Thursday, March 25, 1999
Nurses group says hospital refused ideas of task force
BY TIM BONFIELD
The Cincinnati Enquirer
The Ohio Nurses Association said it filed a complaint about unsafe staffing levels at University Hospital in part because upper-level managers refused to carry out recommendations from an internal task force formed to deal with nursing problems at the hospital.
On Tuesday, the ONA — a trade group for nurses that also serves as a bargaining unit at University Hospital — announced that it had filed complaints about “dangerously low staffing levels” with the Ohio Board of Nursing, the Ohio Department of Health and the federal Health Care Financing Administration, which runs Medicare.
ONA representative Jean Scholz, on Wednesday, refused the Enquirer's request for copies of the complaints. However, she did discuss three allegations:
• Managers have not budgeted for nursing positions called for by a task force on mandated overtime and other internal work groups, and have not carried out other recommendations related to working conditions.
• Patient volume at the emergency department has grown by 1,000 patients visits a month in the past two years, but the hospital has not expanded staff.
• The emergency department has been so overwhelmed that some patients have waited as long as an hour to see a “triage” nurse, who is supposed to check patients immediately to determine whether their health problem is critical.
Karen Bankston, vice president of patient care services at University Hospital, questioned all three allegations.
The hospital has carried out most of the recommendations of the internal task force, which was formed after nursing contract talks in 1996, Ms. Bankston said. In addition, that task force made no specific recommendations about staffing, she said.
“We have been hiring constantly for the last three years,” Ms. Bankston said. “In fact, our local labor market is so tight, we've gone as far as California to recruit nurses. We're offering them moving packages as well as sign-on bonuses.”
Even though hiring is hard, the nursing vacancy rate at University Hospital has been shrinking. In 1997, the vacancy rate ran as high as 12 percent.
In early 1998, it was 9.5 percent. Now, it's 7.4 percent — as good as or better than the community average, Ms. Bankston said.
As for staffing levels in the emergency department, the hospital has hired more staff because it expected to see more patients after the late-1997 closing of Jewish Hospital on Burnet Avenue.
“They all weren't necessarily nurses, but we have hired more staff,” Ms. Bankston said.
She acknowledges that the hiring has not fully kept up with demand — but not because the hospital is deliberately keeping staff low, she said.
“We have the budget for the jobs. There aren't people out there to come in and fill the jobs,” she said.
As for the triage complaint, Ms. Bankston said that's a particularly serious concern that has never been reported before.
“If that has occurred, all I can say (to the ONA) is please provide us with the dates and times so we can investigate,” she said.
Ms. Scholz said she did not have information about when triage care was delayed. She also could not say whether any patients suffered any kind of harm from emergency room back-ups.
Feds flunk light-rail plan
Clinton cancels Cincinnati visit
Clinton's address on airstrikes
Former residents react to bombing
House vote lends moral support
Farmer Gore's adventures in the heartland
Police: Car dragged officer before shooting
I-71 in Warren will be bottleneck
Wide-vehicle drivers face mandatory court appearance
School defended for suspending 6th grade in pot case
On the prom dress prowl
Tips for picking out prom dresses
Tristate's political parochialism stifles progress, planner says
UC cancer center's new chief thinks big
Carlisle's top cop charged with DUI
Fire kills Clermont Co. leader
First trip to state makes Madeira 'a little crazy'
Nurses group says hospital refused ideas of task force
Officer convicted of animal cruelty
Pops' swing sizzles in Ellington tribute
Premieres big in Ensemble's plans
Union leaders like Taft's remarks on law, labor role
Draud hits, gets hit like a candidate
Thrill writer scares himself
Why drag out adoption fight sure to be lost?
Birds clutter skies
Cold Spring chief fired 2nd time
Former reporters summoned to court
Franklin pursues vets' home
Grants to help kids read
Lakota has 2 redistricting meetings
Mason needs ideas on schools
More at-risk kids stay at home
Morrow man escapes from rehab center
Ohio lawmakers look at pay raise
Old Ky. home makes its mark
Party endorses Butler Co. judge
TRISTATE DIGEST
