Latest news with #PASNAP
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Nurses at Butler Memorial Hospital ratify contract less than a week after authorizing strike
Less than a week after authorizing a strike, nurses at Butler Memorial Hospital ratified a new union contract on Monday night. Five hundred nurses voted to ratify the 3-year contract, with 80% voting yes. Prior coverage: Butler Memorial Hospital nurses picketing for safer conditions in workplace 'We knew when we came to the bargaining table that we needed, for the sake of our patient community, to do everything we could to retain our experienced nurses with meaningful protections from workplace violence and a contract that respects the expertise we bring to the bedside and the essential role we play in patient care,' said longtime ICU nurse Tammy May, RN, president of Pennsylvania Independent Nurses, the PASNAP Local at Butler. The Pennsylvania Independent Nurses Association said the contract includes critical measures to increase the safety of staff, improved staffing, enhanced scheduling practices, competitive wages and benefit packages and the protection of nurses' pensions. >>>11 Investigates Code Blue: Violence in Healthcare The approval of the contract comes on the final day of National Nurses Week. Download the FREE WPXI News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Channel 11 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch WPXI NOW
Yahoo
24-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Butler Memorial Hospital nurses picketing Monday for safer conditions in workplace
Nurses at Butler Memorial Hospital will hold an informational picket on Monday as they call for safer working conditions. The nurses union, the Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses & Allied Professionals, said Independence Health System is 'failing to respect and protect their front line.' Nurses are asking management to put additional safety measures in place to protect workers. 'Safety isn't negotiable,' says Emergency Department nurse Cara Buckley RN. 'It isn't an option or a bargaining chip. Nursing is a team sport. If you hurt one of us, you hurt all of us and we stand united for each other and our patients in making Butler Memorial Hospital a safer place to work and to heal.' This is one of the issues being addressed as nearly 500 nurses negotiate for a new contract for the first time since Excela Health and Butler Health System merged. 'We care for our patients when they're at their most vulnerable, we worry about their safety – I shouldn't have to worry about mine,' says Butler ICU nurse Shannon Herrington, RN, vice president of Pennsylvania Independent Nurses. 'The hospital has proved in the past to be reactive, not proactive. I want them to be proactive about the safety of everyone at the hospital, patients and healthcare workers alike.' The rally is taking place on East Brady Street outside the hospital with elected officials expecting to join at noon. Independence Health System sent Channel 11 the following statement in response to the picketing: 'Independence Health System and the PASNAP union of registered nurses at Butler Memorial Hospital are negotiating the PASNAP union contract. We've listened closely to members' concerns, especially regarding a priority, mutual challenge - workplace safety. 'The safety and security of our patients, staff and visitors are our highest priorities. We are deeply committed to maintaining an environment where everyone feels safe and valued and welcome input from PASNAP and all employees. While we do not disclose specific details about our advanced security protocols, we continuously monitor, review, and enhance our security measures, as well as foster a culture of preparedness and collaboration with our staff, on-site security, and local authorities. Our goal is that all our facilities remain secure and welcoming places for everyone who walks through our doors. 'Like so many hospitals throughout the country, BMH has been forced to grapple with safety and financial challenges in the post-Covid era and we have asked PASNAP to partner with us on these priorities as we write the next chapter in our turn-around story. 'A PASNAP representative has informed us that they intend to engage in informational picketing outside of BMH today, Monday, March 24. This demonstration is not a strike and will not disrupt employees, operations, or patient care. We respect our nurses' right to voice their concerns, and we remain committed to ongoing dialogue to ensure the best outcomes for our employees, patients, and community. 'We are working cooperatively and respectfully to find solutions to our shared problems are committed to reaching a fair and equitable agreement with PASNAP. To suggest otherwise simply is not the case. We and look forward to continued discussions.' Download the FREE WPXI News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Channel 11 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch WPXI NOW
Yahoo
05-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Advocates push to prevent healthcare workplace violence after UPMC Memorial shooting
HARRISBURG, Pa. (WHTM) – Right now, in Pennsylvania, there are no mandatory health care workplace violence provisions. Legislation introduced again this session seeks to change that. The Health Care Workplace Violence Prevention Act has been in the works for multiple sessions. Rep. Leanne Krueger says it failed in committee in the past but was introduced earlier this session. Memorial grows for West York Borough officer killed at UPMC Memorial Hospital 'The goal of this legislation is to create policies and procedures in health care settings where the employees, the frontline health care workers, really have a seat at the table in developing the workplace safety procedures,' Rep. Krueger says. 'We want the frontline health care workers to be able to sit down with their managers and to develop policies and procedures.' The legislation would require a risk assessment. 'They would need to meet quarterly to review all cases of workplace violence,' Krueger says. 'They would be required to offer post-incident care, including acute care and mental health services for employees.' The legislation states, 'Sixty-six percent of members of the Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals (PASNAP) responding to a 2024 internal survey said they have personally experienced violence in their workplace.' PASNAP President Maureen May, RN, says the legislation is needed. 'We're the frontline, so the frontline needs to be protected,' May says. 'We're there to take care of the patients and we also take care of the family and it's very difficult to experience workplace violence and continue on your day as if nothing happened.' May says the shooting at UPMC Memorial Hospital on February 22 should have never happened. 'There was a lack of screening,' May says. 'How did somebody get in there with a gun? How does how does that happen? It starts from the point of entry.' On the same day of the shooting, an OSHA complaint was filed against UPMC Memorial Hospital. OSHA says it's an open and ongoing investigation, which can take six months to conduct and release findings from. In a Facebook post, Physician Assistant Lester Mendoza says quote, 'A tragedy unfolded in my ICU. Lives were lost, and many more were shattered. Members of my ICU team were zip tied and had to face the nightmare of potentially their last breath on earth as they had to stare back, defenseless, at the barrel of a deadly weapon. And while people will look for someone to blame, the reality is this: the system is failing all of us. Healthcare is broken.' Mendoza says he was there when would be gunman Diogenes Archangel-Ortiz got the news that his family member was gone. Mendoza says he did not see a monster in Archangel-Ortiz at that time, 'But grief, exhaustion, isolation, and a lack of mental health and social support services create cracks that people fall through.' Rep. Krueger says Health Care Workplace Violence Prevention Act was written with nurses in the room. 'These stories are not unique to York and we really need to make sure that we're putting policies and procedures in place to keep these health care heroes safe,' Rep. Krueger says. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
