 1964 he became the youngest man ever to win the Nobel Peace Prize and he was posthumously awarded the Presidental Medal of Freeddom, and the Congressional Gold Medal.

He dedicated his life to the rights of the poor and downtrodden, a remarkable speeker, a remarkable man, a remarkable leader, and an excellent example for all of us to imitate.

On March 29, 1968 he went to Memphis, Tennessee in support of the Memphis Sanitation Strike. He saw workers rights as a fundemental civil right. On April 4 he was assassinated while leaving his hotel room.

On April 3nd he gave his last speach, "I've been to to mountaintop" in which he called for unity, economic actions, boycotts, nonviolence and challanged the United States to live up to it's ideals.

Technology

2012-01-11T16:30:00.000-05:00

Technology is everywhere! Without doubt, there is good in it, but there are dangers also.
In medicine we have a saying, "Treat the patient, not the monitor" It means to treat what you see because technology can fool you.
Have you seen people sitting together for lunch, both on smart phones texting away but not talking? Now, maybe there's something important going on that they need to deal with right away, but maybe not.
I've had people sitting in the triage chair text their friends to tell them where they are instead of answering my questions.

I speak from personal experience. You see, I can be a bit of a geek at times and I'm as guilty as anyone, just ask my wife. We have been at lunch and I have been the one on the smart phone and she's let me know about it.

She's right.

It's more than just rude. There are only so many hours in a day, so many days in a life. I think it's important to examine how we spend that time.
There is a balance, I'm sure. Nothing is all good or all bad.

I guess the question to ask myself is this: Is technology, or anything for that matter, enhancing my life or diminishing it?

One final note, while you ponder this question in your life.

There are certain blogs, which by their nature, only enhance your life.

Doubt and Faith

2012-01-08T16:30:00.000-05:00

We all have doubts at times. We start a project, unsure if we'll be successful, or start it with utmost confidence, only to have doubts part way through.
When I went back to school I knew it would be a long process because I needed to work full time and raise a family also. I had doubts. I almost let my doubts stop me from trying and here were many days during school that I doubted I could continue.
Often, in raising children, we doubt how well we will do and how they will turn out.
We consider a job change or moving to another part of the country, we have doubts.
I guess it's part of human nature.
I heard recently that Mother Theresa had many doubts during her lifetime. She even doubted God. If Mother Theresa can have doubts about God who are any of us to question our doubts.

Some would say that if our faith were strong enough we wouldn't have doubts. I don't think that's true. I think that faith cannot exist without doubt.
Faith is having doubts but continuing on anyway, with school, work, moving, raising children, or caring for the sickest of the sick.
Often, doubt leads us to having just enough faith to turn to a Higher Power in prayer.
A friend sent me a video from the show West Wing, where the leader of the free world is having doubts. He even doubts if God is listening to him when he prays.
It's a good reminder that God always listens, sometimes we just don't hear the answer and sometimes we just don't like the answer we get.

The Man who lived by the river

Maybe it's just me

2012-01-05T06:15:00.001-05:00

My phone rang at 4:22 AM on New Years Day.

My first words of the new year, "what the hell".

I figured it was work, but then I thought, what if it's not. I always worry about family when I get night time calls. I stumbled to the phone in the next room, trying to clear the sleep from my eyes.
"William W Backus" on the caller ID.
The phone had tripped to voice mail by the time I got to it. The message was asking if I could come in early, before my scheduled 7:00 AM start. I collapsed back into bed, my thoughts on how I would be getting up in 30 minutes anyway.
"What the hell", this time silently.
I returned to the phone, called in and told them I would be there as soon as possible.

It's what we do. It's the nature of the business, we can get busy at the drop of a dime. We deal with it. We help our coworkers out.
When the crap its the fan, you know who to call.

It was very busy when I got there. I transported someone to CCU and a few people who had drank too much the night before got rides home and things settled down.

The next day, Monday, the 2nd, was crazy busy. Most of the primary doctor offices were closed. At one point we had every stretcher, including hallways, full and still had 20 in the waiting room. We saw 219 patients before the day was done.

Two things both days had in common, they were "holidays" for supervisory staff and we handled it.

Which brings me to a point.
If you want something done right, don't do it yourself, ask the people who actually DO the job.
I believe our team could handle anything thrown our way and it makes me crazy when someone who doesn't do my job tells me HOW to do my job.

Seems to me that if I thought I had a good idea, and it involved the cooperation of other people to work, I would want to involve the people who do the work from the beginning.

But, maybe that's just me.

Happy New Year

2012-01-02T17:00:00.000-05:00

The end of one year and the beginning of another is a natural time to pause and reflect. That's good. Too often we are so caught up with life on a moment to moment basis that we fail to take the time to reflect.
Last year was a full one for me. I started the year out meeting and getting to know my fellow Backus nurses in a way I had never known them before. I also meet and became friends with a wonderful group of people from AFT, people who's job is more than a job, like nursing, it is a calling.
In May this all culminated in a successful election and the forming of our local. It also started a new phase of the work, a long process of preparation and negotiation which still continues.
In March, with Ole's guidance, I started this blog as a way to release some of my bottled up feelings. As the year ends I am closing in on 100 entries.
That's a lot of bottled up feelings.
In June I testified before the NLRB in Washington about abuses we suffered during our campaign to assert our constitutional rights to organize and collectively bargain. I also spoke at the AFL-CIO.
In August, Michelle and I travelled to California for a reunion with my cousins.

It was a year of loss too.
Here at home our family dog, Dylan, passed away. It surprised me how much that hurt.
My mother in law lost her battle to cancer, my brother in law lost his mom, and my Uncle John just before Christmas. They are all missed, but they are not forgotten.

What will the new year bring? Only God knows. We can only imagine and hope.
I hope negotiations with administration will continue and we will sign a contract fair to both sides and things will settle down so Backus can become the hospital it should be. I hope administration comes to understand bedside nurses speak for the patient and it is not in conflict with our mission but it IS our mission. I hope they see our will to work in cooperation to improve Backus.

I do see some encouraging signs.

I think the addition of Karen Knight to the Human Resources department is promising. Although it is still early in our relationship, I have hope we can work with both her and Theresa Buss. Though undoubtedly we will not see eye to eye at times, I think there can be a partnership based on mutual respect. I think we all welcome her to Backus.

In the fall we will have an important election. I hope for high voter turnout. I encourage all to register, consider the candidates, and vote. I know at times that the choices seem poor and it can be frustrating, but I have seen this year how important it is. As just one example, the NLRB makeup changes by who is in the white house, a pro-worker president means a pro-worker board and greater rights for working men and women.

For myself, I will continue to write as long as the words keep coming to my fingers. I will continue to fight for and defend the rights of nurses at Backus and workers elsewhere in whatever capacity I am needed and wanted.
I would like to lose some pounds and get back to a little running but it seams every year that becomes harder. Time with Michelle and my sons and grandchildren is on my list of hopes.
Simple things.

I have seen enough New Years come and go to know that what I think will happen and what will happen this year will vary greatly. The only thing we can do is trust that God will see us through whatever comes our way.

That is really all we need.

Happy New Year

Let it be

2011-12-30T06:30:00.000-05:00

The first funeral that I remember was while I was still quite young. I think it was my cousin Barry's. He was older than me and he passed just after high school.

I remember one of my uncles joking with the young kids, I think it was Paul, but it could have been Jim or Matt. The point is, I remember seeing the sadness and also the laughter.
In my family we love each other intensely, not just our immediate family, but our extended family as well, all the aunts, uncles, cousins. We cry when they leave us but we celebrate as well. We celebrate their life and we celebrate that they have gone on to what we believe is not an end to life, but a change, an eternal life with their maker and an opportunity to be together again with all those relatives that have gone before them.

At my Uncle John's funeral this week, his grandson Jake, sang a song for us. It was the Beatles "Let it be". What a perfect song and what a good job he did, a gift for his grandpa and for all of us.
Thank you Jake.

When the angel came to Mary and told her she would bear a son, her response was simple, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be done to me according to your word.'

The song speaks of giving ourselves to our Higher Power, especially "in my hour of darkness" because "there is still a light that shines on me."

I believe in these "words of wisdom", and yet I struggle. I struggle in knowing when I am supposed to act and when I am supposed to accept. When is it time to fight with every God given once of strength against what I see as being unjust in this world and when is it time to leave it all in my Higher Power's hands?
Wiser people than I have pondered this question.

So I listened to Mary's words once more.

"Let it be done to me according to your word."

Mary didn't accept things how they were, she accepted God's role for her, a role that was far from passive.
.
It's not so much accepting things as they are as it is accepting that God wants us to work for how things can be.
I like the way Cesar Chavez put it:
"There is no substitute for hard work, 23 or 24 hours a day. And there is no substitute for patience and acceptance."

Laughter and tears, fighting on and letting go.

Let It Be by the Beatles

NLRB rule change

2011-12-27T17:11:00.000-05:00

This summer I had the great honor of traveling to Washington DC at the request of our union, AFT, to testify before the National Labor Relations Board. At stake was a proposed rule change that would make it harder for companies to delay union elections and to use that time to intimidate workers, thus denying them their constitutional rights to organize and collectively bargain. There were 2 days of testimony, by both those for and against the rule change. I spoke for a brief 3 minutes.

In a win for organized labor, the National Labor Relations Board on 12/21 approved sweeping new rules that would speed the pace of union elections, making it easier for unions to gain members at companies that have long rebuffed them.
The rules, which take effect April 30, simplify procedures and reduce legal delays that can hold up union elections after employees at a work site gather enough signatures to form a union.
"This rule is about giving all employees who have petitioned for an election the right to vote in a timely manner and without the impediment of needless litigation," board chairman Mark Pearce said.
The old rules allowed companies to file frivolous appeals, stalling elections for months or years.

My role was vary small but I was proud to be a part of the process. Every nurse at Backus should share that pride. We have come a long way and we have made a difference. We will continue to make a difference.

I never wanted to be involved in politics, but one of the roles of a nurse is to advocate. Lesa Hanson, one of our organizing and negotiating committee members, eloquently said that advocating means at the bedside, in the boardroom, in Hartford and in Washington.

We cannot be good nurses if we cannot advocate for our patients without fear of retribution!
THAT is what this is all about.

(if you want to see my testimony) http://youtu.be/zT_8DQYi9dc

Christmas Blessings

2011-12-24T05:00:00.000-05:00

I've been giving a lot of thought to this Christmas message post. Thinking about what Christmas means to me. It's a special time of the year. The birthday of Jesus, my savior. God made man, coming into this world to give the ultimate sacrifice, himself.

As great and important as all that is, I believe His real gift to us was in the way He lived His life.
Born in a manger, as a homeless person if you will. His first visitors..... shepards, but also open to receiving kings. He loved them all. His mother, engaged but not married when she conceived, asked by God to bear His Son. Her answer...... let it be. His father, Joseph, a simple Jewish carpenter, visited by an angel, he stands by Mary and Jesus. He teaches Jesus carpentry, religion, and love of man.

At age 30, following a calling, Jesus leaves the comfort and safety of his life in the carpenter shop to spend 3 years preaching God's love, knowing all the while it will mean His ultimate death. He surrounds himself with fisherman, tax collectors, prostitutes. He speaks of a Father who loves us and wants our love in return. He does not judge others, he does not seek for others to serve Him. He lives his life as an example.

He refuses to judge and stone the women caught in adultery, He praises the woman who gives her last few coins in the temple over the man who gives more but from his surplus, he washes the feet of his disciples. Over and over he teaches in parables, his message is clear....love God and one another.

Not everyone claims Him as the Messiah or their savior.
I think Jesus would be OK with that. He never was about claiming the glory, He was about the message.
I think He would be OK with Santa Claus and our modern gift giving too. Santa stands for bringing joy to the world, so did He. Some people get upset about the materialism of Christmas, I understand that. But when Jesus was asked about paying taxes to the Romans what did He say?
He asked who's head was on the Roman coin. Cesar's they said. He told them to give to Cesar what is Cesar's and to God what is God's.
When asked where His kingdom was He told them it was not of this world.

He doesn't care about money, doesn't care about materialism, He cares about our hearts and souls, He cares about our love for God and each other.
No, I don't think Jesus would be upset when Santa, or his helpers (parents and grandparents, etc), give gifts out of love, I think he would smile. I think Jesus would make Santa one of His disciples.

Whatever your personal beliefs, whomever you Higher Power, I wish you love this Christmas and into the next year.

If Elfs Got Organized

2011-12-22T11:30:00.000-05:00

This is a look at working conditions at Santa"s workshop. It is intended to be lighthearted and yet at the same time it reminds us that we should always consider the working conditions of those who produce, sell, and deliver what we consume.

I'm a man of reason, and they say "'Tis the season to be jolly"

But it's folly when you volley for position

Never in existence has there been such a resistance

To ideas meant to free us

If you could see us, then you'd listen

Toiling through the ages, making toys on garnished wages

There's no union

We're only through when we outdo the competition

A full indentured servitude can reflect on one's attitude

But that silly red hat just makes the fat man look outrageous

Absurd though it may seem, you know, I've heard there's even been illegal doping

And though we're coping, I just hope it's not contagious

You try to start a movement, and you think you see improvement

But when thrown into the moment, we just don't seem so courageous

You look at yourself

You're an elf

And the shelf is just filled with disappointing memories

Trends come and go, and your friends wanna know why you aren't just happy making crappy little gizmos

Every kid knows they'll just throw this stuff away

We're used to repetition, so we drew up a petition

We, the undersigned, feel undermined

Let's redefine "employment"

We know that we've got leverage, so we'll hand the fat man a beverage

And sit back while we attack the utter lack of our enjoyment

It may be tough to swallow, but our threats are far from hollow

He may thunder, but if he blunders, he may wonder where the toys went

I make toys, but I've got aspirations

Make some noise

Use your imagination

Girls and boys, before you wish for what you wish for

There's a list for who's been

Naughty or nice, but consider the price to an elf

Bare Naked Ladies/Michael Buble

Hanukkah

2011-12-20T16:23:00.002-05:00

I come from an Irish Catholic family so what I know of Hanukkah is limited.

It seems that throughout history, the Hebrews have had periods of self rule alternating with occupation. During at least one of these occupations the rulers promised to let the Jews observe their religious customs and traditions and they did for a while. But, as rulers often do, they reneged on their promise and desecrated the Holy Temple in Jerusalem even erecting an alter to Zeus and butchering pigs. Eventually, the Hebrews got organized and kicked them out.
Hanukkah, also known as the Festival of Lights, is an eight-day Jewish holiday commemorating the rededication of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem at the time of the Maccabean Revolt of the 2nd century BC. After the forces of Antiochus IV had been driven from the Temple, the Maccabees discovered that almost all of the ritual olive oil had been profaned. They found only a single container that was still sealed by the High Priest, with enough oil to keep the menorah in the Temple lit for a single day. They used this, yet it burned for eight days (the time it took to have new oil pressed and made ready). Hence, Hanukkah is celebrated for eight nights and days.

