T-Shirt and Union Buttons
Kaleida’s previous attempt to deny our right to wear our union shirts and buttons has been abandoned. Our Rank and File members were loud and clear and our voices were heard. Kaleida has backed off the attempt to change the dress code which would limit our union wear. Congratulations!
Retention Proposal – Kaleida Delaying
On January 14th, 2022 CWA 1168 proposed a staff retention package to Kaleida administration. Since then, Kaleida has avoided discussing the proposal. On February 8th, and February 22nd, CWA forced discussion at the bi-weekly oversight meeting. Again, administration’s response was “discuss later.”
Conditions are appalling for members and OUR patients and it has been noticed by the medical community. The Union has even been made aware of travel nurses leaving an assignment mid-shift, refusing to return to work, and travel agencies refusing to work with Kaleida. A recent traveler at BGH posted on social media (on a private travel-nursing page) and listed 15 reasons to “avoid Buffalo General.”
Facility: Buffalo General Medical Center
Location: Buffalo, New York
Unit: Med/Surg/Tele/Covid
“Avoid Not Worth It!”
- 7:1 ratios (nights)
- 8/9:1 ratios (days)
- 30 bed unit (total care or 1 tech)
- No unit manager, no charge
- No support staff, no phlebotomy, No monitor techs, no unit clerks
- 1 rapid nurse for the entire hospital, No respiratory on rapid (that I saw).
- On the tele floor no monitors techs with 7 / 8 :1 assignment with patients on cardiac drips and you have to monitor their tele on your own.
- Nurses do accu-checks
- Your shifts are planned out before you arrive and received on orientation day 1 (general hospital orientation)
- Your shifts are set by a central staffing office not your “unit manager”
- Always switching up your shift at the last minute.
- All patients must get daily 4am labs
- Block scheduling is done 8 shifts on, 6 shifts off (YES 8 days in a row)
- ER TOO OVERWHELMED TO CALL REPORT! Patients just show up with a paper.
- Nurses have to do their own tele-tracking for direct admits and no report is called a paper may be faxed.
These reasons are only a handful of what we experience on a daily basis. We have had enough and ultimately OUR patients deserve far better. It’s time for change; it’s time for administration to institute actual improvements at the bedside. To start, it is time for Kaleida administration to discuss our retention proposal. Over the next few months our rank and file members will be encouraging our administration to make the additional changes necessary for a better work environment, a better work day, and the patient care WE want to deliver.
