Every Minute Counts Lobby Day: Florida Nursing Home Workers Speak up for Quality Care

The budget cuts to bedside care in Florida’s nursing homes, passed last year, have impacted thousands of nursing homes residents and nursing home workers. Staffing levels were reduced from a minimum weekly average of 2.9 hours of care per resident per day to 2.5 hours, which shortens the amount of time caregivers spend with residents by 18 minutes per day.

The budget cuts also forced more than 2,650 health care workers into unemployment. On January 18, during the second week of the 2012 legislative session, 1199SEIU Florida members took matters into their own hands and traveled to the state capital in Tallahassee to urge lawmakers to restore safe staffing levels in Florida.

“When we learned the state rolled-back minimum safe staffing levels, we felt like our wings were clipped and wondered how are we going to take care of people’s loved ones in the best way possible,” said Doreen Holm, a CNA of 23 years who works at Avanté Nursing Home in Palm Beach.

To encourage the passage of the safe staffing legislation, 1199SEIU members walked the halls of the Capitol and educated lawmakers on the life-threatening impact these cuts are having on Florida’s seniors. They delivered booklets filled with 18 stories to signify the 18 minutes of lost care per day and ask for quality healthcare to be a top priority. Members also asked Governor Rick Scott to “work-a-day” with them in a Florida nursing home so he can see first-hand what the steep budget cuts are doing to Florida’s elders.

“Because of these cuts, basic, simple needs that the rest of us take for granted everyday are not being met,” said Jean Berg, 32-year veteran nursing home worker and Pasco County CNA. “If they get their teeth brushed, it’s a good day. As caregivers, we are put in a terrible position of having to prioritize and the most pressing situations come first – which leaves others at risk of falling out of their beds and not being fed on time. Lawmakers must take this seriously and do the right thing for our elders!”

The Florida Channel, a statewide public television network covering Florida politics and the legislative session, extensively covered the 1199SEIU FL Lobby Day events. Their story included interviews with nursing home workers and both of the bill sponsors as well as clips of the members delivering packets and educating lawmakers. (7:06 is where the coverage begins)

What a Minute Means to Me: Patricia Diaz, RN

“A minute to me, means giving my surgical patient the dignity of using a bed pan as opposed to using a mat on the bed because I can’t get to her in time.”

– Patricia Diaz, RN, University Hospital

What a Minute Means to Me: Leora Stirrat, Unit Secretary

“A minute can mean the difference between life and death in a cardiac unit. In a stroke unit, it can mean the difference between a brain and brain damage. A minute can also mean the difference in that patient being in bed or being on the floor.”

– Leora Stirrat, Unit Secretary, Blake Medical Center

What a Minute Means to Me: Doreen Holm, CNA

“A minute to me is priceless. A minute to me is listening to the sound of the alarms when a resident gets up to prevent them from falling. A minute to me is to walk with a resident so that resident will be able to improve their walking…so a minute to me really goes a far way.”

– Doreen Holm, CNA, Avanté at Lake Worth

Florida Caregivers Launch “Every Minute Counts” Campaign to Protect Nursing Home Residents

In response to new state legislation that cuts safe staffing levels and bedside care in Florida nursing homes by 18 minutes per resident per day, 1199SEIU Florida caregivers have launched the “Every Minute Counts” campaign to protect nursing home residents from potentially life threatening health risks. Nearly three-hundred caregivers ratified the campaign at an 1199SEIU Florida Joint Delegate’s Assembly in St. Petersburg, FL in early September.

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Florida Nursing Home Caregivers Make History: First in State With Safe Staffing Requirements in Contract

After Florida enacted a new law rolling back minimum safe staffing requirements in the states nursing homes on July 1, 1199SEIU members at Avanté at Lake Worth Nursing Home saw an opportunity to maintain higher safe staffing levels by negotiating them in their union contract.

“When we learned the state rolled-back minimum safe staffing levels, we felt like our wings were clipped and wondered how are we going to take care of people’s loved ones in the best way possible,” said Doreen Holm, a CNA with 23 years of experience who has worked at Avanté for four and a half years. “My co-workers and I are overwhelmed and excited that we were able to negotiate a contract that includes safe staffing protections for residents. It’s something we fought for as soon as we found out the state was rolling back staffing levels.”

After negotiating with the company for two months, they finally reached agreement. On August 23, union members at Avanté made history by voting to ratify the first union contract in the state to include safe staffing requirements, which guarantees residents will receive a minimum weekly average of at least 2.9 hours of bedside care per resident per day.

The new contract also provides Avanté workers with wage increases, bonuses, a 401(k) plan with employer-matching contributions, and health insurance and tuition benefits.

“I think this is one of the best contracts we’ve gotten so far,” said Holm. “We’re very excited about how far we’ve come. We did it by standing together.”

By including safe staffing protections in their union contract, Avanté and its workers have sent a strong message to the legislature and nursing homes throughout Florida that care for seniors and people living with a disability must be a priority and should be the last thing to be cut.

Since minimum safe staffing levels were instituted in nursing homes in 2001 with bipartisan support, care in Florida has greatly improved. As a result, Florida has earned one of the highest standards of nursing home care in the nation.

Unfortunately, the new law permanently cuts minimum safe staffing levels in nursing homes from a weekly average of 2.9 hours of care per resident per day by certified nursing assistants to 2.5 hours of care.

This shortens the minimum amount of time caregivers spend with each resident by 18 minutes per day. As a result, there can be delayed responses if a resident falls, less time to attend to bedsores, delayed bathing and grooming, less time to help a resident get to the bathroom, and less time to simply have a friendly, stimulating conversation.

But nursing homes like Avanté are not required to roll back safe staffing, and can make the moral choice to provide a higher standard of care than the state requires, as Avanté has done.

“It could be your mom or my mom that’s not being cared for properly because of staffing cut,” said Holm. “These are all of our loved ones. I’m very glad that residents will get much better care with our contract’s safe staffing protections in place.”

What a Minute Means to Me: Carol Hemmis, RN

“When you look at an individual, it can be the difference between life, death, happiness, sadness, joy, tears…If we wait an extra minute, we may have missed an opportunity to enjoy a life.”

– Carol Hemmis, RN, Westside Regional Medical Center