HealthAlliance Hospital in Leominster, Mass., and the Massachusetts Nurses Association have reached a tentative contract agreement, according to a Sentinel & Enterprise report.
Here are five things to know about the tentative agreement:
1. The agreement includes language that will limit nurse patient assignments to no more than five patients at a time, as well as language that guarantees that charge nurses, including charge nurses in the hospital's critical care unit, won't carry a patient assignment, leaving them available to manage the overall needs of the CCU's patients, nurses and the unit's flow. Additionally, the agreement includes protection of benefits for all registered nurses, and there will be new nursing positions, including urgent care nurses.
2. HealthAlliance described the agreement as one "that balances the needs of our patients and the community," according to the report. "We maintain that addressing issues collaboratively and partnering with each other in the symbiotic relationship of hospital and nurse is the best path forward," the hospital added.
3. Natalie Pereira, the MNA bargaining unit chairwoman at HealthAlliance and a registered nurse on the medical surgical unit, also spoke highly of the agreement, telling the Sentinel & Enterprise, "The nurses spoke and we came to the table and the hospital listened."
4. The deal was reached at the end of the 18th negotiation session and less than one week after the nurses voted to authorize a one-day strike.
5. The agreement must still be ratified by nurses at the hospital.
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