I have Jewish friends and relatives and feel at least somewhat connected to the Jewish people.
Both Jews and Irish have faced oppression and occupation and we have persevered.
Christian and Jew also share a spiritual heritage. David, Abraham and Moses are fathers to us all, our Judeo-Christian heritage makes us more alike than not. Jesus, was a Jewish carpenter.
So, while I do not understand Hanukkah like someone who grew up celebrating it, I will celebrate it now.
May this Hanukkah season bring you peace, happiness, and love.
I'll close with my own Irish Hanukkah blessing:

May the roads rise up to meet you

and the wind be always at your back.

May your candles always burn bright

and your oil never run out.

And until there is peace and justice in the world,

may the Lord God hold us all in the palm of His hand.

and a song from the Bare Naked Ladies:

Happy Hanukkah!

National Writers Union

2011-12-18T07:00:00.001-05:00

I started writing this blog in March. I had been keeping a journal off and on for years and more consistently since fall of 2010 when we started to organize. It has been a way for me to understand my feelings and deal with them. It grew out of that need to write and an ever expanding email list of news and encouragement that I had been sending out during the early organizing campaign.
Now,10 months later, am writing my 87th entry.
I guess I had a lot to say.
It has been most rewarding for me.
Ole Hermanson is my editor, he has greatly helped me refine my writing.
Those who know him know that Ole is much more than an editor,he is a wonderful writer, an organizer without equal, he led us, advised us, encouraged us, and has given us a voice. He is also a dear friend.
In the past few months I have come to know another fine man and writer, Wayne Burgess, President of the Southeastern Connecticut Central Labor Council, AFL-CIO. This is the group of unions for southeastern Connecticut who come together in solidarity.
Wayne asked if he could use some of my writings for his union newsletter. I was honored to be asked. He also asked me to consider joining the National Writers Union, an affiliate or the United Auto Workers. I didn't have to consider it long.
The National Writers Union UAW Local 1981 is the only labor union that represents freelance writers. Combining the strength of more than 1,200 members with the support of the United Automobile Workers, the NWU works to advance the economic and working conditions of all writers.
I am now proud to say I am a member.
Solidarity isn't just a word, it means we are stronger together than alone. If our goal is to help the working men and women then we need to work together because there are forces of greed against us.
In my first blog in March I said this:

"One of the roles of a nurse, one of the most important roles I think, is to advocate for his patients.
Our union is not some outside "third party ", it is me and you and the nurses you work with every day, coming together, reaching a consensus, and speaking with one voice. We will be partners with administration, working to make Backus better.For this to happen we need active members from every floor, every shift, every age group, because it is diversity of ideas that makes us strong.Is this dream possible? You bet it is! It is happening already, one floor at a time. I invite you to join us."

That statement is as true now as it ever was.
If this blog has helped in any small way to help you consider the positive that a union can bring, if it has fortified your resolve, if it has given you hope, made you laugh, or made you think about the great gift we call life, then I have succeeded.
For my part, it has bee a wonderful outlet for my feeling and thoughts and you have been a wonderful audience.
And I'm not done yet.

It's a wonderful life

2011-12-15T15:30:00.001-05:00

This time of year we all gather together and re-watch the classic holiday movies. We all have our favorites, be they in black and white or Chevy Chase and Home Alone. One of my all time favorites is It's a Wonderful Life from 1946.
The film stars James Stewart as George Bailey, a man whose imminent suicide on Christmas Eve brings about the intervention of his guardian angel Clarence. Clarence shows George all the lives he has touched and the contributions he has made to his community.
George's dream has been to see the world. However, he repeatedly sacrifices his ambition for others. He spends his life running the Bailey Building and Loan Association, that his father started and vital to the people of Bedford Falls because without it they would be at the mercy of Henry Potter, a heartless slumlord and majority shareholder in the Building and Loan, who also owns the bank and most of the rest of the town. Without George, the people of Bedford Falls would have little hope of ever owning a home or improving their lives.
George forgets this and Clarence is sent from heaven to help him remember. If Clarence succeeds, he will earn his wings.
There are many great scenes, let me share one of my favorites.
On Harry's (George's younger brother) graduation night in 1928, George discusses his future with Mary Hatch (Donna Reed), who has had a crush on him since she was a little girl. Later that evening, George's absent-minded Uncle Billy and Harry break the news to George his father has had a stroke, which proves fatal. A few months later, Mr. Potter tries to persuade the board of directors to stop providing home loans for the working poor. George talks them into rejecting Potter's proposal, but they agree only on the condition that George himself run the Building and Loan. He gives his college money to his brother with the understanding that when Harry returns from college, he will take over the Building and Loan, which of course, doesn't happen.
This scene shows George's passionate speech before the board on why the Building and Loan must continue. It speaks to the idea that love is more important than greed, an idea George forgets for a time until Clarence helps him remember and realize that though he may not have the most money he is indeed "the richest man in the world"!

GRINCH OF THE YEAR

2011-12-12T19:21:00.000-05:00

On Saturday, the following wonderful letter from John Hayes of Pomfret, appeared in the Norwich Bulletin letters to the editor section:
Appparently, Scrooge has moved to Norwich in the form of the CEO of The William W. Backus Hospital. While the current CEO laughs all the way to the bank to the tune of $600,000 per year, he’s withholding annual holiday bonuses from the nursing staff. He isn’t alone in his merriment. Backus also pays the former CEO, yes, former, as in no longer working there, $700,000 per year. These figures are public through the tax records. The nurses, from Norwich and surrounding communities, are representative of the people to whom they provide care. They may be raising young children, struggling on single incomes or caring for aging parents. They care for people at the best and worst of times. Through birth, illness and even death, nurses are often the ones holding the patient’s hand. The holiday bonus was a small recognition of the contribution the staff makes to Backus’ success in caring for the community. The nurses look forward to this recognition as a way of helping with financial needs. With its coffers overflowing with more than $24 million, and the CEO and former CEO more than amply rewarded, Backus Hospital should acknowledge the work of the nurses and give the bonuses.

Thank you Mr Hayes, and well said.
His letter got us thinking.
Tonight a delegation from the Backus Federation of Nurses attended the Southeastern Connecticut Central Labor Council meeting, a gathering of labor leaders from all the different southeastern Connecticut unions of the AFL-CIO. We approached the council for support.
I am happy to tell you that our brothers and sisters of labor unions across southeastern Connecticut stand in solidarity with us!
They have nominated Backus CEO David Whitehead as
GRINCH OF THE YEAR!
The labor unions of of the area, the state and the nation stand with us.
Millions of people like John Hayes, people who care.

A call for laborers

2011-12-09T07:00:00.001-05:00

A man named Matthew wrote, "At the site of the crowds, his heart was moved with pity. They were lying prostate from exhaustion, like sheep without a shepherd. He said to his disciples : "the harvest is good but the laborers are scarce. Beg the harvest master to send out laborers to gather his harvest. "
We are the laborers.
There is much to do.
Many in this world suffer; from poverty, sickness, depression, addiction, spiritual emptiness.
There is no shortage of work for the laborers.
We all have a calling, it may take some time to find it, but if we continue to search, we will find it. It is our way of leaving the world better than we found it.
When we find our calling, we know. The urge to follow it is overwhelming. It is a "calling" because the harvest master calls out to us. Whatever it is, we are to perform it with love and respect for each other. There is dignity in all labor performed in this way.
The harvest master is known by many names, by all religions and all spiritual paths. He does not belong to any one and yet he belongs to all. He is love at it's purest.
And the best part?
He desires closeness to us -
His laborers!

The Good Boss

2011-12-06T17:00:00.001-05:00

It was a very busy second shift in the ED. I was a brand new nurse, certainly less than a year into my practice. I had worked in the ED for 5 years as a nursing assistant and was given the opportunity to start nursing there after a brief orientation on the Med Surg floor. It was unusual at the time and I was grateful for the chance, now it is common practice.
On this night we had a trauma and the experienced nurses were handling that, leaving a few of us newer nurses to manage the rest of the floor. One of my patients was having difficulty breathing, the ED doctor was concerned, I could see it in his face. He ordered an IV drip of magnesium and I started to prepare it. Back then we mixed most of our own drips, especially on 2nd and 3rd shift. As I pulled out the vials of magnesium I felt uncomfortable, there seemed to be too many vials. I ran it by one of the other new nurses and she thought it was OK. Now I realize that she was as overwhelmed as I was. My patient's condition deteriorated after we started the drip because I had overdosed him by a factor of 10. I alerted the doctor that his condition was worse, we stopped the drip and the patient was intubated. At this point I had no idea that I had made a mistake. God was watching us all that night, the patient recovered.
A little while later, while I was standing at the medication Pixis, a wave came over me. I realized what I had done.
I almost fell to the floor.
By now, the experienced nurse who was precepting me was out of the trauma. I went to her and she said to tell the admitting doctor. I walked over, sat near the hospitalist who was writing orders, took a deep breath and told her. She had just written an order for an IV with magnesium in it. She ran a pen line over the line, initialed it, put the pen down, turned to me and said, "It's going to be alright".

A couple of weeks later I was called to the office and Susan Davis, my boss, asked me if I realized what the mistake had been. I said yes and we talked about it. Sue said " I know you'll never make that mistake again". That was the total of my disciplinary action.

Today, our Pixis machines are in rooms instead of on the open floor, with it's distractions while you are pulling and mixing meds. The confusion over labeling of electrolytes in both milligrams and milliequivalents is minimized. We mix meds in the med room and are encouraged to have the pharmacy mix meds whenever possible.
That is what came of my mistake, because I had a boss who looked out for me and who corrected flaws in the process. There are still things we need to work on, such as help for less experienced nurses and appropriate staffing ratios that take into account patient severity and nurse experience.
Sue was a good boss, an advocate for her patients and her nurses. She now teaches Nursing in Virgina and works part time in an ED.
She recently sent me an email about a trend toward criminalizing nursing mistakes:

Hey John!
This article made me think about patient-nurse staffing ratios at WWBH. Nurses are now more than ever, at risk for legal actions. I firmly believe that staffing ratios and nurse's complex assignments set us up to fail. Maybe there is some information here for you to blog about. Always thinking about my family at WWBH.
Susan

The Criminalization of Nursing Mistakes

Don't piss off an Irishman

2011-12-03T08:53:00.002-05:00

Can I tell you something?
I'm pissed.
I'm sorry, but I am.
We have been meeting with management for 5 months. They arrive late every session and they just don't seem prepared when they do get there. I wonder if they even talk with each other between sessions.
It's disrespectful.
Our committee has met for countless hours to prepare. Five months ago we gave them a complete contract proposal. They have only responded to about a third of it. I am told it is not unusual, management considers it part of the game, part of the negotiation dance.
I don't want to dance and to me it's not a game, this is my life, it is the lives of my coworkers, it is the lives of my patients and it is the financial life of my hospital.
We will do what we can to move things along but in the meantime remember that we ARE a union and we have to act like one.
We have stepped in and intervened for nurses in discipline/discharge proceedings, protecting their rights, making a bad situation better for them and the hospital.
We got an extension on filing for insurance for next year. Management had given ten days and with everyone's busy lives many people, nurses and others, missed the deadline. We got a one week extension.
Some nurses are being told that vacations past a certain date can't be approved. We have spoken to Human Resources and they have assured us that this is not the case. If you are told otherwise let us know and we will intervene for you as we already have for others.
Management denied nurses the bonus they earned from a year of hard work. We filed charges with the labor board and if needed we will take them to trial.
We had wanted to have negotiations at the hospital to make it more convenient for nurses to stop in during dinner breaks or after work and to save both union and hospital money but management refused. That is their right. So we applied for the use of the hospital conference rooms for negotiation update meetings and were tentatively approved and then denied. These rooms are used by all kinds of community groups so to deny us was discriminatory. We filed charges with the labor board and the hospital gave in. Our first meeting was well attended and people wanted to know what they could do to help.
Some people can't make negotiations for various reasons, we understand.
There are other things you can do to help.
Wear your union buttons, tell us if you need more.
Call David Whitehead at 860-889-8331 ext 2722.
Tell him to listen to the nurses and instruct his team to negotiate in good faith. His secretary will answer the phone, give her the message, or call at night and leave a voice mail. Call often.
There seems to be a feeling from management that this is their hospital to do with what they want. They have had complete control and they want to keep it that way.
Guess what, if we thought they were being good stewards of our community hospital we wouldn't have gone though all this trouble. It is the community's hospital and we all answer to them.
So, I'm angry, but I'm not discouraged.
You are my strength.
You are the entire committee's strength.
We will prevail, we will bring our hospital to where it should be.
The only question is this.
Will management help or be a hindrance?

Si se pluede

2011-11-30T08:30:00.001-05:00

Growing up in the 60s I knew I had cousins in California, I new Disneyland was there, and I knew I wanted to go!
I also remember my parents starting to talk about a man with a funny name. For some reason this man didn't want us to eat California grapes. There was a great level of respect in my parent's voice when they spoke about this man.
Grapes disappeared from our home.
We were told to pray for this man from California with the funny name.
Years later I would find out, this man was Cezar Chavez.
Born in a small adobe home in Yuma, Arizona in 1927. His family became migrant farm workers in California after losing their small farm in the Depression. He served in the navy in WWII. He returned to the fields until becoming a community organizer in 1952. In 1962 he confounded the National Farm Workers Association, later to become the United Farm Workers. In 1965 he led a 5 year strike and nationwide grape boycott to improve the rights and lives of migrant workers. In 1966 he gained the support of Senator Robert Kennedy. In 1968 he went on a 25 day hunger strike for the principles of non violence. There would be many more hunger strikes, influenced by the Catholic tradition of doing penance and by Gandhi's fasts and emphasis of nonviolence.
He was a student of Gandi and Jesus. He lived his live based on the principles of nonviolence, love for others, social justice, and the non accumulation of wealth.
At the end of his fast in 1968 he said these words: “I am convinced that the truest act of courage, the strongest act of humanity, is to sacrifice ourselves for others in a totally nonviolent struggle for justice. To be human is to suffer for others. God help us to be human.”
He was a tireless worker for civil rights, workers rights and the dignity of all people. He died in Arizona in 1993, not far from his boyhood home, with little accumulations, still fighting for those rights, that dignity.
The United Farm Workers have a slogan, "Si se pluede", "yes we can".
With God's help we truly can be human.
Si se puede!

Unfair Labor Practice

2011-11-27T17:00:00.001-05:00

Backus Nurses were in the paper again because we filed Unfair Labor Practice charges against Backus Management.

It occurred to me, I know what that means, but do others?

The decision to file these charges are made by the Negotiations Committee on advice of our lawyers, field rep, and organizers. Let me take a minute to explain labor law very briefly. Remember, I am not an expert, but all of the committee is learning fast.

