From the Massachusetts Nurse Newsletter
May 2010 Edition
After several months of negotiations, the nurses at Providence Behavioral Hospital in Holyoke recently reached a two-year agreement with management. Under the agreement the nurses will receive an across-the-board 2 percent increase in each year.
The hospital recently switched to a biweekly pay system and language was added to the contract to protect the nurses in case of management mistakes. The RNs were able to gain increases in differentials for the evening shift and charge nurse. Under the new contract only nurses with two years experience at the hospital will be eligible to orient new nurses and they also gained language that any record of disciplinary action against a nurse will be expunged after one year.
In terms of staffing, management agreed that, except in areas that are staffed by one RN, no staff RN will work without another RN. Hospital management also agreed it would not randomly review security camera videos for the sole purpose of monitoring RN performance. n
