A Nurse's View

Did you get out to Play?

mcontrer — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 17:56:00 GMT

Did you get out to play at Community's first "Recess" Friday, June 20? I haven't heard the total count that attended, but I had a great time. Yes, my volleyball team flamed out in our first game, and I couldn't get past "twosies" in jacks--my eye-hand coordination is not what it used to be! BUT-I saw many employees of all our facilities having a great time from serious basketball, dodgeball and volleyball competitions to some fun games of musical chairs, foursquare and hopscotch. The Fresno Heart and Surgical "Double Puck Hockey Team" was awesome-that is a lively game! Congratulations to Clovis for winning first prize overall!

We don't always take time to have fun, and Recess Friday night was a good reminder that along with working hard it is important to take time out to have fun to keep ourselves healthy. So, if you didn't get out to play last Friday night, make some plans to do it soon!

As Nurse's Week 2008 Comes to a Close

mcontrer — Sun, 11 May 2008 22:47:00 GMT

Every year America celebrates National Nurses Week from May 6, National Nurses Day, to May 12, the anniversary of Florence Nightingale's Birthday. I think this year's theme "Nurses: Making a Difference Every Day" enables us to communicate how important nurses are to patient safety and quality care. Many times our patients express their gratitude for the comfort we provide, but nurses are not always recognized for the important work they do with their patients. I had the opportunity recently to hear Suzanne Gordon speak at a VHA CNO Conference. She shared the story of how surprised she was (years ago) when she had her first child. Her expectation was that her OB was going to be taking care of her while she was in labor, but through her experience at this time she learned what nurses did, and it was an eye opening experience for her.

Nurses are not known for publicly touting the great things we do for our patients, we don't consider what we do to be anything special. From monitoring the medical condition to identify if the patient is stable or becoming unstable to assessing their response to both the medical plan and nursing plan for care, and for being a patient advocate when the patient needs you to be their voice, I want to thank CMC's nurses for the work you do for our patients 24/7.

Joint Commission Nurse Surveyor Compliments CRMC Nursing Care

mcontrer — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 03:55:00 GMT

The week of April 14 - 18 The Joint Commission surveyed CRMC for their regular triennal survey. At the Leadership Session on the last day of survey, the nurse surveyor complimented the facility's nursing staff for the care they provide for their patients and the quality of nursing assessments and care plans. During her visits to patient care units the previous four days she had seen many of our nurses in action and had the opportunity to interact with several of you every day during her patient tracers.

Kudos to the nurses at CRMC! Thank you for making a difference for our patients - every day. Congratulations to Karen Buckley, RN, CRMC CNO, her leadership team and the nursing staff for a successful survey.

Recent News about CNA

mcontrer — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 21:28:00 GMT

You might have missed the news about the RNs at Cedar campus (the former UMC) filing a decertification petition asking for an election to remove CNA as their representative.

I was surprised when I opened the Fresno Bee this morning (March 13, 2008) to the headline “Community aims to oust nurse union.” Surprised because I had been informed yesterday about the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) fax—a one-page decertification form filed by the Cedar campus RNs and a notice of a hearing on the matter. But more than surprised, I was dismayed that the headline the paper chose to run did not reflect the facts. The headline incorrectly depicts that CMC is leading the effort to “oust” the union, when in fact; the petition was filed by the nurses at the Cedar Campus.

I, along with other hospital administration, don’t have much information about the nurses’ request to decertify the union, but I have heard that RNs on the Cedar campus are upset about CNA holding up raises we gave to other Community nurses last fall and the opportunity to be rewarded and recognized for their leadership through participation in the RN Career Ladder. I can understand how the Cedar campus nurses might be unhappy with the union, especially if they do not feel that CNA is representing them as they would like to be represented or if they feel that CNA is holding up compensation they deserve. They have every right to request decertification—just as nurses have a right to vote differently in an election.

Unfortunately the issue of CNA representation has to be played out in what can be a slow process. Any election to decide representation is strictly between CNA and the RNs at Cedar campus with the NLRB overseeing the process. Administration can only provide assistance when asked.

I want to assure you as Community’s Chief Nursing Officer, I echo CEO Tim Joslin’s statement in today’s article about supporting nurses’ rights to freely make their own decisions about unions. And I second his sentiment: “We believe that we can achieve more through collaboration (with our nurses) rather than confrontation.” Clarification is mine.

Such events can distract us from the more pressing and important work we do at Community caring for the health of our community, working to advance the nursing profession, and creating a top-notch workforce and workplace.

I would hate to see the pending election on this union issue polarize our wonderful staff. We have so many other great things to focus on here at Community with our career opportunities for nurses, new technology, and expansion plans at all our hospitals. And we all know patient care truly takes a team effort with all of us pulling together.

If you’re curious about the dates or would like more details about this decertification petition, make sure to read the full story at http://www.medwatchtoday.com/1476.htm

Finally, I welcome your questions and comments. Please don’t hesitate to stop me in the hall when I am doing rounds or send me a comment through my blog.

