Workplace violence, high RN turnover, and dangerous nurse staffing conditions plague hospital

MARLBOROUGH, Mass., Sept. 9, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The nearly 180 registered nurses working at Marlborough Hospital, and who are unionized with the Massachusetts Nurses Association (MNA), will hold an informational picket in front of the hospital on Tuesday, Sept. 10. The purpose of the picket is to draw public attention to the serious ongoing problems inside of the Marlborough UMass facility, including workplace violence, high RN turnover, and dangerous nurse staffing conditions.

For more than ten months, the nurses have been negotiating with hospital management to secure contract language that will address the problems plaguing the hospital. Hospital management, however, has refused to make the necessary headway to improve staffing and safety at Marlborough.

What: An informational picket in support of the Marlborough Hospital RNs, their patients, and the community

When: September 10, 2 to 4 p.m.

Where: In front of Marlborough Hospital; 157 Union Street, Marlborough

Who: MNA RNs, their families, friends, neighbors; other local unions; and elected leaders

The informational picket follows 14 negotiation sessions between the MNA RNs and management, with little movement on management's part to address the nurses' key concerns:

• Nurses are being injured on the job regularly due to violence, but hospital management wants to continue with its failed policies and refuses to explore new solutions.
  
  
• RN turnover in all hospital units is above average because of the significant pay discrepancies between Marlborough and other local UMass hospitals. On average, senior Marlborough Hospital RNs earn $10 per hour less than their counterparts at other area hospitals, including all UMass-affiliated hospitals
  
  
• Nurse staffing levels are unpredictable and dangerous, with as many short-term travel nurses working as permanent RNs.
  
  
• And new grads, who the hospital invests significant time and resources in, repeatedly leave for jobs at other UMass facilities because the staffing levels and pay are better.

Nurses' Safety Threatened Daily

The following examples are just two out of the dozens and dozens of workplace violence incidents that have long been plaguing the hospital:

• A physically healthy patient was brought into the ER for a mental health evaluation because they had assaulted someone in the general community with no provocation. Within 48 hours of being in the ED, the patient violently assaulted numerous hospital staff members, EMS staff, and patients. They kicked a resource nurse involved in their care into a wall causing head, back, and neck injuries. The patient also randomly walked out into the hall and punched another nurse not involved in their care in the head causing injury, as well as post-traumatic stress and anxiety. The patient then went on to punch a passing paramedic in the head. These were the three most serious injuries but the patient additionally assaulted techs, patients, and security staff. This all occurred within the first 48 hours of the patient being in the ED. Because of their violent history, no inpatient facility would accept the patient, and they stayed in Marlborough's ED for numerous days while the staff continued to be put in danger. The staff asked for a police detail due to the violent and unpredictable nature of the patient's assaults. The best suggestion hospital management offered was to enclose the patient's room with two security guards using their chairs against the door as a barricade. However, nurses still needed to go into the room to medicate, feed, and assess the patient's safety and well-being.
  
  
• An inexperienced security guard was being verbally abused and physically assaulted by an intoxicated patient who had just been brought into the ED. When the aggression became more concerning, a long-time ED nurse intervened. The patient then violently assaulted the nurse — breaking glasses, punching the nurse, and severely injuring the nurse's shoulder. The nurse was hospitalized for several days for orthopedic, cardiac, and medical concerns related to the assault. The nurse remains on leave, traumatized by the event and uncertain if surgery will be needed for their shoulder. An investigation was conducted after OSHA got involved and the hospital's response was to essentially blame the staff for their handling of the situation. There was no admission of ineffective or inadequate security protocols, procedures, or resources on the hospital campus.

According to the MNA's 2023 "State of Nursing Survey":

• Twenty-four percent of nurses said they do not feel safe in their workplace, an increase from 9% of nurses in 2019 and 17% in 2021.
  
  
• Sixty-three percent of nurses said workplace violence and abuse is a serious problem, up from 42% in 2021.
  
  
• Seventy-six percent of nurses in direct care at a teaching hospital said workplace violence and abuse is a serious problem.
  
  
• Seventy-nine percent of nurses in direct care at a community hospital said workplace violence and abuse is a serious problem.
  
  
• In addition, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, healthcare workers experience the most nonfatal workplace violence as compared to other professions, accounting for nearly 70% of all non-fatal workplace assaults.

Because legislation specific to addressing and preventing workplace violence in healthcare settings failed to pass this year, the need to include workplace violence prevention language in union contacts has become more critical than ever. 

A federal mediator recently joined the nurses' contract negotiations and has sat in on three sessions to date.

"Marlborough Hospital is essential to the health and welfare of this community," said Julie Lyver, RN and chairperson of the nurses' MNA bargaining unit at Marlborough. "But at this point — with wages so low, nurse turnover so high, and in-hospital violence such a threat — if management does not agree to appropriate remedies the health and safety of this very community, and all other communities the hospital serves, is in jeopardy."

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Founded in 1903, the Massachusetts Nurses Association is the largest union of registered nurses in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Its 25,000 members advance the nursing profession by fostering high standards of nursing practice, promoting the economic and general welfare of nurses in the workplace, projecting a positive and realistic view of nursing, and lobbying the Legislature and regulatory agencies on healthcare issues affecting nurses and the public.

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SOURCE Massachusetts Nurses Association