If demands, primarily lowering
patient-to-nurse ratios, aren't met,
nurses will walk out at
7 a.m. on Dec. 28

By Lori Tighe
Star-Bulletin

Kapiolani Hospital is now the third major hospital to face a strike threat from nurses if patient loads remain high.

At about 10 p.m. last night, about 460 registered nurses gave a 10-day notice to strike. If their demands, primarily lowering patient-to-nurse ratios, aren't met, they will leave their posts at 7 a.m. on Dec. 28, said Nancy McGuckin, executive director of the Hawaii Nurses Association, this morning.

So far, 1,680 registered nurses at Queen's, St. Francis and Kapiolani hospitals plan to walk off the job beginning Christmas Eve.

Kapiolani Hospital spokeswoman Pat Oda said Kapiolani is making contingency plans to cover a nurse shortage should they strike.

"This will cause a lot of concern among the public because we're talking about three hospitals potentially striking now," Oda said. "We still believe in the negotiation process and certainly would like to see it continue. We're trying very hard," she added.

"In my 15 years of working for the Hawaii Nurses Association, I've never seen nurses this consistent and strong about staffing issues," McGuckin said. "They take care of mothers and kids. They give and give and give. It takes a lot to make them mad."

"There are lots of days I go home and say, 'My patients didn't get the best of me,' because we're stretched so thin and there are not enough hours in the day," said Theresa Yee, R.N. at Kapiolani's perinatal special care unit, which cares for high-risk pregnancies.

"We're tired and burned out," said Yee, who participated in the negotiating talks. "It's serious."

Kapiolani specializes in labor and delivery, maternal and fetal intensive care, postpartum care, and neonatal and pediatric intensive care.

"We want assurance that nurses will have some control on determining the patient-nurse ratio," Yee said. "Forming another committee just isn't enough. We want something to assure patients' safety to help our nurses not to be so burned out."

Pay, which averages $26.43 an hour, isn't the main sticking point, stressed Yee.

"I don't think money could make a difference -- not if they don't make patient safety their priority," she said.

Hospitals statewide are struggling to survive because of large federal Medicare cuts that amount to $195 million a year.

To help ease its financial burden, Kapiolani has begun to take other types of patients, beyond women and children, including orthopedic, surgical and even quadriplegic patients, Yee said. Nurses, specialized in women and children, need additional training to handle these other types of patients, Yee said.

The hospitals are all negotiating separate agreements with the nurses association. Four hospitals -- Queen's, Kapiolani, Kuakini and St. Francis -- are continuing to meet with the association and a federal mediator.

Straub Hospital's 183 nurses ratified an agreement in October.

Kaiser Permanente's 600 nurses on Thursday ratified their contract agreement. The agreement addressed union concerns about health coverage upon retirement, wage increases and job cuts.

Kaiser negotiations were simpler than at the other hospitals, McGuckin said.

"Kaiser did not have the radical type of staffing issues that the others did, particularly at Queen's and St. Francis."