Labor laws in the United States protect workers rights and facilitate the relationship between organized labor and management. The National Labor Relations Board oversees and administers these laws. If one side feels the other side has violated the law, they file an Unfair Labor Practice charge. The NLRB then investigates and if they find merit in the case they prosecute. Often, the NLRB convinces one side to give in, but if not, a trial is held. Any settlement, whether by agreement or trial, seeks to "make whole" the situation.

As an example, if a union member had been fired illegally, the person would be rehired with back pay.

Since most charges are filed against management, and few against labor, most labor people would like to see stronger laws and penalties.

This past summer I testified before the NLRB in Washington about the intimidation and stall tactics that Backus management took against us during our organizing campaign. It was part of an effort to strengthen these laws.

The NLRB found sufficient evidence to prosecute and Backus management settled prior to trial. They had to post on the hospital intranet that they would not violate the law. They had done the same after breaking the same law when guards organized a few months earlier. Because both groups were successful in their organizing election, the situation was already "made whole". Had either group been defeated, the NLRB would have ordered a new vote.

Recently the hospital agreed to our use of conference room #1 for union negotiation update meetings. They did so because we had filed charges against them due to union discrimination. (the rooms are used by other groups, such as the Boy Scouts, yet the hospital refused to let us meet there) When it became clear that the NLRB felt we had a strong case management gave in and we then withdrew our charge. We will start having meetings there soon.

We also filed a charge due to the hospital's refusal to provide insurance information as required by law. This information is needed for us to develop proposals. It appears that the hospital may now be ready to give us that information to avoid a trial and if they do we will withdraw the charge.

Last week we filed another charge against management over the shared rewards program and I blogged extensively about it in last Thursday's blog.
We will continue to monitor management's behavior. Whenever they violate our rights we will file charges.

Come see for yourself

2011-11-24T17:00:00.021-05:00

When workers vote to form a union and begin bargaining a contract management is prohibited from changing any practices until agreement on a contract is reached. When changes are made that either grant a benefit or take one away before the contract is reached it is called a Unilateral Change in Working Conditions. While we have serious concerns about the current Pay for Performance system, it is the current practice. When management announced they would not give nurses their deserved raises or bonus until our union agreed to specific contract language they committed an unfair labor practice.

The three components of the shared reward program are the practice at the hospital and by law must be continued until there is a contract in place.
What's worse, they are still enforcing the evaluation portion of the program! Management is trying to use the raises we count on as leverage and they are breaking the law to do it!
When we questioned management on this their attorney said the evaluations were separate and not connected to raises. Management claims that the raises in the past were in no way connected to your score on your evaluation.

However, hospital spokesman Shawn Mawhiney said Monday that the bonuses and other rewards are given to employees as part of a pay-for-performance system. "Both the performance of the individual employee as well as that of the hospital are factors in determining how much each employee receives, along with the number of hours worked", he said.

So.....which one is it?

"This isn't some new practice," said Lisa Currier, registered nurse. "The hospital has given bonuses to employees every year. By changing that practice they're breaking the law. This is as illegal as changing the policy for overtime."

Another nurse, Donna Callicut, said the issue was discussed as part of the contact negotiations between the union and the hospital. Talks are scheduled to resume next week.

"I was at the bargaining table when we made it clear to management that we expect them to continue the practice of giving bonuses to everyone based on hours worked," she said.

Shawn Mawhiney also said,"We offered them exactly what other employees were getting, and they refused," he said. The hospital would not award the bonuses solely on the basis of hours worked, he added.
"You can't have one without the other," he said. "We're not going to apologize for asking the nurses to live up to the same standards we set for everyone else in the organization."

The "same standards we set for everyone else" is, according to the hospital's lawyer, to continue the system we have, and that would be the only compensation for nurses for the three year contract if we would agree to it. It wasn't a serious offer and it did not address the bonuses at all.

We have given a detailed wage proposal. It can be accessed by a link on this blog and at backusunited.org. To this date, the hospital has not responded to our wage proposal nor have they offered a proposal of their own.

When we started negotiations we attempted to hold them at the hospital so that nurses could attend and watch and listen for themselves.

The hospital refused.

However, negotiations are open.

Come see for yourself

It is times like these when it becomes crystal clear why every nurse should be at negotiations. You have the opportunity to hear for yourself management's position. If you have questions there will be time for everyone to get answers. Over one hundred nurses have come out, many for multiple sessions. Next week we have a marathon session of bargaining and we will certainly be talking about the bonuses as well as other economic issues and seniority. Come out and be a part of shaping our contract. Courtyard by Marriott
5:15pm – 10pm
Monday November 28th
Tuesday November 29th
Wednesday, November 30th Come in for 15 minutes or the whole session but come out and support the nurses sitting at the bargaining table.

Giving Thanks

2011-11-21T05:00:00.001-05:00

Thanksgiving is this week. There are certain times in the year that it seems natural to pause, think about where we have been, where we are, where we're going, reevaluate life's direction, and give thanks for our blessings. Truth be told, we'd all be better off if we did this more often.
I am blessed in a belief in a Higher Power, whom I choose to call God, who loves me the way I am, who gives me the grace (puts people and situations in my life) to become a more loving person, who gives me free will to choose my own path, and who cheers me on and watches over me. If I remember this and base my life on it I do alright.
I am thankful for my family and extended family, I am surrounded by loving sons, grandchildren, cousins, nieces, nephews, and in laws. Mostly, I'm thankful for Michelle, my best friend, who has somehow survived over 36 years of being married to me.
I am also thankful to have found nursing, it is more than a profession, it is a vocation. It's what I'm supposed to be doing at this point in my life.
Nursing has a responsibility to constantly evaluate itself, correct course when needed, and move forward. It should involve nurses in decisions, it should be patient focused, it should nurture new nurses, it should promote the idea that the bedside nurse is at the pinnacle of the profession, not the starting point.
18 months ago I was unhappy with the direction of nursing at Backus. Today I have hope.
I am thankful to the American labor movement and especially the people of AFT Connecticut. They have guided us, given us the resources needed, and yet we retain our autonomy. Our cause is to correct the direction of Backus nursing and we own that cause.
I am thankful to my coworkers who have dedicated themselves to this cause. You have risked your livelihood because you believe in nursing and are willing to fight for it.
I am thankful for all the support given to the organizing and negotiations committees. We have asked a lot, you have responded. I recognize you have busy lives. I wish I could say thank you, we are done asking, but I cannot. There is more to do, there always is. We will continue to ask and you will respond, because of who you are, loving, caring people. You are nurses.
I am thankful for the trust so many have placed in me. It is a wonderful compliment. I recognize how special this is and what a responsibility it is.
My hope is that because of our work now, sometime in the future, a nurse will pick up on a subtle change in a patient's condition and that will lead to a good outcome. That nurse will be there and have the experience needed to catch the change because we improved conditions so that she wanted to stay at the bedside, was encouraged to stay at the bedside, and was rewarded for staying at the bedside. It is my hope that this will be the norm, not the exception.
Happy Thanksgiving.

It must be the songs

2011-11-18T20:15:00.000-05:00

Management doesn't seem to like organized labor very much.

At Backus they hired Jackson Lewis, a proud and prestigious law firm, one of the top union busting firms in the country, and one of the most expensive, to fight the security union. After spending millions in the fight and losing to about 30 guards and support workers, Backus hired Jackson Lewis again and spent several million to fight their own nurses. The nurses won.

I don't understand. Management is always talking about how important it is to listen to workers but when workers try to establish a voice, management fights them.

There can be one and only one answer.

It's our songs.

Labor has cool songs, management doesn't, and they're jealous. It's the only thing that makes sense.

I kind of feel for them, I mean we do have great songs.

I Don't want your millions mister, Solidarity Forever, Which side are you on, Union Maid, Union Song, World's best Union Song, Roll the Union On, Joe Hill, There is power in the Union, Look for the Union Label, and more.

Management has.....well, nothing. I searched and searched. I did find one scene from Blazing Saddles with a work song that may help. I hope so, then maybe management won't be so angry.

Negotiotions Update #2

2011-11-16T09:48:00.000-05:00

NEGOTIATIONS UPDATE

We met Monday till about 11:30 pm.

We made some progress but it is painfully slow. Our recent campaign with the commercial, the publishing of the hospital's financial records, and the several labor board charges we have filed has helped.

We have successfully negotiated the use of Conference room 1 for union meetings, but not negotiations. We will hold update meetings a day or two after negotiation sessions.

We have tentative agreements on several "nuts and bolts" issues that deal with the relationship between the hospital and our local. One of the most important in my opinion is a good grievance procedure.

When we have tentative agreement on ALL the issues they become our tentative contract.

ALL UNION MEMBERS will then vote on this tentative contract and if and only if it passes will it become our ratified contract.

The hospital has promised to start answering our proposals on economic issues.

This is when we really need member support to negotiate well.

Greg Kotecki is a skillful negotiator and your 16 union committee members sitting across from the 4 hospital committee members is impressive, but it's the people filling the rest of the seats in the room that make us strong.

Think of it this way- when we have a patient in the emergency room getting out of control, we call for help. When all of security and numerous ED staff members arrive in a "show of force" the patient usually complies with less of a fight.

Members filling the chairs are our "show of force".

Either way we will negotiate a contract. How strong that contract is, how good a deal we can negotiate, depends directly on how strong our "show of force" is.

Our next round of negotiations is the week after Thanksgiving. It is a marathon session, 3 nights in a row, November 28, 29, 30.

The negotiations committee will be there, for all 18 hours or so, we need you to be there also.

I'm asking everyone to look at their schedules, find 30 minutes on one of those 3 nights and commit to it.

On another matter, I would like to welcome Karen Knight to the hospital. Karen comes to us from Olean General Hospital in upstate New York. Olean General is a member of the NYSNA union family and Karen has experience working with the union. We look forward to a long, productive relationship working together to make Backus the best possible hospital for it's patients, employees and the community.

"You cannot serve both God and money": Matthew

2011-11-14T04:50:00.001-05:00

43 countries have laws requiring graphic images on cigarette packages to discourage smoking. The United States and Australia are poised to enact similar laws.
Last week, in a lawsuit brought by cigarette makers, a US court issued a temporary injunction to delay the US law based on questions of constitutionality.
In Australia, where the new law received broad political support, cigarette companies are also fighting back. They're accusing the government of everything from copyright infringement to violating free trade agreements. They're also threatening to flood the market with cheap cigarettes. David Crow is CEO of British-American Tobacco, Australia's biggest cigarette company. "We will obviously focus on pricing, given it's the only thing really left to focus and differentiate brands. More people will smoke. We all know. Things get cheaper, people buy more, and more kids will smoke. And that is obviously completely opposite to what the government intends."
I understand the argument about free speach and constitutionality.
What I don't understand is this:
How can anyone, individual or corporation, place greed ahead of people's welfare?
What ever happened to ethics?
What good is human existence if money has more value than people?
Money will never buy happiness an no amount of money is ever enough. Money can be a drug, the more you have (once your basic needs are met) the more you want. The pursuit of greed led to our Wall Street crisis. It is causing the increasing gap between rich and poor. If we are not careful it will lead to the collapse of our civilization.
We need a new philosophy, individual, corporate, and government. A philosophy that says we are all in this together, that people come before profits, that love is more valuable than money.

All gave some, some gave all

2011-11-11T07:19:00.000-05:00

I want to say thank you on this Veterans Day to all who have served our country in the military, those who now serve, and their families.
A personal thank you to my father and uncles, my father in law and his brothers, my brother Mike and brother in law Wayne, all my cousins and cousin in laws, and the many people I work with, who served and currently serve.
Your example of sacrifice inspires me.
So many have given so much so that I can enjoy the freedoms I do. I have a responsibility to be a good steward of those freedoms.
Thank you

Ohio workers standing tall!

2011-11-09T05:00:00.001-05:00

Ohio workers have stood up, stood tall, stood proud, and stood in solidarity!
They have protected the rights of teachers, nurses, police officers, firefighters, and all middle class working families by defeating Senate bill 5!
Shortly after taking office, Ohio governor John Kasich pushed SB 5 to repeal collective bargaining rights of Ohio public employees that dated back to 1983. The bill would have died in committee and never come to a vote, but Republicans replaced Sen Bill Deity (R), who opposed it, with Sen Clifford Hite (R), who favored it.
The bill stripped public employees of many of their collective bargaining rights, including a ban on strikes, elimination of binding arbitration, eliminating the right to bargain health care benefits, watering down bargaining rights on employee qualifications, work assignments, promotion rules, pay raises, and more.
Unlike the private sector, public sector workers are not protected by federal labor law. They fall under state law.
Workers across the country have seen their rights eroded, often in the name of balancing budgets, be they public entities or private companies.
Instead of including workers in the process and working together to a better common end point, many cities, states, and companies would rather strip workers of their rights and ignore the suggestions of those who actually do the work.
OHIO WORKERS SAID NO!

Andy Rooney

2011-11-07T05:00:00.002-05:00

Andy Rooney passed away last week. He was 92. Most of us knew him best from his years on 60 Minutes. From 1978 until just a month ago, he ended each show with his short commentaries. 33 years, 1097 shows.
His homespun philosophy ranged from the mundane ("I don't like music I can't hum", I don't understand "wash and wear" clothes. Why would I wash ANY clothes if I'm not planning to wear them?) to the political and controversial. He considered himself a liberal (once after the second world war, he was arrested for riding in the back of a bus with his black soldier friends) but still found a way to upset blacks, gays, Native Americans, and others at times. Always he would return in a following week to apologize. I guess if you're going to give your opinion 1097 times you'll make some mistakes.
He began his writing career writing for Stars and Strips during WW II. A pacifist and opposed to the war, he was drafted. He talked his way into a job as a reporter. He received numerous awards for his reports, including the Silver Star for reporting under fire. After being among the first Americans to see the Nazi concentration camps, he rethought his pacifist views and came to believe that some wars could be justified.
He worked until age 92, never afraid to have an opinion but also never afraid to change his opinion.
There were times when I, and I believe others, would watch 60 Minutes just to catch Andy.
Mr Rooney, we will surely miss your wit.

Sarah and Meagan, of the Rutland Nadlers

2011-11-05T04:04:00.002-04:00

I'm writing this blog while on remote location. Michelle and I drove up to Rutland, VT to spend the evening with my sister and two of our nieces. I sorta promised them I'd mention them in a blog. Sarah is 16 and Meagan is 13. My sister's other two children, Anna and Andrew are away at college. Actually, Andrew is in Jacksonville, FL right now for a convention of Business Honor Society Students.

Michelle and I are on vacation this week. We have both worked at the same places for long enough to get several weeks off each year. Although we'd love to travel to exotic places on all our vacations our time off exceeds our travel budget. I'm not complaining, in this time of decreasing workplace benefits I'm glad we still have our vacation time. I'm also glad we are now both in unions so we have a say in those benefits.

It's great to get up here and see my sister and nieces before winter sets in and travel up north turns into an "iffy" adventure.

