PEF nurses focus support studies

By LENORE BORIS, RN

May 6-12 is National Nurses Week — a time to recognize and celebrate the contributions of nurses.

But the skill, dedication and positive contributions of millions of nurses seem to be overshadowed by short staffing and other issues that burden and worry us most.

To be sure, nursing is facing some very difficult times. While we need to confront issues such as short staffing, salary inequities and difficult working conditions head on, highlighting them could deter people from choosing a career in nursing.

Fortunately, studies are proposed to identify the factors that detract from the attractiveness of nursing as a career choice and/or contribute to nursing errors.

In the coming months, some PEF nurses will have an opportunity to be involved in research on several of these issues.

Does OT mean injury?
One such study will examine the relationships of overtime and the use of temporary or per-diem workers to workplace injuries. Many nurses suspect that the level of injuries and errors mount as the amount of overtime they work increases. Until now, little research has been done to confirm or deny this relationship.

Harvard School of Public Health researchers sought PEF’s support to win funding for this research from the National Institute

of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). If the study is funded, PEF intends to collaborate on it and help the researchers access the data.

What’s the risk?
The PEF Health and Safety Department is also collaborating with researchers from Columbia University who have NIOSH funding to study the degree of risk and risk factors for exposure to bloodborne diseases among non-hospital health-care workers.

Randomly selected PEF nurses in a variety of non-hospital settings will be asked to participate in focus groups and to complete a questionnaire.

They will be part of a total sample of 8,000 nurses.

Career path in prisons?
A third study is directed specifically at PEF nurses working in correctional facilities. This investigation is being conducted by Nancy Flanagan, a nurse and researcher at the University at Buffalo. She will survey these PEF nurses to gather information about their careers in the correctional system.

Similar research has been done on nurses in other healthcare settings.

Efforts such as these are important in providing information about the current state of nursing and potential solutions.

Nurses want and deserve to be recognized as caring and competent.

REGION 1 NURSES — PEF nurse organizer Lenore Boris answers questions from nurses at Roswell Memorial Cancer Institute in Buffalo at a Region 1 dinner meeting for nurses in late March. — Photo by Caroline Esposito

PEF Committee: Nurses want, deserve respect
Researchers dig for facts behind nursing issues

By SHERRY HALBROOK
Nurses are the single largest profession represented by PEF, and potentially the most powerful force for change. And they have plenty of ideas about what they want and need to change.

They have leadership, focus, and the support of PEF and all of its leaders and technical resources. And they are making real strides in achieving their goals of improving their practice and working lives. But they are still far from achieving the level of clout they could have.

So what’s missing?
You and other PEF nurses, if you are not already part of the union’s Nurses Action Network.

The PEF Nurses Committee has the job of building that network so that PEF nurses can focus and mobilize their collective power on achieving their goals.
The Nurses Committee meets in May and will also meet with key lawmakers at the Capitol in Albany to discuss legislation aimed at alleviating many of the most serious workplace problems confronting PEF nurses.

One of the first tasks the committee has set for itself is identifying all of the nurses among the PEF membership — not such an easy task since many nurses have left the clinical setting and are working in jobs not restricted to nurses.

“We want to build a network of informed, motivated nurses who can be active at their worksites, and at the regional and state levels,” says committee co-chair June Edwards.

“We want to improve our ability to get information to them quickly that they want and need, and also develop a system for them to communicate with each other,” she says.

The committee wants the support of that network in protecting the provisions of the Nurse Practice Act which sets the legal definition and standards for the profession. And the committee is working to help nurses get the continuing educational opportunities they need to keep up with changing technology and practices.

Improved staffing, safer working conditions and reasonable work hours are also priorities.

And while the committee continues to make salary upgrades for all PEF nurses one of its top priorities, the issue, members say, goes far beyond pay.

“We want and deserve more respect and equality,” Edwards says. “Nurses want to be respected for our knowledge and experience. We want to have a voice that is heard and respected at our work sites.”

The Communicator Home Page