Despite It All

Chapter 39

Day +23

Esteemed Colleagues:

As you are all aware, The Nursing Union has used its influence to manipulate our largest subset of employees—our nurses—into voting for a strike. Armed and ready, The Union was quick to pull the trigger, and they have called upon their minions to strike against the very institution that provides for their families, loved ones, and themselves.

Do not misunderstand—this strike is not just against the institution, it is a strike against all it represents and all who represent it with pride. This is a strike against our physicians who work tirelessly to save lives around the clock. This is a strike against our respiratory therapists, physical therapists, occupational therapists, speech pathologists, radiologists, nursing assistants, environmental service workers, food service workers, and everyone else who gives all of themselves to this organization.

This decision impacts all of you, as it will mean you will need to spend more time here and away from your families. If you had a scheduled vacation in the next two weeks, I am sorry to say your approved time-off has been canceled, as the organization cannot afford to have anything less than all hands on deck during this turbulent time. The fact that this arrangement was made so close to Thanksgiving is not lost on us, and contributes to the malevolence of this decision. Now, those of you who may have had plans to spend time with family—some of whom may be sick or aging—will now be forced to give up that special time to carry the burden of this decision made by the nurses. The whims of the nurses are extremely impactful, and it brings me great sadness to know that a group of individuals tasked with being 'compassionate' could do this not only to their colleagues, but to their patients.

We are extremely disappointed in this decision, but understand the need to mobilize in an effort to protect the best interest of our patients. As we have stated many times, the nurses will be locked out of the hospital for five days, a necessary term in order for us to find a large enough group of available and skilled agency nurses to rise to the occasion.

Unfortunately, the size of our prestigious institution makes it a very challenging task to find enough nurses to care for our vulnerable patient population. As such, we have decided to immediately begin the process of discharging as many patients as possible and canceling upcoming scheduled surgeries in an attempt to decrease the hospital census.

We are also extremely saddened to say that we will need to start transferring patients to neighboring hospitals—especially from our pediatric hospital. This is a more specialized set of care and we have had trouble finding enough pediatric nurses. As such, we have begun transferring vulnerable NICU babies—all of whom have never seen the world outside of our small oasis—to outside hospitals, and patients from our PICU will be transferred on a case-by-case basis, the sickest ones requiring stable care at neighboring institutions.

This decision was not made lightly, and I sincerely hope that our organization can recover from a betrayal as deep as this. But more than that, I hope our community can recover from this harsh decision.

Of course, I am hopeful that we can come to an agreement in the days to come, because the alternative is just too unbearable.

Respectfully,

Janet M. Smithers, MSN, RN, MBA

Chief Nursing Officer

***

Charged tension permeates the air, thick and electric. Palpable uncertainty prefaces every action, every exchange. Stressed, frustrated physicians purposefully exclude nursing from rounds, conversations, and decision-making. Pages are ignored and phone calls are cut short, disrupting nursing care.