Mary's a single mom, with 2 in college and 2 at home, since Ira lost his battle to cancer, so they don't get to dine out a lot. We went out to a trendy downtown Rutland restaurant called "Roots-the Restaurant" which features locally grown food and an extensive gluten free menu, important because all the kids have ciliac, a gluten allergy.

We had a great visit, it was fun to watch the girls react to the food choices, especially the Shrimp Ceviche!

At times I can be obsessive about things. OK, OK, I can hear the sarcastic "no, not you John" remarks. But even I realize the importance of balance, a time to work hard and a time to rest. Stopping, stepping back, getting a fresh perspective, resting from our battles, can invigorate us.

Getting away from work is good. Getting out of town is nice. Visiting with family is priceless.

Negotiations update

2011-11-02T09:23:00.001-04:00

I get asked all the time how negotiations are going. I'm glad people are interested.
In the weeks preceding negotiations your committee spent night after night preparing a complete contract proposal. We presented this at our first negotiation session on September 6.
Since then management has given us counter proposals on about 1/3 of the contract, mostly on "nuts and bolts" issues, dealing with the relationship between the union and the hospital.
On another night we gave a power point presentation on our wages proposal. This can be viewed at backusunited.org. Management has not yet responded to this or any of our wage or benefit issues.

People also ask me, do you think management will give us "you fill in the blank?"
NO!
Management will give us nothing!
Let me repeat myself.
Management will give us nothing!
We will get the contract we are willing to fight for.

Why do I say this?
First: management feels it's their job to give in as little as possible.
Second: History.
If you were here when Wellspring Consulting came to town I ask you to remember back. With the loss of certification pay, longevity pay, shift differential decrease, wellness and sick days loss, change in insurance coverage, and on and on, how much did you lose? For some it was as much as $8000!
Now remember one more thing, that was not a one time loss, that was each and every year, taken from you and your family.
If you came to Backus after Wellspring consider this, you lost the potential for the above income. Now multiply that times the number of years you will work. That could be a mortgage payment or a child's education.
If you are are a manager, ask yourself, is turnover in my department higher or lower since Wellspring? How many fellow managers have you seen "walked out"?
Since Wellspring what has happened to senior management? They have done well, with wage and benefit increases as high as 28%/year.

If we will only get what we are willing to fight for, what can we do?
Your committee is not without resources. You will see them used in the coming months in an effort to show management that it is in their interest to work with us.
At times we will ask your help in these efforts. Know that your committee will lead the way.
For now, come to negotiations whenever you can. Our numbers are our strength. I thank you for your support. Our next negotiation is Nov. 14th, this time at the Courtyard Marriott in Norwich.
We took a giant step in May but the struggle is not over.
Our goal is worth fighting for, a better Backus Hospital for our patients, our families, and our community.

When it snows in October!

2011-10-30T12:27:00.000-04:00

I woke Sunday morning to no power. Seems like we just got over hurricane Irene with it's 7 day outage. Now, a snowstorm in October?
Unusual weather for unusual times.
If you had asked a year ago if we'd have a hurricane knocking out power for a week or a snowstorm in October, most would have laughed. Similarly, had you asked if Backus nurses would be sitting at the negotiations table, most would have laughed.

“Some men see things as they are and say why. I dream things that never were and say why not.” -Robert Francis Kennedy

We started a year ago, talking in small groups. In May we formed a local. Now we sit at the negotiations table.
How did it happen?
We dreamed things that never were and said why not.
Why not a hospital that puts patients before profits?
Why not a hospital that treats patients and employees with respect?
Why not a hospital that engages patients, employees, and the community in decision making?
We asked "why not?" and then set out to answer the question.
The road ahead is not smooth, change will not come easy or fast, but it will come.
It will come because we have the strength, courage and will to ask why not.
It took 118 years of Backus history for this to happen. I'm sure some thought it would only happen when pigs flew or when hell froze over. Maybe some even said, "when we have snowstorms in October."

Sometimes, we do make a difference

2011-10-27T07:59:00.001-04:00

The other day, after yet another frustrating shift, I gave blood at a bloodmobile at the hospital.
After donating I sat in the canteen to have a drink before driving home and the volunteer asked me if I worked in the ER. She said "I was in on Sunday with my husband, he had a heart attack." Not knowing how he had made out I wasn't sure how to respond. Then she said, "You were all so kind and did such a great job, he ended up going to Yale and getting 3 stents, he came home Tuesday."
A breath of relief from me. I thanked her and we talked about it.
I think I remember the case. It wasn't too busy at the time and we had enough help to provide the resources needed at the moment. This is when we are at our best in the ED.
We see enough chest pain to be well practiced. If we have enough staff available it is like a symphony. Techs, medics, nurses, doctors, xray,registration, unit coordinator, all working simultaneously in harmony.
In 15 minutes we can have the patient undressed, on the monitor and oxygen, aspirin and nitro given, chest xray done, 2 IV lines, blood to the lab, a troponin done in the ED (a cardiac specific blood test), history and medications entered into the record, a STEMI kit with life saving meds started if appropriate and Life Star ready to fly. During this time someone will be comforting explaining to the patient and family.
This is what happens when you have the needed resources, experience, and practice.
Truly it is the ED at it's best.
It is why we come back day after day and put up with the abuse we do, because sometimes, what we do really makes a difference.
At times like this I am proud of what I do and proud of my coworkers.

Rabies and Afib (study shows no link)

2011-10-23T18:59:00.003-04:00

Not long ago I wrote a blog about a patient who came in in rapid Afib, a rapid irregular heart rhythm.
Lisa Currier, sent me the following email.
"Rabid Afib- a rapid, irregular heart rhythm characterized by foaming at the mouth".
You see, I had written "rabid" not rapid.
I've admitted before that spelling is not a strong point for me. In nursing school my advisor said I was going to be a good nurse but that if my spelling didn't improve I wouldn't get the credit I deserve because people would look at my charting and go????????
Computerized charting, with it's many check off boxes has helped. Spell check has been a godsend. However, "rabid", being a legitimate word, isn't picked up by spell check.
I want to thank Lisa for pointing out my error. It allowed me to go back and correct my mistake and also showed me someone was paying attention to what I type. I'm glad that I have friends like Lisa who are comfortable enough to kid me about my mistakes. What God didn't give me in spelling ability He made up for in the ability to laugh at myself.
Also, and very importantly, I want to assure you that we have seen no increase in the number of cardiac patients presenting with rabies. The last thing we need is a bunch of worried people showing up with palpitations and looking for rabies vaccine.

Nursing shortage

2011-10-20T17:02:00.001-04:00

For a moment I'd like to share some thoughts on the nursing shortage. There are many reasons that have been studied, the aging workforce of baby boomers beginning to retire, more opertunities for women in the work force than previous generations, a shortage of educators. These and others have been studied exhaustively.
What I'd like to address is something that I believe has not been given enough attention. Perhaps nowhere is the shortage as severe as at the bedside.
Why?
Because bedside nursing is hard!
Bedside nurses work under extreme stress, physical and emotional, hour after hour, day after day, without lunch breaks, without bathroom breaks, with little control over their practice. They are subjected to abuse from patients, families, and doctors, and administration. It's no wonder so many leave the bedside for other work. Because of their unique skill set they are recruited to management, teaching, consulting and more.
They are encouraged to further their education to higher degrees, a worthy goal, but then they are taken away from the bed side. A nurse enters the profession, works their tail off, continues their schooling, and is rewarded with a job that takes them away from the patients, with increased pay, time for lunch and bathroom, better parking and other perks, control over other nurse's practice, ect.
One big problem,
who's going to take care of the patients?
What can be done?
First, we must elevate the status of the bedside nurse. There is a similar thing happening with doctors. There are so many advantages to being a specialist that we lack primary care. The bedside nurse and the primary care physician should considered the top of their professions.
The bedside nurse should be the highest paid, they should have control over their practice, they should get any perks, they should be staffed to allow breaks.
Crazy ideas?
What's crazy is our treatment of the bedside nurse. If we do not change our way of thinking and acting there will be no one left to do the actual work of caring for the patients.

Occupy Wall Street

2011-10-18T03:08:00.002-04:00

The Tea Party movement, the Arab Spring, the Wisconsin state capital, Occupy Wall Street, they all have something in common. They are all populist movements. In all of them the common man and woman is speaking out, no shouting out, I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore!

The worldwide economic downturn has magnified a problem that has long been there. It's like autumn leaves, that when stressed by cooler nights and shorter days, lose the chlorophyll that makes them green and allows the underlying colors that have been there all summer long to show through.

There is a wide gap between the haves and the have nots. The 1% and the 99%.

This spring the people of northern Africa and the Middle East said ENOUGH!

The people of Wisconsin and Ohio said ENOUGH!

Even the nurses of Backus Hospital said ENOUGH!

Enough to the CEOs getting 28% salary increases while we had pay and benefits slashed, our LPNs dismissed, and our patients diverted to other hospitals, held over 24 hours in the ED and PACU due to poor staffing, and their peanut butter taken away.

AFL-CIO president Rich Trumka states it this way:

"Occupy Wall Street has captured the imagination and passion of millions of Americans who have lost hope that our nation's policymakers are speaking for them. We support the protesters in their determination to hold Wall Street accountable and create good jobs. We are proud that today on Wall Street, bus drivers, painters, nurses and utility workers are joining students and homeowners, the unemployed and the underemployed to call for fundamental change. Across America, working people are turning out with their friends and neighbors in parks, congregations and union halls to express their frustration – and anger -- about our country's staggering wealth gap, the lack of work for people who want to work and the corrupting of our politics by business and financial elites. The people who do the work to keep our great country running are being robbed not only of income, but of a voice. It is time for all of us—the 99 percent—to be heard.
We will open our union halls and community centers as well as our arms and our hearts to those with the courage to stand up and demand a better America."

AFT president Randi Weingarten said:

"All over this country, there are young people who have done everything that was asked of them—they went to school, worked hard and prepared to meet their responsibilities as they pursue their dreams.
We need to listen to what the individuals camped out in Liberty Plaza for Occupy Wall Street—and those marching in the streets from Boston to Denver to Los Angeles—have to say. And then we need to get serious as a nation about working together to create economic opportunities for all Americans, including young people, so we can get our country back on the right track."

I stand with the Occupy Wall St movement. It has a vitality that the working man and women have been waiting for. The movement has been said to be lacking leadership, I disagree. It is a new form of leadership, a leadership that says I'm here in the trenches with you brother and sister. Movements like we see in Wisconsin, Ohio, Norwich, New York, and across our country have shown what is possible when working men and women come together and say ENOUGH!
In the halls of Backus and in the streets of New York we strive for the same goals, a voice for the 99% of Americans who work hard each day to make this country great.

Be proud of what you have accomplished so far, you are the Backus Federation of Nurses!
You stand up together, proudly advocating for yourself, your patients, your families, and your community. And you are not alone, you are part of the 99%.

I urge you to use the voice you now have. Get involved in your union. Come to meetings whenever you can. Talk to the leadership and liaisons about your concerns. Register and vote in the upcoming elections, I guarantee you, the 1% will.

This movement has been called a democratic awakening.

Let's not watch it, let's live it!

Brandii Grace, Advocate for the Worker

2011-10-14T06:56:00.000-04:00

I met Brandii Grace this summer in Washington DC. We were invited, along with David Linton, a college professor from New York, by our national union AFT and the AFL-CIO to speak before the National Labor Relations Board and the AFL-CIO about our experiences in organizing our union locals.

Brandii is an accomplished "game designer", she designs and develops video games. She is also a highly respected teacher of this craft.

I know her as a young, energetic unionist who when she met resistance in organizing her school did not back down but instead fought back and now speaks out for others. She has started a blog to help others more effectively assert their rights. I have places a link to the right, "From the Trenches" and I'll let Brandii tell you more....

In the beginning of 2010, I was the leader for a union movement of the faculty at the Los Angeles Film School. Over the course of a month, we did everything necessary to file for a union election. During that same month, I was promoted, threatened, suspended, put on probation, and fired. It was a busy month.

Before this whole thing began, I was actually anti-union. Being raised by my grandmother in a single parent household, we were terribly stressed when she unfairly lost her job due to a flawed union policy. I grew up thinking unions were bad and caused families to struggle the way mine did.

Now I know the truth: unions are not bad, but they do require good leadership. A bad or ineffective leader will create an ineffective union. In part, I have started this blog in the hopes of creating better union leaders.

My experiences have taught me a lot about unions, unionizing, and the government policies intended to protect our right to unionize. While I believe I did the right thing, and would do it all again if necessary, there are lots of things I wish I had known before I started. This blog is about sharing the lessons I've learned and the stories that taught them to me.

The bare necessities

2011-10-11T19:00:00.001-04:00

Recently I cared for a patient who came to the ED in rapid afib (an irregular heartbeat). We started them on a cardizem IV drip to slow the rate. It work but they started to have short pauses in their heartbeat so, after consulting with the doctor, we stopped the drip.
I stayed close to the patient and about 5 minutes later their heart stopped and they passed out.
I called for help and was just about to do my first chest compression when they gasped, came to, and had a heart beat, and a nice rythm at that!

The pause lasted 6-10 seconds, it felt like 6-10 minutes!

It was yet another reminder of what an amazing thing the human body is. The heart basically "rebooted" itself. It was beating irregular, it stopped.......paused.......and started again, this time in a regular rythm.
It's also a reminder of how fragile human life is.
This patient had no heartbeat for 6-10 seconds!
Some people would classify that as deceased. And yet, this patient lives.
I work in a job that reminds me daily to be amazed at life and that we are not guaranteed a certain number of years or a certain number of heartbeats. The only guarantee is that someday our heart will stop.
We seek a balance, to make a difference in the world while at the same time not becoming enslaved to the things of this world.
As the great philosopher Baloo said, we "look for the bare necessity" of life.

Thank you LPNs

2011-10-07T09:26:00.000-04:00

This is my second attempt at writing this blog entry. The first attempt was OK. It was full of newspaper quotes from the past year. But it didn't capture the feelings I am experiencing.
You all already know the facts.

In January, management announced that the 15 LPNs of Backus Hospital would be eliminated by the end of the year. They were promised that management would do everything it could to find them other jobs in the hospital. Since then, some of them have found their own new jobs.

On September 30, the 10 LPNs still at Backus were called into meetings and, one by one, they were walked out.

They were not allowed to return to the floor to say goodbye to their coworkers, there was no retirement tea, they were not even allowed to retrieve their own belongings from their lockers.

After up to 40 years of dedicated service they were, as on newspaper heading stated, "put on the shelf".

Nursing is not a job, it is a way of life. Being a nurse does not end at the door, we carry it with us to the market and the ball field. When someone needs us, we are there. Our patients are not "customers", they are as our children, our siblings, our parents and grandparents.

Some people don't get this.

That is the problem.

Kathy Claussen RN sent an open letter to the New London Day and it really captures what we are feeling.

To my friends and colleagues at Backus Hospital, I'm sorry we didn't get to say goodbye. When I came to work you were gone. I can only imagine how you feel. I feel sad, angry, embarrassed, helpless.

