Members of the Massachusetts Nurses Association have approved a new 18-month contract agreement with Boston-based Tufts Medical Center.
The contract, approved June 26, covers 1,400 registered nurses, according to a union news release. It addressed issues such as pay, staffing and benefits.
"Hospitals elsewhere are seeing considerable turnover in their nurses," Mary Havlicek Cornacchia, RN, said in the MNA release. "This is largely because nurses don't want to work in the current conditions where they are constantly caring for too many patients at once. But it's also because nurses can very easily go elsewhere right now and find work with better pay and benefits. When you have better pay and benefits, you can attract new nurses and keep existing nurses.
"Our goal with the contract we just ratified is to create this very scenario. We want new nurses to come to Tufts and we want our experienced nurses to stay at Tufts, and as a result, our patients will benefit," she added.
According to the union, the contract includes:
- A 10 percent across-the-board increase, immediately after contract ratification, in the first subsequent paycheck.
- An additional 2.5 percent increase in both February 2024 and September 2024.
- The creation of a "Baylor Plan," which will provide 36 hours of pay to nurses who work 24 hours on the weekend.
- An $3,000 incentive payment for nurses who commit to work 48 hours per week for 12 weeks.
Tufts Medical Center shared the following statement with Becker's: "Tufts Medical Center has always been deeply committed to nursing excellence. We were extremely proud to achieve Magnet recognition in September, 2022, and now to reach an agreement on a new contract with our highly-skilled, dedicated and compassionate nurses, and the MNA. The new contract is designed to reward and retain our valued nurses, while helping to attract talented nurses to join our organization. It is a win for our nurses and for Tufts Medical Center, and we are very pleased that the new contract was overwhelmingly ratified."