Friday, June 24, 2011
St. Vincent nurses care about patients
As a lifelong resident of Worcester County who has frequented St. Vincent Hospital, I would like to congratulate the St. Vincent nurses on their recent contract settlement and victory for safe staffing. I have been following their story with great interest. Their courage and perseverance in standing up to Vanguard Healthcare, a corporate giant, is commendable. In this day and age when health care is so uncertain and scary for so many, it’s admirable and comforting to know that a group of nurses would take on this fight for the safety of their patients. Our community and families will benefit greatly from their hard work and professionalism.
On a less positive note, I found the public statements and ads by St. Vincent Hospital administration toward their nurses to be quite disrespectful and salty. It was apparent that they were trying very hard to distort the true message of these nurses, which was patient safety. What a shame. I don’t ever recall being cared for by a CEO, hospital spokesperson or administrator when I was a patient in the hospital. I’m sure patients would be better served if the money and energy used by the hospital to discredit their nurses was actually used to care for all of us.
I commend St. Vincent nurses for standing strong in their convictions and doing what is truly right for patients.
JUDITH GUNNARSON
Rutland
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