JWT INSIDE HEALTH CARE NEWSLETTER
Week of March 5, 2010
*California
Union votes allowed at over 30 healthcare sites
The National Labor Relations Board has cleared the way for union
elections at
more than 30 healthcare facilities in Northern California, while
withholding
judgment on requests for union elections at another 30 or so. Nearly
all of the
elections are decertification ballots stemming from a bitter dispute
between
two rival healthcare unions: the massive Service Employees
International Union,
and the rival upstart National Union of Healthcare Workers whose
leadership is
composed of ousted SEIU leaders. The
NUHW has filed dozens of petitions in the past year to have workers
decertify
their SEIU units and switch to NUHW. The new group has had a handful of
election successes, but most of its petitions have been blocked
procedurally by
SEIU through charges filed with the national labor board. On Tuesday,
the NLRB
approved 31 election petitions for workers at up to 50 different
facilities in
coming months, but another 32 election petitions are still being
blocked by
objections from SEIU or NUHW. In dueling news releases Tuesday, both
unions
accused their opponents of attempting to cherry-pick elections where
they think
their chances are better, while blocking elections at facilities where
they
might be vulnerable. (Modern Healthcare’s Daily Dose,
03/03/10)
*California
Fremont-Rideout to cut 185 jobs in consolidation
Fremont-Rideout Health Group will lay off 185 non-nursing employees and
move
most services out of Fremont Medical Center by May 1, with officials
saying a
combination of lower patient volume and severe downturns in
reimbursements for
care are to blame. The 185 employees are included among those who are
not
registered nurses, meaning they cover every department from those
working in
the laboratory and management to housekeeping and records. Rideout
Memorial
Hospital in Marysville will become home for most of Fremont-Rideout's
health
services, with only women's health and imaging remaining at Fremont in
Yuba
City. The move will mean about 90 nursing positions will be eliminated
at
Fremont; under union rules, those affected at Fremont will have to
formally
re-apply for 115 nursing jobs at Rideout.
Feather River Surgery Center will continue to operate in Yuba
City for
outpatient surgeries. Hospital officials began informing employees of
the
layoffs Monday. Laid-off workers will be
eligible for up to 12 weeks of severance pay depending on the length of
their
employment, all unpaid paid-time off and two months of continued
employee
benefits, such as health care. (Appeal-Democrat, 03/01/10)
*Delaware
AstraZeneca to lay off 550 in Wilmington
AstraZeneca announced plans to lay off about 550 workers in research
and
development at its U.S. headquarters in Wilmington, Del. The job cuts
will
occur over the next two years and are part of the job reduction plan
outlined
by the pharmaceutical company in January, which set a goal of
eliminating
15,000 positions over the next five years. AstraZeneca (NYSE:AZN),
based in
London, has about 4,500 workers in Delaware, at the U.S. headquarters
site and
at a manufacturing plant in Newark. Company officials said the
Wilmington site
will no longer conduct early-stage drug-discovery research, but it will
continue to be involved in late-stage global medicines development. (Philadelphia Business Journal,
03/02/10)
*Texas
Nurses find job hunt easy
Twenty December 2009 graduates from the College of Nursing at the Texas
A&M
Health Science Center became registered nurses and have already secured
jobs. (The Eagle, 02/25/2010)
RECENTLY PUBLISHED
Nurses salary survey
When ADVANCE for Nurses readers
completed the 2009 online salary
survey study, their responses reflected the continuing impact of
the grim
national economy on family finances. A little over half of the nurses
surveyed
said their overall family financial picture changed due to changes in
the job
market within the past 12 months. When the going gets tough, the tough
get
going, and nurses are a pragmatic group who understand the realities of
life.
Twenty-seven percent of all respondents picked up additional hours or
an extra
job, 3 percent delayed retirement, 6 percent held off on a planned
decrease in
work hours and 8 percent decided to wait awhile before going back to
school.
Fifty-nine percent of the nurses surveyed said they'd had a change in
salary
over the past year, and 84 percent of those nurses said their salaries
went up.
The increases weren't huge - 31 percent of all nurses said they got a
raise less
than 3 percent and 16 percent got a boost between 3 percent and 5
percent. On
the other hand, 9 percent of nurses surveyed saw a drop in salary,
generally
because of a demotion, salary reduction or loss in differential. In addition, nurses hunkered down to wait out
the economic storm; only 12 percent stopped working over the past year,
and
almost half of those nurses did so because of a planned leave such as
family
leave. More than a third of the respondents said their work plans had
changed
because of the economy. Three percent of total respondents delayed
their
retirement, 6 percent delayed plans to decrease work hours and 8
percent
delayed going back to school - a total of 17 percent of the nurses
surveyed. Survey
results are based on responses from 1,794 participants who completed
our online
survey, which was posted on the ADVANCE
for Nurses Web site from Sept. 14-Dec. 1.
Complete results are available on the ADVANCE for Nurses Web site. (ADVANCE for Nurses, 03/01/10)
New study highlights social media use among nurses
A recent study conducted by Nicholson Kovac, Inc. reveals some
surprising
findings about new media, including social media, use among nurses and
physicians. Most are using their mobile phones for texting, and other
applications for both personal and professional reasons. Additionally,
the Internet
is a key tool for them for healthcare and academic research-related
information
and as knowledge of social networking sites grows, a majority of
healthcare
professionals plan to use these sites in the future for professional
development reasons. Eighty seven percent of the nurses surveyed access
the
Internet for business/professional reasons.
·Those who use their mobile phones or PDAs for business list
“texting” as the
number one application, followed by e-mail and accessing the Internet.
·Approximately 83% of those surveyed access web sites for
information related
to healthcare and 41% specifically look at manufacturers’ web sites for
information on products and services.
·Eleven percent of nurses are using Twitter and 77% have visited
Facebook. Nearly
a quarter also have visited LinkedIn.
·Sixty five percent of nurses plan to engage in social media in
the future for
professional development reasons.
·Those who access blogs do so primarily for education and
professional
development.
A companion study of new media usage among physicians showed similar
results.
Like nurses, texting, e-mail and accessing the Internet are the top
uses among
doctors. When it comes to social networking sites, 88% have visited
Facebook
and 16% indicate they are using or have visited Twitter. Nearly a
quarter of
those surveyed spend more than 20 hours per week online. (NEWS-line for Healthcare Professionals,
02/25/10)
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