You can keep those New Years Resolutions!

mcontrer — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 19:56:00 GMT

As the new year starts, many of us have made resolutions - it is always easy to make New Year's promises. I was talking with some friends last evening about resolutions. Most of them said they don't make resolutions any more because they never kept them...

This got me to thinking about why we don't keep those resolutions we make. Many times, they are not serious for us. But, sometimes we do want to keep a resolution, we just don't have a plan. If you are serious about a resolution this year, you can be successful with a little work up front. Just as with any goal, a New Year's Resolution isn't realized just because we wish for it! The difficult part comes when we have to make changes to achieve what we have identified as a goal. Keep in mind some basic things to be successful. Make sure your resolution is realistic, develop some plans to incorporate changes in your life that will ensure you succeed. If you plan to make a few small changes to achieve your goal, you will be more likely to follow through because you won't be overwhelmed by what seems to be unsurrmountable change. You may want to share your plan with someone who can be a support to help you get there. And be sure to celebrate your successes as you complete the smaller steps to your goal-this will help you continue to make those small steps and a year from now, when you look back on 2008 you will be able to say "I made it!"

AB 1559-Signed by the Governor

mcontrer — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 04:20:00 GMT

AB 1559, the legislation that would allow community colleges to accept nursing students based on merit was signed by Governor Schwarzenegger last week. I believe this change will decrease the attrition rate, improving the number of nursing students who start in community college nursing programs that complete those programs. Currently only about 75% of those who start in the programs in California graduate. We can expect that a properly designed merit system will improve the probability that those who start will complete the program. This is important in the effort to increase the number of nurses in our Valley in the face of a critical nursing shortage in our future.

Interesting Comments on AB 1559 Blog Post

mcontrer — Wed, 18 Jul 2007 04:55:00 GMT

I received several comments on my last blog on AB 1559, thanks to those who responded. Several nurses wrote of their frustration in waiting to get into the nursing program for several lottery drawings, one in spite of a 3.9 GPA. Just to give you an update on this Assembly Bill that would require a merit system to get into nursing programs, the bill is progressing through committee, no action yet. I'll check on it periodically and include any progress in future blog posts.

There was also a question from M. Stevens asking how long it would take for someone to become a nurse, from entry into school to begin practicing as an RN. Unfortunately, it is difficult to give a straight answer to this question. It depends on your success at getting your pre-requisites completed, to how long you might wait to get into the nursing program. If you are a full time student, the best case scenario is about 4 years, but I know nurses that it has taken 6 - 7 years or longer completing pre-reqs as a part time student. The best thing to do is link up with a good counselor who is knowledgeable about the nursing program to help guide you through the process. I have contacts at both CSUF and FCC that I am willing to share to help anyone who is interested in the profession, plus the contact for CMC's Paradigm Program for our employees .

Getting the Right Students into Nursing Programs

mcontrer — Mon, 04 Jun 2007 17:09:00 GMT

In June 3, 2007 Fresno Bee, there was an article about the recently passed Assembly Bill 1559 which would require Community College nursing programs to implement merit-based policies. The article discussed local community college response and highlighted a near straight-A student who is hoping her name is picked in the lottery for the nursing program at Fresno City College.

The topic in this article is something that nursing leaders have discussed with our community college leaders many times. In fact, the Paradigm Program was developed in 1999 to address some of our frustrations when hospital staff, who are committed to nursing already through their work in the hospital, were not lucky enough to be selected by the lottery system 3 - 4 semesters. Through the Paradigm Program, our staff who meet the qualifications of Fresno City are able to move into a Paradigm slot if they are not selected through the lottery. As of April, 2007, 118 additional RNs (Community employees) have graduated and passed their State Boards through the Paradigm Program. Two years ago, however, we did increase our GPA requirements from 2.5 (required by the college) to 3.0 for Community's Paradigm applicants because we had a number of Paradigm students who were unable to keep up academically with the program, and graduates who were never able to pass their state boards.

In this time of a critical shortage of RNs to care for the patients in our valley, when there are 16 - 20 candidates for each nursing student slot available, we must work together to ensure the right candidates are selected for the programs and that there is support for those students who need it during the program to prevent drop outs when possible. I participate in the San Joaquin Valley Education Consortium, funded by the governor which has identified 4 strategies to increase graduating RNs by 250 each year beginning January 2008. It is important to ensure the right candidates are selected for our nursing programs to increase the odds that each will successfully complete the program to ensure we will have enough nurses to care for those who need them in our valley.

I support the concepts in AB 1559, which is endorsed by the California Hospital Association, although details of what "merit-based policies" are not clear. I hope that Nursing Leaders along with Community College Leaders will be able to work together to design the best implementation if this legislation becomes law. That is still to be determined since the bill has only passed the Assembly but still has a ways to go.