Staff members fear hospital’s system hurts patient care
IT IS deeply disturbing to me and many of my fellow nurses that Lynn Nicholas of the Massachusetts Hospital Association (“Strike won’t cure what ails hospitals,’’ Op-ed, March 31) and our own CEO, Ellen Zane, are misrepresenting what the nurses of Tufts Medical Center are working for. Our number one goal is to be at the bedside of patients when they need us. The thought of a strike is not something nurses consider without months of soul-searching consideration.
As nurses, we have met with our administration, written letters, pleaded, and negotiated continually for hospital leaders to consider our patients’ critical needs. We have gone through every respectful, professional, legal channel open to us to convince our hospital that the staffing as it is now leaves many of our patients in what we believe to be a compromised position. Our appeal has fallen on deaf ears.
As a nurse who has worked at Tufts Medical Center for almost 30 years, I am disheartened. I would hope that instead of spending time, money, consultants, and meetings trying to misrepresent us and our organization, our CEO and the leaders of the Massachusetts Hospital Association would work with us and our representatives to ensure that our patients get the quality of care we want to give.
Nancy Gilman
Brookline
From Boston Globe
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