I appreciated working beside you all these years. The dedication, compassion, loyalty, competence and professionalism you exhibited is unsurpassed in my eyes.

I will miss you all. I already do. You all deserve the best in your next endeavors

To all the LPNs of Backus, past and present, God bless your for your dedicated service to the hospital and your patients know that we love you, we respect you, and that no decision can erase what you have done and what you have meant to all of us.

God speed, your are our colleagues and you are in our hearts.

Understanding our Role

2011-10-06T05:03:00.000-04:00

A few years ago I took over the household chore of vacuuming after my wife said her doctor felt she should no longer do it because of some cervical disc issues. I never checked with her doctor about the validity of this claim but I figured fair is fair, she had done it for the first 25 or so years, it was probably my turn.I do have one rule, I won't do it when she's home. The reason is that she micromanages my work and I can never do it well enough. It's not her fault, she has this obsessive-compulsive streak at times.
I used to feel sorry for her about this and to be honest, slightly superior, till I realized that I too can be obsessive-compulsive. (Just not about cleaning). I first recognized it in myself, after therapy and joining a support group, as it pertains to my adult children. They were making choices that I felt were not in their best interest and I could not stop myself from interfering in their lives. I'm getting better but it remains a struggle and always will be. I think it's natural for parents to fall into this, but it's not healthy, for the children or the parent.
In my recovery process I have realized that I have always leaned toward being obsessive-compulsive, often in one area of my life at a time. I have had times when I obsessed over our family budget (whether money was tight or not), running (5 marathons, 1 ultra), school ( up all night before clinicals preparing) and other things.
The past 12 months I have poured myself into this fight for a union at work. It' a fight worth fighting, the outcome will benefit coworkers and patients now and for years to come. I could not have continued day after day if I wasn't the way I am.

I'll share a great prayer that helps me:

God grant me the serenity

to accept the things I cannot change:

courage to change the things I can;

and wisdom to know the difference.

One of the lessons I have learned with my children is that I can lead and teach them by my example, but I cannot choose for them.

For the past 12 months our organizing committee and now or negotiations committee have led us in our effort to gain a voice at work. Our officers and stewards will one day fill that role.The "wisdom to know the difference" tells me that their role is not to "lead", not "carry". It is the role of each and every member to become involved and do what we can.

For those in a leadership role to "carry" the membership would be like me trying to make life choices for my children or my wife trying to micromanage my house cleaning, it just doesn't work.

So, if you notice me bugging you less about coming to negotiations, or becoming otherwise involved, it is not because it has become less important, it is only me trying to do my part and leave your choices in your hands.

This is not me saying I'm tired, or I'm done fighting. Ironically, in the past, whenever I have decided to back off and let others decide for themselves, I experience a renewed vitality and energy. My goal is, and will always be, to fight for a Backus Hospital that puts patients first and respects it's employees.

The question I would like you to ask yourself is this:

What's my goal, what's my role?

Which side are you on?

2011-10-03T05:05:00.000-04:00

If you missed the last contract negotiations you missed a great presentation on our wages proposal to management. We presented it first to our members and then to management. There were great questions from our members and a great opportunity for conversations with your 18 member negotiating committee. I have included a link to the power point proposal at the right.

This Wednesday, Oct 5, from 5:15 - 10, at the Holiday Inn in Norwich, we will meet again. Management has promised a response to our proposal.

That should be interesting.

All are invited and encouraged to join us.

We have spent and continue to spend many hours in thoughtful conversations among the committee and with all members on our proposals and hours at the negotiating table with management.

We do it because we believe in a better Backus Hospital. We are proud to represent all the RNs.

Your committee is looking for help. Without your help, the greatest proposals, the most logical arguments, will not get us the contract we deserve. We know management does not approach these negotiations looking for the most sensible proposal and putting together a contract that does right by the nurses and best serves the patients.

When I see ten experienced, trusted and loyal nurses walked out - in spite of record high census just before the flu season begins - I know we have a management that doesn't get it. It makes me realize that it will not be about putting together reasonable positions and asking politely to have them considered. I know it is about power. I know we must stand together and say in one clear voice that WE will not accept a contract that holds back our families or our ability to provide the best possible care to our patients.

We are at the table to negotiate and we are ready to be reasonable and helpful but we will not be patient forever. We want to bargain but we will not beg.

This is the turning point.

Your committee is ready to lead, but they are nothing without you.

Our strength comes from the unity of our members. When management sees sees us united that will be our turning point. That is when we get the contract our hospital needs, the contract our families need, the contract our community needs.

Many have already come out to negotiations, join them!

I know you are busy, I know you have other obligations, I can appreciate that. Come when you can, come at any time, come for as long or as short as possible. Children and other family members are welcome.

Which side are you on?

Finding purpose In life

2011-09-29T04:36:00.001-04:00

We are here for a reason, a purpose. Our experiences shape and prepare us. Though the years God has placed people into my life, some to guide and teach, some to give support and understanding, some to assist me, some to inspire, some to give me the opportunity to guide, teach, support, give understanding, assist, inspire. He has led me to every point in my life, prepared me by my experiences.
For instance, I became a nurse at age 44. Prior to that I would not have been ready, but the experiences of my life prepared me to be ready at that time. Often, I had no idea why I needed to experience certain things. Many of them are now clear in retrospect.
I worked many jobs prior to nursing, it gave me a better understanding of the backgrounds of many of my patients.
I went through many layoffs. I experienced both the loss of pay and health insurance many times while trying to raise a young family. It shaped my view of the need for social programs like unemployment insurance. It made me believe that a person should not lose their health insurance because they lose a job through no fault of their own. It made me believe that health care should not depend on ability to pay.
It was during one such layoff that I took part in a federal retraining program and became a CNA. It put me back to work, paying taxes again. I understand how hard CNAs and PCTs work and how they are the backbone of the health system and too often under appreciated for it.
I have suffered through the loss of loved ones but that has helped me understand what a patient's family goes through.
I am blessed with 2 loving sons, but they are on their own life paths, with twists and turns. I have been able to help other parents who are watching their own children struggle.
My experiences have prepared me for certain roles at certain stages of my life. They have given me understanding and strength. They have shaped my beliefs.
Though my life experiences and what I was taught in childhood I have come to believe that we should stand together and support each other, that we should share our talents, our gifts, for the good of all. That if a man has two coats he should give one to the man who has none. I do not know what the future will bring, but I know that if I am open to the experiences that God sends my way, if I go through them with His help and the help of those He places in my life, then I will be ready for what comes next, ready to do his will.

Get involved, make us strong!

2011-09-26T04:57:00.003-04:00

Recently I have attended several meetings with management and human resources to act as union representative for member nurses. This is to protect their rights under a 1975 Supreme Court ruling in the case of J. Weingarten, Inc.
These rights have become known as Weingarten Rights and very briefly they state that a union member has the right to representation during an investigatory interview.
There is a much better explanation at www.umass.edu/usa/ weingarten.htm
I urge you to study it.
More recently a couple of these meetings have been scheduled during times I was working, leading one of the involved members to ask if management had my schedule and were trying to make it difficult for me to attend.
While I can't answer the second part of that question, I can guarantee that they have all of our schedules. We are working on these time conflicts and are not without recourse.
It brings up a very important point.
I, nor any other person is the union, WE are the union, almost 450 strong. If one of us in unavailable, another will step in. We are in the beginning phases of training more people to be comfortable as union representatives. Ideally, everyone willing to do so, will be trained, comfortable, and capable. We hope that other members will step up to fill roles that suit them, such as public outreach.
The underlying point is this - our union is strong only to the extent that our members are involved.
We are an organization who's power lies in the members. We will all vote on our contract, bylaws, constitution, and officers.
Our officers will handle the day to day activities, they will lead, but we, the members, will direct.
I know you've heard this before.
Every management says it.
All I can say is, come and see for yourself.
At the latest negotiations we had a discussion with some salary nurses about how we would address their salaries in our wages proposal.
This is how. We will get together as many salary nurses as we can and they will craft a proposal.
Why?
Because they are in the best position to do so. Why should someone who doesn't completely understand their issues make decisions for them?
If it makes sense we can have a standing salary RN committee to deal with their specific concerns and we can have other such groups as the needs arise.
Our strength lies in our numbers and level of involvement.
Management derives it's power from the fact that they sign our paychecks.
We derive our power by the strength of our collective membership. If we do not exercise that collective power then we forfeit it.
Get involved, make us strong!

we got the A team

2011-09-22T00:10:00.000-04:00

Wow!
At negotiations tonight Ole gave our wages power point presentation and he truly, truly rocked!
If there was any doubt that our union, AFT, wasn't a class act, professional organization, is should be now gone.
When I got home I was compelled to send the following letter to Mary MacDonald of AFT in Washington, Sharron Palmer AFT CT president, and Melodie Peters, AFT CT first vice president.
I share it with you.

Mary, Sharron, Melodie,
I have been meaning to write you for awhile and say thank you for the faith you have shown in us and commitment of resources you have sent us.
We realize we got the A team.
Ole Hermanson gave a wages presentation tonight at negotiations that blew management's mind. If they had any doubt that AFT wasn't in a league of our own, it's gone now.
As for Greg Kotecki, I'm glad he's on our side of the table. He goes toe to toe with the best of Jackson Lewis. At the same time he teaches us the nuances of negotiating, be it at the table or hearing room. I myself have successfully represented two members through his teaching.
At the recent AFL-CIO labor council meeting Sharron graciously said we were going to be a great local. We are, and it's because of AFT CT and AFT national.
You gave us great organizers in Ole, Jennifer Benevento, Nickimmy Hayes, Efrain Torres, and Elizabeth Glenn Scott from national, who turned me into a pretty good organizer through her example and instruction.
You sent us Eric Bailey who writes my best quotes and Dan Durant who is helping us reach out to the community and in so doing not only help people but also put a good face on all unions.
Jessica Smith and Ole took care of me in Washington and allowed me to represent our union by telling our story before the labor board. It was truly an honor to do so.
My hope is that the Backus Federation of Nurses lives up to Sharron's prediction and that we become the model of what a local should be. If we do that, we will have started to pay you back for the faith you have shown us.
Again thank you. Ole truly rocked, he truly did.
John Brady
Negotiations Team Member
Backus Federation of Nurses

Ole's presentation will soon be available online at
http://ct.aft.org/backusunited/index.cfm
Being online will be good, but I wish you could have seen it. He really rocked the house!

Learning to Fly!

2011-09-19T04:18:00.006-04:00

In a book published in 1970 by Richard Bach, Jonathan Livingston Seagull is a bird who comes to believe that there is more to life than squabbling for food. He seeks to fly! He seeks to raise flying to a perfect art form and in doing so, to set himself and his fellow gulls free, free of the artificial limitations they have allowed themselves to become subject too. He meets resistance, from the flock and the elders.
"...one day, Jonathan Livingston Seagull, you shall learn that irresponsibility does not pay. Life is the unknown and the unknowable, except that we are put into this world to eat, to stay alive as long we possibly can."
But he persists, he learns How to fly, how to soar! He's set free from his old limitations.

"How much more there is now to living! Instead of our drab slogging forth and back to the fishing boats, there's reason to life! We can lift ourselves out of ignorance, we can find ourselves as creatures of excellence and intelligence and skill. We can be free! We can learn to fly!"
He goes about to teach others in the flock, but they resist.
"Why is it," Jonathan puzzled, "that the hardest thing in the world is to convince a bird that he is free, and that he can prove it for himself if he'd just spend a little time practicing? Why should that be so hard?"
In the end he does reach them and they are set free.
"He spoke of very simple things –that it is right for a gull to fly,that freedom is the very nature of his being, that whatever stands against that freedom must be set aside, be it ritual or superstition or limitation in any form. "Set aside," came a voice from the multitude, "even if it be the Law of the Flock?" "The only true law is that which leads to freedom," Jonathan said. "There is no other."

It is a story of a bird learning to fly but it is much more, it is our story.
For so long we tried to survive. Get through the day. Get through the shift. To dream of more would only lead to disappointment. We established a culture of tolerance and acceptance of the way things were.
But the way things are is not the only way! Look what we have done at Backus Hospital in the past year. A small group believed that things could and must get better! They led us, they showed us, they made us believe! We are at that point, we must decide, do we squabble for food or do we fly!
We are the Backus Federation of Nurses! We fly!
How do we do that?
"The trick Fletcher is that we are trying to overcome our limitations in order, patiently, We don't tackle flying through rock until a little later in the program."
We each start where we are.
Not all of us are ready to be out front, not to worry, we have leaders. We start where we are.
We attend negotiations, we attend meetings, we get involved in our communities, we start to stand up for ourselves. When asked to support those who lead us we are there. In time, each in our own time, we will find our voice, we will learn to fly, we will be free.
This is OUR union.
This is our hospital.
This is our community.
This is our state, our country.
It is time for a new culture, a new way of thinking and acting, a time for involvement, a time for freedom, a time to fly!
This Wednesday is our next negotiations. Join us! Together we are strong!
We will present our proposals on wages this Wednesday.
October 15 we will partner with the Lisbon Volunteer Fire Department in the Lisbon Public Safety Day at Lisbon Landing from 10-2. It is an opportunity to help our community. There will be many fire trucks, Lifestar, a live burn demonstration, and more. Step foreword, help for a few hours, get involved!
I have included a link to the book in case you want to learn to fly.
http://www.amazon.com/Jonathan-Livingston-Seagull-Richard-Bach/dp/0380012863#_

Love never ends

2011-09-15T16:30:00.000-04:00

This has been a very reflective period for me. I was at a family funeral today, the second in a month. That, combined with something that happened at work to a coworker, has made me think about the people who matter to me, my family, friends, and coworkers.
One of the readings today included the following,
Love is patient, love is kind, love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on it's own way, it is not irritable or resentful, it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends.
This reading is often used to express romantic love at weddings but it also applies to another form of love, the love between family, friends and coworkers. The kind of love that says I'm am always here for you, I've got your back, and I'm not going away.
We are as one, in solidarity. You are my brothers and sisters, remember that. We're here for each other.

Remembering 9/11/01

2011-09-10T16:00:00.004-04:00

I remember exactly where I was and what I was doing on certain days of my life.
I remember 11/22/79, Thanksgiving Day, the day my second son was born. I remember going to my parents later in the day with my older son and falling asleep on the living room carpet.
I remember 11/22/63. I was in Miss Barrett's third grade class when they made the announcement that our president had been shot. I remember getting out of school early, walking home and my Aunt Rita, who was watching us because my parents were in California, wondering why we were coming home because she had not heard the news.
I remember 7/20/69. Neil Armstrong stepping onto the moon, the grainy black and white image, "one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind."
I remember 9/11/01.
I remember I had the day off, I was home and completely unable to pull myself away from the TV. I remember calling work to see if I should go in to get ready in case we received victims, not realizing that most wouldn't survive. I remember walking in the evening those next few days, looking up and not seeing any planes in the sky. I remember the heroic first responders, ignoring personal safety, running in while others rushed out.
I remember a few weeks later driving down interstate 95 and seeing American flags on each overpass.
We were united!

