Nurses’ strike Can Hus’ departments have more manpower during the strike than before? HS clarified the allegations

What is there a sufficient number of nurses in one ward of the Helsinki and Uusimaa Hospital District (Hus)? From this, the views of Hus and the caregivers differ.

Hus’ caregivers from various departments claimed last week that some departments now have more labor during the strike than before the strike.

The allegation was made, inter alia, by a local nurse working during the protection work during the strike interviewed by HS. In addition, the allegation has been disseminated by Hus caregivers on social media.

A key view expressed by caregivers is that the weak labor situation has only been a concern with the strike, but not before.

HS clarified the accuracy of the nurses’ claims.

Read more: A nurse doing protective work in a surgical ward describes the first strikes: “The situation was even better than normal for one nurse”

Husin a nurse working in the intensive care unit says that during the strike, nine nurses work shifts in the ward, the same number that should normally be in shifts.

“Now only with the difference that there have always been nine during the strike because the employer demands it. Before the strike, if no one came in extra turn, then let’s go with what is. Of course, before the strike, surgeries were canceled to an infamous extent due to a lack of either operating room staff or intensive care staff, ”says the nurse.

HS does not tell the caregiver’s name or exact job, as this could complicate her position in the workplace.

Before the strike, the situation was sometimes much more difficult, according to the nurse, than it is now. According to the nurse, before the strike, the ward has sometimes had to suspend continuous dialysis treatments for intensive care patients because the ward has not been given dialysis-skilled nurses to make up for sick leave.

According to a written statement seen by HS, one such event occurred in December. At that time, the dialysis treatment of the intensive care patient had to be stopped because there were not enough nurses on the night shift.

HS has seen documentaries of the strength of the department from various days before the strike.

According to them, the department has often had shortcomings in the number of staff. HS has also seen a number of text messages asking employees at short notice to make up for missing labor. The text messages are from the beginning of the year before the start of the nurse strike.

Internal medicine working as a community nurse in the ward Visa Pekkarinen according to the amount of labor has fluctuated during the strike.

“Some have had the same number of shifts as before the strike, some more or less. It varies depending on the unit. I also know the units where there has been more manpower than what has been the practical occupation before the strike, ”he says.

Hus has complained that the strike jeopardizes patient care because there is too little manpower.

Read more: Hus: Insufficient manpower for shelter work, nurse strike was seen as congestion, especially in Meilahti and Malmi hospitals

According to Pekkarinen, the employer has increased the number of patient places during the strike, which may be due to the fact that some departments have exceptionally had more labor.

According to Pekkarinen, the daily patient work during the strike has been normal. The workload has increased somewhat with the strike of department secretaries and changes in the work of laboratories as a result of the strike. However, the situation is not much different from the time before the strike.

“Even before the strike, there have been shortages in the workforce or workers have not always been recruited.”

Husin with surgery working in the ward as a local nurse at the Park Hospital Sarianna Suominen says he has done protective work during the strike, to which his employer has called. In addition to his own work, Suominen serves on the board of Super’s trade union for local nurses.

Suominen previously told HS that on the first night in protective work, the situation was even better than normal for one caregiver.

Suominen says that in the week before the strike, they had an average of five nurses in the morning and evening shifts and three in the night shifts. During the strike, there have been practically one or even two fewer caregivers all the time. That’s a big percentage.

“It’s been pretty busy. However, we have blown the coal with the nurses and done our job, ”says Suominen.

According to Suominen, it is strange that patient safety has only been discussed now, especially during the strike. He says that with a small workforce, work has been done on an annual basis: the ratio of labor to patients has often been the same in the past as it is today. In the past, patient places in his unit have also had to be kept closed due to a shortage of nurses.

“We are still committed to doing conservation work so that no one’s life or health is in danger. It has required a little tightening in the pace of work, but we have done the work. ”

Husin and caregivers ’views on the amount and need for strike labor are conflicting.

Chief Administrative Officer of Hus Veli-Matti Ulander described at the start of the strike that there were not enough nurses at work.

According to carers’ organizations, employers have made erroneous statements about conservation work and its amount. According to them, conservation work has been provided as agreed.

Read more: Tehy and SuPer consider the information provided by the employer on the amount of protection work to be incorrect

A study of the number of protection personnel on the first weekend of the strike compared to the number of employees on the weekends before shows that many Hus units had either the same number of nurses at work or slightly fewer than before the strike.

For Hus, the study includes the Töölö accident station, the Hyvinkää maternity ward and operating ward, and the Lohja emergency room, maternity ward and intensive care unit.

