Nurses: start spreading the word

By DEBORAH A. MILES
For the past decade, PEF’s statewide nurses committee has been steadily climbing the legislative mountain in Albany, trying to get laws passed to end mandatory overtime and create safe staffing levels.

They have worked hard, year-in and year-out, knocking on the doors of state legislators, explaining the real life conditions in New York’s hospitals and how mandatory overtime is jeopardizing quality patient care and turning people away from the nursing profession.

Each year, the campaign has grown stronger and larger. But the committee is hoping 2007 will be the pivotal year when New York government moves forward with similar laws that several other states have already enacted.

“To reach the top this year and have the Mandatory Overtime Bill passed by the Legislature and signed into law by Gov. Eliot Spitzer, we need more nurses involved in the movement,” said Dee Dodson, committee chair and Region 12 coordinator.

“PEF has 9,000 members working in nursing title positions. The committee wants to get the message to them that their brothers and sisters need their support. We have to stick together to accomplish our goals,” Dodson said.

Committee member and Region 11 Coordinator Jemma Marie-Hanson referred to mobilizing more nurses and getting the bills passed as a “daunting task.”

“We need nurses in every facility, on every floor, every ward to help spread the word,” Hanson said.

Give one day — May 22
“Nursing is a profession of givers. Nurses continually give to their community, to their clients and families. It’s time for them to spend one day to help improve the quality of life for fellow nurses,” Hanson said. “Now is the time and this is the year for all nurses to give to their own profession.”

Hanson was referring to Nurses’ Lobby Day, Tuesday, May 22. Last year, PEF teamed with other unions to show lawmakers that labor was united.

“We appreciate the nurses who stepped up to the plate last year, but in order for the legislators to be truly responsive, we need more voices on the steps of the Capitol,” Dodson said.

“This year, we need a stronger force to reach our goals,” Hanson added.

Union begins with you
“The committee is devoted to reaching more nurses on a grass-roots level,” said Deborah Egel, committee member and nurse at an alcohol and drug treatment center in New York City.

“The union begins with you,” Egel said.

“Nurses have competing interests with child care and elder care and find it difficult to take time off to join a rally.

“It is imperative nurses who have a special calling take the time to invest in the bigger picture which is patient care. They need to come to the rally to send a message to lawmakers,” Egel said. “It’s a matter of broadening your vision and being responsible for quality of care around the state.”

Dodson said nurses should contact their regional coordinators if they want to help spread the message or sign-up for the rally.

The Communicator March 2007

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