What happened?
Today we seem so divided, unable to find middle ground. Washington DC is gridlocked.
I understand the passion of standing up for something you believe in. I spent the last year doing just that. But I also believe with a country as diverse as ours, I, nor anyone else, can have everything exactly the way we want. If we wish to move forward we must maintain and fight for our core beliefs but leave room for compromise.
There is a saying, "lead, follow, or get out of the way." A person unwilling to compromise is in the way.
Our nation's greatness is based on our ability to come together, despite our different beliefs, and work for the good of all.
Perhaps the greatest testimonial we can give the victims and heroes of 9/11 is to remember what makes us great. The terrorist sought to destroy us, they failed. Let's not be so unwilling to work together that we hand them victory.

JFK told us to ask what we could do for our country. Our forefathers did that, the victims and heroes of 9/11 did that, our military today does that.
Let us do that. Let us remember 9/11/01 as the day that brought us together in unity and cooperation for the betterment of all.

Weingarten rights

2011-09-07T20:41:00.003-04:00

Picture this -you get pulled over on the highway, "license and registration please. Do you know why I pulled you over?"
It was recently pointed out to me what that question means. The trooper knows why he stopped you, he just wants you to admit to it or if he gets real lucky, maybe even admit to something else.
Just to be clear, "because of the body in my trunk?" is a bad answer.
Sometimes at work we get into a similar situation. The boss calls us in, maybe someone from Human Resources is there, they say something like "someone saw you take something that was company property."
What do you say?
The answer they are looking for is “yes” maybe they hear “but it was broken and in the trash” maybe they skip over that part.
What should your answer be?
If you belong to a union it should be:

If the discussion in this meeting could in any way lead to my being disciplined or terminated or impact my personal working conditions, I request that my steward, local officer or union representative be present. Without union representation, I choose not to answer any further questions at this time.

These are your rights under a Supreme Court decision called Weingarten.
Recently a nurse got called in to a meeting with her manager and Human Resources. She asked to have a witness present and I volunteered to join her. Before we went in we sat and talked through what might happen and that above all we should stay calm and professional. The meeting went well and when we talked it through with management in a calm and professional way everything turned out to be a misunderstanding.
Could it have gone differently?
You bet!
Had the nurse gone in alone, said the wrong thing, lost her cool, the outcome would be different.
Remember, all the nurses at backus are in a union now.
You have the right to representation.
Stay in contact with your representative (liaison) and if you need someone by your side there are many of us who will be right there.

Labor Day Message

2011-09-05T06:00:00.002-04:00

This labor day is different. This labor day is special. For me its not just a long weekend, no longer just the end of summer, no longer just the beginning of a new school year.
For the nurses of Backus hospital labor day this year has a new meaning.
We started a year ago with an idea, if we stood together we could improve our hospital and our community.
We faced an administration that opposed us and one of the best union busting law firms in the country, and we prevailed.
Now we sit at the negotiation table as equals.
We are the Backus Federation of Nurses.
We are united and strong.
We have a message,
We are here to help.
We will improve our hospital and our community because they are OURS.
We will negotiate a contract that will make Backus the type of hospital where nurses want to work.
We are ready to reach out to our community as we recently did with our food drive.
AFT president Randi Weingarten said in her Labor Day message:
"We will continue our work to forge new bonds—and strengthen long-standing ones—between labor and community. Because only together will we be able to chart a course where America believes and acts as if its best days are ahead of us, not behind us."
My brothers and sisters of the Backus Federation of Nurses, of the other locals of AFT CT, of AFT nation wide, of the AFL-CIO, of the entire labor movement; our best days are ahead of us.
We are limited only by our ability to believe!
Happy Labor Day.

Hurricane Irene

2011-09-01T16:52:00.000-04:00

It is early Tuesday morning as I write this by candlelight. Hurricane Irene hit late Saturday. We lost power that night. They estimate we could be in the dark for a week or more. They'll have a better estimate later today. Yesterday they made progress clearing the roads of trees and downed wires. Most roads are now passable. My town is 99% without power.
We are OK.
Unlike many of my neighbors, no trees down in my yard, only branches. No damage, although we have 8-9 inches of water in the basement.
Work on Monday was very busy! Monday's usually are, this was more so. Many doctor's offices are closed because they have no power. Also, many came in because they lost power for medical equipment like breathing treatments or electric wheel chairs or fear of being isolated.
In nursing we recognize that people regress when ill. For example, a sick 10 year old will act as he did at 6. I see the same regression with the stress of the storm and lack of power. Many of our patients have complex medical-psychological -social problems. Some have limited coping skills. Right now those skills are being taxed. There are shelters with power, food, water and oxygen. But a person with limited coping skills has trouble accessing them. The lack of family or community connections for some is disheartening.
I imagine the this next week will continue to be challenging, both at work and at home. It is important to remember that we are safe, we are well, and most important, we are not alone.
The hurricane also illustrates the importance of our local's community outreach program. The Backus Federation of Nurses is an organization of 450 RNs who already do great work individually with community organizations, sports teams, churches, schools, boy and girl scouts and more. We are working to establish relationships between our federation and community organizations so that when a need arises we can use our unique skills to help.
The middle of a crisis is not the time to build these relationships, now is the time. Our recent food drive with the United Way was a good beginning.

Food drive

2011-08-30T04:03:00.000-04:00

Last week the Backus Federation of Nurses and the United Way held a food drive in Norwich. We collected 1344 pounds of food for the United Way Gemma E Moran Food Center!
The people who worked the drive did a great job. They represented our hospital, our local, our union, wonderfully. They provided a great service to those who need some extra help right now.
I'll share 2 stories that they shared with me.

As people entered the store they were given a card that listed the food items most needed. One of the items was tuna. By the end of the drive there was no tuna left in the store!

One lady who stopped on her way in told us she would like to help but was just one step from needing the food center herself. Our members thanked her and wished her the best. On the way out she dropped a can of soup in our basket. She said she realized no matter how tough things get there are always people less fortunate and wanted to help. That's sacrifice!

There is work to do but there are many of us. I couldn't be there for this drive but it sounds like a very rewarding event.
It is not hard for me to imagine a family on hard times or someone who lost their home in this storm taking some small measure of comfort and sustenance from the food we collected at the Norwich stop and shop under a big Backus Federation of Nurses banner.
Good work team! I really look forward to my chance to be more directly involved in this kind of good work.

Johnny Kelley

2011-08-22T14:02:00.000-04:00

Johnny Kelley went for his final long run on Sunday. I knew of him more than I knew him. He was a running icon. He won the 1957 Boston Marathon, many national championships, and twice ran the Olympic Marathon. I learned of his passing in an article by Amby Burfoot, another running icon, a student of Kelley's in both running and life.
Early in my post high school days I ran a lot of road races. I would see Kelley and the other icons at the races, always encouraging to us middle of the pack runners. Much of what I know about Mr Kelley is from what I read or heard. He was a free thinker, an environmentalist, a running great, a running teacher and advisor. Thoreau and Dylan were said to be among those he admired. It seems that to him running wasn't something he "did", it was more a part of who he was. The running world will miss him. The world will miss him.
About a month ago it was my honor to care for him for a few hours. There wasn't a lot for me to do for him but I did listen, I hope it helped. At the end of my shift I handed him off to Mike. Mike recently ran his first marathon. Mike knew how I felt about Mr Kelley and he felt the same way. It felt good to be able to tell Johnny's family that he was in good hands. Mike even visited Johnny the next day. Mike didn't have to, it's not common practice, it's what Johnny Kelley meant to us.
Just as running wasn't something Johnny "did", nursing isn't something we "do".
I haven't run much in the past 2 years. When I heard of Johnny Kelley's passing there was two things I had to do. I went for a run and I wrote this.
Mr Kelley, it was an honor sir. We are all better because of you.

Gloria

2011-08-20T08:27:00.000-04:00

I have struggled for a week or so on what to write for this blog. At first I thought it was writer's block, the first since starting this blog in early March. Then I realized something, I write the best when I write from the heart. When I do that it is effortless, it flows. It might not always be great in the literary sense, but it is true, it is real.
This past week my heart has been in pain. I have written about it already, but not from my heart. Today I write for my own healing, I ask you to bear with me.
My mother in law, Gloria Perreault Bessenaire, is no longer with us. I believe she is in a better place. I believe she is happy with God. I truly believe this, and I still miss her.
I have known her for 39 years, she was a saint among us. She dedicated herself to the care of others, especially her family. She gave me acceptance into the family she protected, she gave me her daughter, she gave me love. She reminded me so much of my own dad, the way she lived her life. They both passed too young. She made me a better person. I miss her smile, her laugh, I miss her.
As hard as this is on me, it is harder to watch her children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren grieve. It is extremely hard to watch my wife. The tears that soak my shirt when she rests and cries against my chest seem to bleed all the way through to my heart. Having gone through this years ago with my own dad makes her pain, her sibling's pain, all the more real to me.
We will get through this together. The pain will decrease with time, memories will remain. She will live on in us because she has touched us and we are better for it.
For now though, it hurts.
This entry will be rough. I will not ask my editor to edit it. I thank you for giving me the space to heal. I thank you for your love and support.
Do me a favor?
Hug those you love.

Old photos

2011-08-18T16:02:00.001-04:00

We've been looking through old pictures at my house this week, looking for pictures of my mother in law. Old pictures bring back so many memories. Everyone is so young, so skinny. Some of those in the pictures are no longer living. Some who were being married are no longer together, some are, after all these years. Children have grown up and now have children of their own. There are pictures of holidays and vacations. So many memories.
I guess that's why we take photos, to remember people and events. It helps to know where we've been when we're trying to figure out where we're going.
I've been at Backus 17 years. So much has changed. The ED has grown so much. When I arrived we had just expanded to 17 beds, now we have 43+ when you include convenient care. Back then when we saw 100 patients in 24 hours it was a big event, now we regularly see 200. The medical interventions we carry out now would have been science fiction back then. The nursing protocols enable RNs to carry out what doctors did back then.
The number of staff who have come and gone and in some cases returned blows me away. Many working in other departments now started in the ED, others have moved on to other hospitals or other states. I keep up on the lives of friends who have left for such far away places as Hawaii through Facebook.
Oh yes, computers! They have become a part of our work and personal lives, definitely a love/hate relationship. They cause more work but we complain when they go down.
So many memories.
So much change.
One thing that has not changed in all these years is a desire of all Backus employees, regardless of department or position, to give the best possible care to our patients and support to each other.
It is the hallmark of our hospital.

I count you twice

2011-08-14T23:42:00.000-04:00

I'll be honest, sometimes coming from a large family can be difficult. This week we lost my mother in law to cancer.
It hurts when bad things happen to those we love.
Then, at the end of the week, we celebrated my family reunion in California as we did 4 years ago, and 2 years ago in Rhode Island.
We are social animals, it's part of our species,we form bonds. These are the people we share the details of our lives with, the good and the bad. We lean on each other for support. We may disagree amongst ourselves, but we defend against attacks from the outside.
Family comes in another form, we call them friends. Here again, I am truly blessed. Among my family of friends are my coworkers.
When we started meeting with others from throughout the hospital, we started caring about them. We've been through a lot together, and we know there are struggles and victories ahead of us.
As with any family it comes with both good times and bad but most importantly, it brings support. Like any family we don't always agree, but let no one attack us from outside, for we will always stand together as brothers and sisters.
There is an old Irish saying, "when I count my blessings, I count you twice". To my large family of blood relatives and friends, thank you for being there.
I truly count you twice.

You can't make this stuff up

2011-08-11T03:00:00.001-04:00

King Solomon wrote it, Pete Segar made it a song, and in 1965 the Byrds recorded it as a number one hit.
"To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven. A time to weep, and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance."

Let's laugh a bit.

A 33 year old woman comes into the ER complaining of painful hole to the bottom of her foot.
"How long has it been bothering you?"
"2 years"
I look at the bottom of the foot,
There's a wart.

A women is held overnight in the ER because of alcohol intoxication. In the morning she explains what happened.
"The voices in my head told me to drink"
Then she adds, "they sounded familiar, I think they might have been me"

Nurse, "welcome to triage. Could I have your social security number? "
Patient, "047-52-___"
???????????????????????

Nurse, "Sir, what's your level of pain?"
Patient, "You mean now?"
(As opposed to when????????)

Nurse, "on a scale of one to ten, how would you rate your pain?"
Patient, "12"
Nurse, "no, if 0 is no pain and 10 is the worst pain you've ever had in your life, what's your level of pain?"
"12"
Nurse, "no, I mean if 10 is the worst pain you've ever experienced in your life, including right now, what's your level?"
"12"
Nurse, "just so that I understand. Your telling me that the pain you have right now is more than you've ever experienced, and that it's worse than the pain you have now?"
"Yes"

You can't make this stuff up.

There is no cancer in heaven

2011-08-07T21:23:00.000-04:00

When someone we care about is sick, life stands still. The issues that occupy our daily lives seem less important. Even those things we are passionate about are seen in a new light. It's human nature. It's not that the importance of our daily issues has changed, only our perspective.
When the Boston Celtics are in the playoffs I rise and fall with each trip up the court. The last thing I did with my brother in law, Ira, before he died of cancer, was to watch the Celtics in a playoff game, both of us passionate about the outcome.
Seems a little silly now.
The Celtics won the championship a few weeks later and Ira had the best seat, in heaven.

My mother in law, Gloria, is in hospice, it's lymphoma. So typical of her, she is accepting of her situation. When she was diagnosed she told my wife that she would place it in God's hands. In reality, she has lived her life this way.
Life's tragedies remind me of what is important, family, friends, time. Silly as it might have been, watching the Celtics with Ira was the perfect thing to do. We shared our time and our love, for the Celtics and each other.
Maybe in the grand plan our daily passions don't matter, or maybe, they're all that matter.
We love you memere.
There is no cancer in heaven.

Contract negotiations begin

2011-08-04T15:50:00.000-04:00

On August 3, the Registered Nurses of Backus Hospital stood up, we stood together, and we stood proud. We accepted responsibility for the welfare of our patients, our hospital, our families, and our community. We sat at the table with management as equals. Forty eight nurses sat across from Mary Bylone, Theresa Buss, Ellen Crowe, Justin Sleeper, Becky Durham and the management’s attorney from JacksonLewis Tom Gibbons.
We presented and explained our proposed contact. Management will now look it over and we will meet again on August 29 to negotiate.
"Negotiate" is the key word. We have seen what happens in Washington when one side or the other refuses to negotiate. We are committed to making Backus Hospital a place we are proud of. Whenever possible we will work with management. We will negotiate, we will compromise, but we will never abandon our core belief, that RN participation in decisions is critical to good patient care.
The negotiations are off to a good start. There will be disagreements ahead, but as long as both sides focus on what is best for the patients, we will agree on a contact that benefits all.
We had a good turnout of members, but we need more. The strength of our local and our contract will be directly tied to the level of involvement of our membership.
Remember,
YOU ARE THE UNION!

