June 16: Duluth Bargaining Update (St. Luke's) (Page 93)

Today was our fourth bargaining meeting with St. Luke’s. Our contract proposal with concrete nurse to patient ratios will provide time for nurses to give our patients the safe care they deserve. St. Luke’s believes that the current grids which provide one RN for nine patients on most west side units on days and evenings is safe staffing. Nights are even worse on the west side, the ratio can be up to 1 RN to 13 patients. The current grid provides an average of 6.5 minutes of time per patient per hour, which does not include any charting, admissions, discharges and more.

Bob Zallar (lead spokesperson for St. Luke’s hospital): In reference to nurses ability to temporarily close a unit due to inadequate patient care resources: “The ultimate judgment has to be management’s it is our responsibility not in a cube, not in isolation or not without considering the resources that are available, but the decision is ours it has to be.”

Renee Ebel RN 4west St. Luke’s Hospital: “How does collaboration happen when one person has all the power? Physicians trust my assessment, the state of MN licenses me, you hired me, you must have trusted me at one point, When I call you now you no longer trust my assessment.”

Kirsti Hendrickson Critical Care Float RN St. Luke’s Hospital: “Nurses on the West side of St. Lukes Hospital are responsible for nine patients much of the time. Here is a breakdown of what that looks like for time spent with each patient.”:

• A nurse is scheduled to work 8.5 hours.
• 30 minutes for lunch-assuming they get to take one.
• Now we are down to 8 hours.
• Nine patients/1 hour=6.5 minutes an hour to spend with each patient
• 6.5 minutes x 8 hours=52 minutes a shift per patient
• 30 minutes for report beginning of shift and 30 minutes for report at end of shift takes us down to 7 hours a shift of direct patient care time.
• 52 minutes-6.5=45.5 minutes per patient a shift

This does not include:

• Time for the nurse to use the bathroom.
• Two fifteen minute breaks each nurse is supposed to get.
• Discharge paperwork/process.
• Admission paperwork/process.
• Any charting.
• Preparation of medications.
• Baths.
• Toileting.
• Updating families.
• Phone calls.
• Talking to the doctor.
• Assisting with feeding, line care, turning patients, wound care, and assistance with mobilization.
• Patient education.
• Walking to and from each room, the med room, and dirty utility room.
• IV pushes-Just a little FYI… Per drug book standards 80mg IV lasix takes 8 minutes to push and there goes your time spent with that patient for the hour and 1.5 minutes of someone else’s time with the nurse.

This is not safe patient care!