Nurses at Saint Alphonsus Medical Center in Ontario, Ore., are calling for the rural hospital to improve its wages, patient care and safety as they work with the Oregon Nurses Association on a new labor contract, according to an Idaho Statesman report.
The nurses have asked the hospital, which is part of the Saint Alphonsus Health System in Boise, Idaho, for three main conditions:
• Implement a wage system that rewards nurses for longevity of tenure rather than its pay-for-performance system.
• Invest more in full-time nurses instead of agency nurses who travel between hospitals.
• Improve the safety and patient-care deficiencies that The Joint Commission pointed out in its 2010 report. The report noted the Ontario hospital provided lower-than-average care for heart attacks and pneumonia.
In response, the hospital said it offers competitive wages and has rectified The Joint Commission's outlined areas of improvement.
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The nurses have asked the hospital, which is part of the Saint Alphonsus Health System in Boise, Idaho, for three main conditions:
• Implement a wage system that rewards nurses for longevity of tenure rather than its pay-for-performance system.
• Invest more in full-time nurses instead of agency nurses who travel between hospitals.
• Improve the safety and patient-care deficiencies that The Joint Commission pointed out in its 2010 report. The report noted the Ontario hospital provided lower-than-average care for heart attacks and pneumonia.
In response, the hospital said it offers competitive wages and has rectified The Joint Commission's outlined areas of improvement.
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