Thank You

2011-08-02T16:00:00.002-04:00

May 11 was a historic day for Backus RNs, we voted to join together and speak with one voice. August 3 will be an equally historic day. The Backus Federation of Nurses will sit with management and negotiate a contract to cover our wages, benefits, and working conditions. I know this contract will lead to a stabilization of our work force and a better hospital for our patients and for us. We have come a long way in the past year, from coffee house meetings to meeting across a table. It seems to me like a good time to reflect and give thanks.

I'd like to say thank you to the Backus security union for leading the way, it took real courage.

Thank you to the organizers, field representatives, and whole staff of AFT CT for the expert advice and to our union leadership at AFT CT for having faith in us.
Thank you to the other AFT locals for the help, encouragement, support, and words of advice. Special thanks to our brothers and sisters in the L+M locals.
Thank you also to the American Federation of Teachers and the AFL-CIO. AFT believed in us enough to send one of their top organizers. When I was in Washington recently I got to see how what happens in our national affiliates effects us and how we in the locals effect them.

A big thank you to all who worked on the organizing campaign and the members of the Bargaining Committee. Your tireless hours of work are commendable, a tribute to the care you feel for your coworkers.
Thank you to all our members. You put your faith in the organizing nurses and the committee members. You honored all of us by doing so.
Thank you to my Higher Power for leading us on this amazing journey and placing the people to guide us along the way.

A special thank you to our families. The greatest gift we can give one another is the gift of time. Thank you to our families for giving us that gift so we could pursue something they know is so important.
It's good to reflect on where we've been. It helps us remember where we were heading when we started. We start another chapter in our local's history this week, we have clear goals and we are united in our effort. That's all we need.

Involved and United we are strong

2011-07-30T11:24:00.000-04:00

Naomi, a friend who works in LDRP, was "turned in" by a coworker because as she came into work, and still in her street clothes, her tattoos were exposed. She was justifiably upset.
In our department we are reminded often, by email and in person, that we are not "allowed" to have our cell phones with us, even as we watch others on theirs.
What is going on here?
I don't get all the psychological reasons but there seems to be a need for management to keep us down and for us to keep each other down, maybe to make ourselves feel better.
August 3rd will be a historic day at Backus Hospital. For the first time in history, Registered Nurses will sit at a negotiations table with management as equals. Every nurse equal with each other and our collective voice equal with management.
Your bargaining committee has been working long and hard to produce a proposed contract. Now we will present it to management for their consideration. Wednesday is your chance to see it presented. We are asking all members possible to attend, Wednesday, August 3, 5:15-10:30 pm, Holiday Inn, Norwich. You can come for as much or as little of the negotiations as you wish or are able. You can arrived and leave at anytime.
Why? You may ask.
We want you to be involved and informed. Also, the more nurses sitting behind the committee, the more strength we will have.
We understand that some will be unable to attend. On Thursday, August 4, we will be in conference room 1 from 2-7pm to answer questions and hear concerns.
August 20 will be a joint Backus Federation of Nurses/United Way food drive at the Norwich Stop and Shop from 9am-2pm, it's a great opportunity to get involved in your union and community.
August 29 will be our second negotiation session.
The Backus Federation of Nurses is YOUR union It will be as strong as YOU make it.
Get involved.
No one person has to do all the work, but we all have a little part we can play to make our union strong. Management will do their best to divide us because that will weaken us.
Always, always, always, we must stand together, involved and united.

Our leaders should be trusted servants

2011-07-27T15:30:00.000-04:00

As I write this it has been a week since my trip to Washington. It went by so quickly that I'm still trying to absorb it all. First, I have a confession, I absolutely loved it! I loved the excitement, the attention, and the respect. I feel a little guilty about it because I hold humility in high regard and I find myself so proud right now. I feel pride personally but also I am proud of our local, our state and national organizations. Second, I am so thankful, both for the opportunity and for the trust of my coworkers. I know that I am a part of small group of nurses other nurses look to for leadership. It is very humbling and it makes me want to work hard so that I deserve your trust. There is a saying “our leaders should be trusted servants”; I hope our committee can embody this as its guiding principal.
All of us have gifts and we are called to share them with others. In the past year I have come to realize some of my gifts. I am grateful for the mentoring and coaching and the trust and opportunity to use them. We all have gifts. They have been given freely to us. We must keep ourselves open to recognizing these gifts and the opportunities to use them for the good of all.

The dawn of a brighter day

2011-07-24T05:02:00.002-04:00

One of the problems with American business today, as I see it, is that too much emphasis is placed on the short term to the detriment of the long term health of an organization. What's the return, the profit, the operating margin, the stock dividend, this quarter, this year? There is all this pressure to please the stockholders and the boards. The problem is that what is good for the short term is often not so good for the long term health of the organization.
We are in the process of building an organization, the Federation of Backus Nurses. I feel certain we need to look long term. Ask yourself, where will this local be in 5, 10, 20, or more years. The decisions we make now will determine that.
For me I always go back to the reason we organized. We wanted a voice, so we could advocate for our patients, for our families, for ourselves and for the hospital, OUR hospital.
We have now gained a voice, at the hospital, in the state, in the country.
We are heard.
With time our voice will grow stronger and we will learn how to use it. Even now, I feel more empowered to speak my mind if I disagree with what a doctor or an administrator says without fear of retribution. I have you all to back me up, I have AFT CT, AFT njational, and the AFL-CIO to back me up. I am no longer "out there alone", none of us are.
Some of the things I know are important to our profession might not happen by the time I retire, but what a legacy to leave the younger nurses if we can hand off to them a strong, united local! A local based on the idea that what's good for all the members is good for the individual.

That my friends is what solidarity is all about.

That is why we did all this hard work.
We already have a culture at Backus of "short term gains" and the "me, me, me". Let us now work towards something better than that. It has started and will continue, our better future is within our grasp. All we have to do is reach for it. All we have to do is show up. That's our part.
Our first bargaining session will be August 3 at 5:30 at the Holiday Inn in Norwich. We will sit across the table from the management team.
Sit with us!
Show that it's a new day at Backus, a brighter day, a better future!

Washington DC

2011-07-20T13:32:00.001-04:00

Monday was an unbelievable day!
I testified in Washington at the National Labor Relations Board in support of proposed changes that would decrease unnecessary delays to a union vote.
I told them that after 17 years at Backus I felt I could no longer take care of my patients or family properly and how, after discussing our concerns with one another, we began organizing with AFT CT. I told them management fought us all the way, delayed the vote, and used that time to create a high pressure anti-union atmosphere. I told how they gave us only vague contact info on bargaining unit nurses, how they cornered us to express their views. I told them I supported the proposed changes so that other nurses would not have to wait for their rights to be recognized.
David Linton, professor at Marymount Manhattan College, also spoke for AFT.
Then I was interviewed by the Washington Times and Union News Service.
We walked over to the national headquarters of the AFL-CIO for a reception. David, myself, and Brandii Grace, a film teacher from California, were introduced. Brandii was fired during an effort by an AFT affiliate but has a strong case and will win.
They asked me to speak. I said how unbelievable this experience had been. A year ago I wasn't even thinking union! I told them how we banded together at Backus, stood strong, and prevailed.I told them I was taught that if a man has two coats he should give one to the man who is without. I agreed with another speaker that the middle class and unions are under attack but that today, in Connecticut, there are 425 new union members, proud affiliates of AFT and the AFL-CIO.
When I finished, they stood to applaud.
I was also taped for an AFT /AFL-CIO video.
I did all this Monday, but in reality, YOU DID ALL THIS! When this all started I knew we could win because I looked around the room and saw nurses who I trusted and respected saying they would stand together.
I may have been the one with the sweaty palms before the NLRB, and the one getting the applause, but it was all of us at Backus, along with AFT and our sister locals across the state, who put me there, without you, I would not have been there.
I knew I had the support of my team back home and that is what got me willing to go but when I got there I met working people from across the country all with the same purpose and all standing together in solidarity. We are a strong group with many individuals ready, willing, and able to step forward when needed. Monday was my turn, but we all have had or will have our turns.
As long as we put the good of our local above our varied individual interests, we will continue to remain strong and united.

Our first meeting

2011-07-17T18:01:00.001-04:00

Monday night we had our first meeting with the management bargaining team.
It lacked some of the excitement of knocking on doors and having conversations with nurses or of turning out the vote and the count after. It was business like, but it is building a foundation for our union.
About 15 members of our bargaining committee sat across the table from 2 members from the management team. They were cordial. We presented proposed ground rules for the negotiations. We discussed them, across the table, and privately in caucus. We negotiated and came to an agreement. Management made a commitment to bargain in good faith, as both sides are required by law. We are happy to accept their commitment and will plan to match it.
We wanted negotiations at the hospital so that nurses could more easily come and see how things are going. Management rejected our proposal. They did agree to open negotiations.
This means, all nurses are welcome to come to all negotiation sessions. We are hoping nurses will come to as many of the sessions as possible. You don't need to stay for the entire session. You can come check it out and listen as long as you can. The bargaining committee believes this is important for two reasons.

First, we want an informed membership. It's important for every nurse to hear first hand where things are at. Second, we want management to see our strength and unity. The greater the number sitting behind us, the stronger we are at the table.

We are calling for a large turnout for negotiations, especially the first, tentatively scheduled for Wednesday, August 3, 5:30 PM at the Holiday Inn in Norwich.
As I said, come for all of it or part of it, but please come. Remember this contract WILL apply to ALL nurses at Backus. This is your union.
It is as strong as you make it.

Letting Go

2011-07-14T05:24:00.000-04:00

Did you ever have one of those nights when you couldn't sleep? I had one last week. I fell asleep just fine, but within an hour I was wide wide awake and unable to fall back to sleep!

Finally, I got up, had something to eat, read the paper, but still; wide awake!

Then I remember what worked one other time.

I tried to stay awake!

So I went back to bed and tried to stay awake, just relaxed and tried NOT to sleep. I quickly fell asleep and slept soundly till morning.

Many things in my life are like this for me. If I try too hard, if I struggle to make something happen, it gets harder. But if I relax and go with the flow; good results!

Use the Force, Luke. Let go, Luke. Luke, trust me. ... The spirit of Obi Wan Kenobi

Star Wars, eastern religions and philosophies, western religions, native cultures, all tell us to let go, to trust in a force greater than ourselves, to trust in other people, and yet...

I want to let go, I want to have that faith. I see the results when I do, but something holds me back. What holds me back is the what ifs.....

What if my family, my patients, my fellow nurses, my friends, make poor decisions, what if they don't take care of themselves? And yet I must trust in other people, I must trust in a Force greater than I can understand, I must have faith, there really is no other choice.

My best writing comes when I let go, when I let ideas flow, when I let my emotions out.

So does my best living.

Responsibility

2011-07-10T05:02:00.001-04:00

I believe that all human beings have a responsibility to treat each other with respect and fairness.
Nurses have a responsibility to do the same for their patients and to advocate for them at the bedside, in the boardroom, at the statehouse and in Washington. We also have a responsibility to our profession, to promote the recruitment, retention, and development of good nurses.
Union nurses share all these responsibilities and also have the responsibility to advocate for the financial wellness of the institution they work in, nurses at other institutions, and members of other unions.
Union nurses are in the position to influence pay, benefits, working conditions and be the voice in the workplace, all critical in the recruitment and retention of good nurses. We are able to influence state and national healthcare decisions, to have a say in the financial wellness of our institutions and healthcare as a whole.
Our leadership will also have the added responsibility to our membership. To make recommendations that keep all the above responsibilities at the forefront. To act as advocates and spokespersons for our members. To be answerable, always, to the members.
For the time being the leadership of the Backus nurses union is our bargaining team. We have been meeting regularly and preparing for negotiations. We have the assistance of our AFT CT staff, but the decisions being made are ours.
Ultimately, the final decisions will be yours, each and every member gets a vote.
Soon we will begin meeting with the management team. I urge you to speak with the bargaining team about any concerns and to attend as many of the negotiation sessions as possible.
We all have responsibilities, let us keep them forefront in our minds.

Steve

2011-07-06T17:00:00.002-04:00

Steve is a nurse who I work with in the ER. We sometimes call him Big Steve because he stands 6 foot 8 inches with broad shoulders and massive arms. One time we all went to a conference. Steve arrived late and stood in a doorway off to the side of the speaker. His body filled the door opening. I could see that he caught the eye of the speaker, who did his best to continue his talk. After a few more minutes the speaker stopped, mid sentence, looked at Steve, and said "You are a MOUNTAIN of a man."
Steve grinned.
Steve's idea of a workout is to go to the gym and lift heavy weights. He does this daily and occasionally competes in Strongman competitions.
His large size is matched by his large heart, gentle nature and soft speech. Before coming to the ER he worked
with psychiatric children. I could see him doing that.
The ladies of the ER love him. They say he's the best hugger.
And he has some great one liners!
We were going through a period of extreme busyness at work and many of us were missing lunch. Because Steve likes to eat last, he was missing the most meals.
So our boss comes to him and reminds him to try to take lunch because she has to account for all the extra time on the books. Steve, towering above her, takes a long, long, pause and then very quietly says, "Sue, do I look like I don't like to eat?"
To say that Steve is a nurse in my department is a huge understatement. He is my good friend. I confide in him daily. Even when I get busy and neglect him, as I did when I got so busy helping form our union, he is there for me when I need him. He is truly a rock in my life, a mountain of a man.

Summertime and the living is easy

2011-07-03T05:00:00.001-04:00

Summertime and the living is easy, so says the old song.
School is out, families head for the beach or the mountain, hopefully we recharge.
Everyday life can be so consuming, so busy, and go by so fast. We need to stop, to step back, to examine the direction we're going in, to rest and renew, to reconnect with people, with nature, with God.

We do a poor job of it in this country. Our holdover Puritan work effort makes us feel guilty if we do.
I confess I am as guilty as anyone else. Especially in the last 9 months I, and many others, have been go, go, go. As if being a spouse, parent, grandparent, child of a parent, and nurse were not enough, we became union organizers too!
Every one of those roles is important, and worthy of our time and energy, but ......

Find some time to kick back. Don't feel guilty about it, it is vital to our well being. All our responsibilities will wait, and if we're rested, we'll handle them better.

Big paws to fill

2011-06-29T17:00:00.001-04:00

Our family dog passed away last week. His name was Dylan and he was 12 1/2. He was a combination black lab and Rottweiler. He was a good boy.
It's difficult.
I tried not to get too attached because he's not our first dog and I know how it hurts when they go. But, I failed.
He was my walking companion, my motivation to get out the door. He was guardian of our house and yard, protecting against all forms of cats and dogs. He loved people, I think he believed himself one. He was best friends to my grandchildren, especially Elijah, who is seven.
He came to our house as a puppy, a refugee when our son couldn't take him to a new apartment, and he moved into our hearts.
He had 12 good, healthy years before he started having problems. He went for his walk, very slowly, on his last day. He died in his home, peacefully, in his sleep.
Logic tells me that he was a dog and that dogs don't live forever but unfortunately logic doesn't play a role in emotions. Love is love and healing will take time.
As nurses we see people every day who are experiencing loss, of health or life. In his last gift to me Dylan reminds me to treat them all with the greatest compassion.
My sister-in-law Marianne said it well, "Dylan has left big paws to fill."