According to Tehy, for example, at the Töölö accident station on Saturday, April 2, seven nurses were on duty both in the morning, in the evening and at night. Before the strike began on Saturday, March 26, there were eight nurses in the morning, seven in the evening and six in the night.

In the maternity ward in Hyvinkää, on the other hand, the strength given in the protection work has been four nurses per shift on April 2 and 3. The same number has been at work in the days taken as a benchmark before the strike.

Hus’s figures for the amount of conservation work received compared to the number of personnel before the strike give a somewhat different picture. The number of protection workers requested and received and the number of personnel per day before the strike are broken down by Hus result area.

According to Hus, on April 1 and 4, the number of employees received for protection work in all result areas was significantly lower than what was requested and what is the normal strength of the result areas. It is clear from the statistics that Hus has also asked the cancer clinic for more manpower for protection work than would normally be there, even though fewer workers than normal were asked for other areas during the strike.

The statistics are based on a snapshot of the impact of industrial action on patient safety presented to the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health on 6 April.

The figures for Hus and Tehy are not comparable because the figures for Hus relate to units. The dates considered are also partly different. In addition, conservation work is negotiated on a daily basis, so situations can change rapidly from department to department.

I do executive director Else-Mai Kirvesniemi is unable to assess how the figures given by Hus correspond to reality, but they do not suggest that there are too few nurses at work during the strike.

Hus has presented the amounts of occupational safety requested and received by region, and emergency care is also provided in the regions. However, protective work is only given for urgent care, and therefore the number of nurses may seem small compared to the normal workforce, Kirvesniemi says.

According to Kirvesniemi, conservation negotiators have said that employers ask for much more labor for conservation work than would normally be the case.

“The employer is asking for far more than would be needed for protection work. That’s why the numbers look wild. ”

According to Kirvesniemi, the main rule for how conservation work has been provided is at least the minimum occupancy of holiday periods.

“That is, what is normally done in a minimum occupancy situation.”

In some functions, the occupation corresponds to the occupation of normal times. Kirvesniemi also says that Tehy has become aware of some places where there have occasionally been more caregivers than usual.

According to Kirvesniemi, Tehy’s own figures were compiled for a hearing related to the preparation of the Patient Safety Act of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health (STM)

“We picked out the functions that STM considered most critical. As a rule, they had exactly the same number of people as in the previous weekends before the strike. I would dare to say that the same situation is elsewhere, ”says Kirvesniemi.

Husin According to Veli-Matti Ulander, in the early days of the strike, some departments may have had more staff at work than before the strike.

“In the early days, we didn’t know who was on strike and who wasn’t. A certain number of staff was assigned to conservation work and, in addition, there has been disorganization in the work. In addition, patients from multiple wards are combined into a single ward. It must also be reflected in the number of staff, ”he says.

However, Ulander does not sign the allegation that Hus deliberately asked for more nurses to work.

“It has certainly been the case that there may have been shifts in various units in the past where there has been a shortage of staff due to staff shortages. However, I question the claim that we would be looking for more staff than is normally the case, ”he says.

According to Ulander, Hus has rated the requested protection workloads according to expert assessments to ensure patient safety. Labor has been asked for the work, depending on the expert assessment of the demand for care. For example, in the emergency department, Hus asked for as much protection labor in early April as there were staff a day before the strike.

“Emergency care is very unpredictable and readiness for treatment must be ensured at all times. We know from experience that in the morning and at night the on-call service is quieter and the load is concentrated in the evenings. Organizations, on the other hand, have calculated the dimension according to the quietest load at night, ”says Ulander.

Situation protection work for personnel has improved since the first days of the strike, Ulander says. But although the number of staff has been increased, it is still insufficient overall and there are delays in the treatment of even urgent patients.

“Negotiations are taking place in a good spirit and we have converged in our views, but patient safety continues to be compromised due to unreasonable delays in treatment.”

According to Kirvesniemi, negotiations with Hus, on the other hand, have been very difficult, and the employer has even treated the negotiators inappropriately.

“Inadequacy has manifested itself in behaving aggressively, threateningly and not providing the requested information,” says Kirvesniemi.

According to the Regional State Administrative Agency, no reports of a risk to patient safety have been reported for Hus. Earlier this year, before the strike began, the Southern Finland Regional State Administrative Agency had received three notifications concerning Hus, one of which related to the number and structure of staff in the intensive care unit of the New Children’s Hospital.

The matter is pending, and the Regional State Administrative Agency of Southern Finland has made a request for clarification. However, no conclusions can be drawn from the pending surveillance case regarding the potential risk to patient safety.