To everything there is a season

2011-06-26T05:00:00.001-04:00

One day this week I went outside at 9 pm and it was so light out that I could see across the yard.
I know, I know ...
I've experienced that every June of my life, but it still amazes me!
To think, the reason we have the seasons and a climate that sustains human life is because the earth revolves on an axis that is off kilter with the sun.
So often I search for order to my life, feeling that if only order existed, my life would be peaceful. But if perfect order existed, then the earth wouldn't be tilted, and life wouldn't exist at all.
Often in nursing, we wish for order. If the pharmacy would get the meds to us on time, if the doctors would agree with each other and especially with me, if the patients would be compliant; life would be good.
But order in nursing is a rare and fleeting thing. Situations and patients change from moment to moment, requiring constant reassessment and adjustment of plans. But that is what makes it interesting, that is what hooks us to nursing, what gives us the love/hate relationship we have to our profession.
We must also understand that sometimes we need a boring day, sometimes we need some downtime, because we cannot survive excitement and change all the time, any more than the earth could survive an endless summer.
So I guess the moral is to seek balance but to realize that balance and perfect order are not the same thing.
To everything thing there is a season.

A tribute to Rosie

2011-06-23T21:36:00.000-04:00

All the day long,
Whether rain or shine
She’s part of the assembly line.
She’s making history,
Working for victory
Rosie the Riveter
During our union organizing campaign we used the classic poster of Rosie the Riveter, dressed as a nurse, to celebrate Nurses Week. I heard both directly and indirectly that some in management disapproved of that image. I even heard some of them felt she stands for the "uneducated and dirty"!
First of all, we do not need nor do we seek management's approval!
Second, Rosie is an American icon, representing all of the women who entered the workforce during WWII!!
They, along with the men who could not serve overseas for one reason or another, rebuilt our army, navy, and air force and were critical in the war effort! They opened the door to the workplace for women, they improved racial harmony by working side by side with people of all colors, they furthered the women's movement by working with men as equals, and they often did so without equal pay.
Were they uneducated? NO! Only the uneducated would say so.
Did they get dirty? You bet they did, and sweaty too! But my God, it was honest sweat!

There is nothing more honorable than working and contributing to society with one's own hands and muscle and brain! Rosie the Riveter represents that.

There is nothing more dishonorable than getting rich off someone else's sweat and effort and heartache.

Unions, and the middle class, are under attack in this country, blamed for all kinds of economic evils. But Wall street, not Main street, is at the heart of the problem. Greed is the vice. Becoming rich off another's hard work is the method.
No society without a healthy middle class survives.
We needed Rosie in the 1940s, without her we would have lost the war. We need her now also.

Our common welfare should come first; personal progress for the greatest number depends upon unity. (Tradition 1)

2011-06-18T18:52:00.000-04:00

Last night I went to a Michael Buble concert with my wife. She loved it. Don't get me wrong, he's a great singer and he put on a terrific show but let's be honest, the majority of the men in the audience were there because some lady wanted to go.
Earlier this year I brought my 7 year old grandson to the Justin Biber movie.
We do these things for those we love.
I've covered shifts for coworkers so they could attend events that were important to them, I've stayed late to help someone catch up or because the next shift would be short, I've gone in early for the same reason. We all have. We do things for those we care about, we set aside our own needs because we care.
The bargaining committee has started to meet. We are looking at the surveys and discussing each issue. There are over 400 nurses who will be covered by our contract. We know from time to time we will disagree about the relative importance of each issue or the best way to resolve things. There will be arguments.
This is what I believe -it is our diversity of opinion and our ability to discuss and even argue, that makes us strong. You do not have to agree to have a voice.
We all grew up in families or knew of families where siblings fought like cats and dogs. Invariably the families who fought the most were the ones who would defend each other the most vigorously if a threat came from outside their family.
So, our members will discuss and at times disagree and even argue amongst ourselves, but it will make us stronger. That is how it will be in our family.

But there is no doubt in my mind,

After we discuss, we will set aside our differences, we will come to consensus, and we will stand together, united and strong!

Answer the call

2011-06-15T08:00:00.000-04:00

What is a "calling?"
We often hear this term for a call to religious life but there are different callings and I think we all have them. When an ambulance occasionally rolls past my house my dog will howl. He starts low and quiet, deep in his throat, mouth closed, as he hears it in the distance. By the time it passes by he has to let go, head back, mouth open, full voice. It's almost like he tries not to but he can't help himself. I imagine it comes from deep inside him, from a time gone by when his ancestors ran in packs, he tries to resist but in the end he must answer the call of the wild.
People are like that also. We hear our callings. We may resist, but when we do we feel the conflict inside.
Sometimes, like today, a thought will enter my head. It starts small and I try to put it aside and fall back to sleep. Sometimes that works, but most of the time it just gets stronger and I know that unless I get up and write it down I will not sleep. So I start to write and the words just flow. Not that it will be a great piece of literature, any more than my dog's howl will be an opera. That's not the purpose, and I think that's the point, a calling, through it often does serve a purpose, doesn't need to.
Have you ever been in an activity and had time slow down? Had hours pass by in the blink of an eye? Have you ever had the feeling that you don't need to think of the next step, that your mind is a few steps ahead of you and everything flows, effortlessly?
Watch a great athlete when they're "in the zone", no one can stop them. At that moment they are doing exactly what they were meant to be doing, at least at that moment in time, they are answering their calling. It may or may not serve some greater purpose, that is not the reason behind it. It is simply that person answering their call.
We all have calls, many of them. Answering it gives us fulfillment, what Maslow called self actualization. Writers feel it, artists feel it, athletes feel it, we all do. At times it can border on compulsion. Have you ever been working on a hobby and lost track of time? Have you been so involved at work your mind and hands work in synchronization without effort? Have you tried to get away from a sport, maybe to rest an injury, and felt uneasy and just need to return? I know nurses who left the bedside, because they were burnt out, only to return, because "I had to." I know activists and organizers who worked untold hours for their cause, because "they had to."
When we answer our call logic is not important. It's a feeling thing, not a thinking thing.
My friend Jim is answering a different kind of call. He is going to Afghanistan. Until about a year ago, he worked in our ER. He joined the navy and will go in August to a war zone. He is not a soldier, he is a nurse. He goes to save lives but to do so he will need to put his own life at risk. I do not fully understand his motivation, I don't think I'm supposed to. I do know what that urge feels like, that pull, and I respect him for having the courage to answer his personal call and the call of our nation. There are so many like Jim, men and women who are serving or have served, God bless you all, and please, stay safe.

United we are strong

2011-06-11T11:39:00.000-04:00

This morning I was stopped by my good friend Tom. He complimented me on my blog post about my grandfather. He has given me several compliments on my posts and I respect him greatly both as a person and as a journalist. He also pointed out a mistake. In one post I had referenced George Jefferson when I ment Fred Sanford. I have corrected that and thank you Tom, for pointing that out but also for being the kind of man I wish to be, a true gentleman.
I have an woderful editor of this blog in case you were wondering. Ole is not just my editor, he is my friend. Like Tom, a true gentleman.
Many have told me that they have enjoyed reading, that a particular entry made them laugh or cry. I am extremely grateful both for the compliments and that I have been able to touch and hopefully, move people. I would be remiss if I didn't thank God for this opportunity.
In going back to correct my error, I was rereading some of my posts. I was amazed at the level of confidence in my words in the early posts. Looking back I realize now that my speaking about our eventual success was far from certain when I wrote it.
Where did that confidence come from? I am not that person!
I believe that it came from you.
Each of us added to the other's strength and made us all stronger. Truly our strength is greater than the sum of our individual strengths, it is multiplied!
I am honored to be a part of this, honored and a better person to know you all and to call you my brothers and sisters.
Together we can accomplish great things.
It's been a heck of a journey so far, I look forward to the next steps.

Maybe tomorrow will be different

2011-06-06T21:25:00.002-04:00

(written last Thursday)

Today was another busy one in the ED. I won't go into details but one of my patients had to be flown to Hartford and another had to go to the OR for emergency surgery.
We have a 33 bed main ED and what I like to call "pseudo beds". The pseudo beds have names like 6a, 8a, hall 3, hall 10, etc. They are every nook and crannie of the ED that a stretcher will fit into. They were all in use today. That means that at no time did I have less than 5 patients. Every other nurse was in the same predicament, so expecting help was unreasonable.
Now, 5 patients might not seem overwhelming but you have to remember that they arrive with symptoms, not a diagnosis. They need IV lines, blood draws, EKGs, X Rays, etc. On days like this the doctors are backed up with work so we need to use our clinical judgment to initiate protocols and order tests and meds we deem appropriate.
That autonomy is one of the things that makes the practice of ED nursing so rewarding, but it also makes it tiring.
At the end of a day like this one I'm both exhausted and satisfied, in that I know I made a difference.

A day like today is also not highly unusual, which is also both tiring and satisfying.

All the same, I hope tomorrow is easier.
(ps Friday was not better)

They're eating snakes!

2011-06-02T13:38:00.000-04:00

Triage has to be one of the funniest places in the world. I know, how can a place where people come to when they or a family member is sick or injured be funny, but it is. Maybe it's just that twisted ER sense of humor.
First of all, look at the word "triage". It's French for "to sort". In a profession dominated by Latin root words, it's French! It's mispronounced often enough that we call the triage nurse the "tree hag" nurse. Working in triage is also called being sent to the box, short for penalty box, because after a shift of listening to 50 people explain to you why they're the sickest person alive, you realize that you must have offended the charge nurse in some way.
In our triage, people fill out a green slip of paper with their name, the time, and what is the reason for their visit. These are precious. One of my favorites is "sick". (Thanks for narrowing that down for us). Others include, "my tutu hurts", "I want a pregnancy test", "my doctor said to come", "blank stuck in my blank", and "my doctor won't give me pain meds", just to name a few.
I was not born with the ability to spell. (Spellcheck has been good to me) I had a nursing instructor who put it this way. "John, you're going to be a great nurse but if you don't learn how to spell no one will know it. " We had a doctor, Anna, who had great laughs at my expense. She used to say she enjoyed reading my charts because she could read my hand writing and if she sounded out what I wrote she could figure out what I meant, and it entertained her. She's moved to Florida but I think she stayed around a little longer just to enjoy the laughs. I remember telling one coworker that I spelled phonetically and she said "no you don't", to which I replied, "yes I do, it's just that I also mispronounce my words". She thought for a moment and replied, "your right."
What God did not give me in spelling ability He made up with in the ability to laugh at myself.
Anyway, one day I had triaged a woman with abdominal pain. We were busy so I sent her to the waiting room. Shortly after I observed her eating. Wanting to update the triage note but not being sure how to spell Doritos, I wrote "patient eating snacks in waiting room", however, true to form, I misspelled and it came out,
"Patient eating SNAKES in waiting room".
As luck would have it, Dr Anna ended up with the chart. She came in chuckling, and said, "I think we know why you're having abdominal pain".

I think Grandpa would be proud

2011-05-29T13:08:00.000-04:00

When I was growing up we visited my grandparents most weekends. We spent summer evenings playing in their yard with our cousins. In Grandma and Grandpa's living room was a tall piano. I never saw anyone play it but on top of it was a line of wooden hammers. I later learned these were Grandpa’s gavels and that Grandpa, James J Brady, received one for each session of the Rhode Island State Senate that he presided over as President Pro Tem. He had done what many Irish Americans had done, served in politics. The early Irish Americans saw politics as a way to improve the lives of their families and their communities. On several occasions he acted as the Governor in the absence of the Governor and Lieutenant Governor. His daughters became teachers and all his son's enlisted and served in the armed forces in World War II. My own father, John J Brady, left college and enlisted in the US Marines. He was wounded during an amphibious landing on a beach in the south Pacific when he was hit by a flamethrower. Only the valor of his buddies pulling him to safety saved him. His burns kept him in the hospital in San Diego for a year, he received Last Rites more than once. He survived with multiple skin grafts. Some time after meeting my wife she confided that the first time she met him she was shocked by the scars on his face, I had never noticed. He went on to get his degree, marry, and raise 6 children. He died of a heart attack at age 60, too young, and yet God had given him 40 extra years and he never spent another day in the hospital. He never entered politics but always felt a duty to vote in every election. He taught me that every person has dignity, whatever his race, religion, or position. He taught me to never seek out a fight but to never run from one either. I miss him every day.
What we have done in forming a union is something I believe my grandparents, my father, and my uncles would be proud of. I know my mother and my aunts are. We have stood together, tall and proud, we have stood against adversity, fighting for what lives in the deepest place in our hearts. We have stood up although we feared it might cost us our jobs as we struggled against one of the best union busting firms in the country, Jackson Lewis. We had no choice, we had to, we were compelled to, because of something deep inside us.

This is my story, but I am sure each of us has a similar story, about those who influenced us.

Now it is time to get to work again, to work together with management, but I could not look forward without taking a moment to look back and recognize where we came from and acknowledge those who made us who we are.

I think they would be proud.

Deep Breath

2011-05-25T04:00:00.003-04:00

The first responder comes upon an MVA. She calls 911 and stays with the driver until the ambulance arrives.
Deep breath.
The ambulance crew stabilizes the patient and transports to the hospital.
Deep breath.
The ED gets X-rays, CT, labs, gives blood, and transports to the OR.
Deep breath.
The OR performs initial lifesaving surgery and hands off to critical care.
Deep breath.
The initial steps of survival and eventual recovery.

Months have passed since our first meetings with organizers and fellow nurses in coffee shops. Many hours in meetings, visiting houses, talking with nurses, planning and making decisions. It wasn’t easy, there were many episodes of personal attacks, being called traitors, bullies, being accused of neglecting patients, being told our coworkers had complained. We have withstood captive audience meetings, as a group and when managers cornered us one on one.
We stood strong because we stood together, and we prevailed. We should be proud of what we have accomplished, we have done what few people ever get the chance to do, we have built a union.
Deep breath.
Now we go to the next step, there is still work to do. The patient is stabilized and now recovery can begin.
We are reaching out to ALL RNs. Every nurse has an equal voice, regardless of their feelings prior to the vote, regardless of the level of their involvement up to this point. We are forming a bargaining committee to lead us and we must all stay involved. There is a role for everyone.
Like the links in the Chain of Survival, our union will only be as strong as our weakest link, our least involved member.
Join us on this journey. If you have been waiting, consider this your invitation. We both want and need you. We begin this Friday at our first meeting/victory party. Hope to see you there.
Deep breath.