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Tufts operating room nurses declare no confidence in leadership
The nurses are warning that staffing shortages are putting patients and workers at risk.
The vast majority of the operating room nurses at Tufts Medical Center recently signed a letter of no confidence in leadership, warning that severe staffing shortages are jeopardizing patient safety and straining hospital operations.
“We need help right now,” said Mary Cornacchia, RN, a longtime operating room nurse at Tufts. Nurses are “burning out” and are “tired,” she said.
In response to the staffing shortages, the Massachusetts Nurses Association has also filed official complaints with state and national regulators, including the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, the American College of Surgeons, the accreditors at the Joint Commission, and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
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The letter, issued last week, follows months of meetings with nursing administration. Nurses say they turned to this action only after all other attempts to address unsafe staffing were exhausted.
In response to the letter, Tufts Medical Center, in a statement, said, “Patient safety, quality, and caregiver wellbeing remain our highest priorities.”
“We’re deeply appreciative of our nursing staff, whose dedication makes the exceptional care we provide to our communities possible every day,” the statement continued. “We remain confident in our staffing plan and nursing leadership.”
Staffing Shortages
The Massachusetts Nurses Association says there is no shortage of nurses in the state. In fact, the union says, the state has more nurses per capita than any other state in the nation. But harsh working conditions are forcing them to leave the profession.
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Despite similar conditions happening elsewhere since the pandemic, the conditions at Tufts, the union said, are worse than anywhere else in the state.
Instead of filling vacancies at Tufts, the union argues that the hospital has instead relied on mandatory on-call as a staffing tool, which has led to nurses working overtime.
At the start of April, the union said that over 150 RN shifts were unfilled, resulting in 1,206 uncovered hours.
The staffing pressures will only increase as multiple nurses are about to go on leave and take long-planned vacations this summer.
“We’re feeling the squeeze as time goes on,” Cornacchia said.
Level 1 trauma center
The staffing shortages have raised concerns about the hospital’s status as a Level 1 trauma center, which requires it to maintain a fully staffed operating room for emergency interventions.
While the facility has 21 operating rooms, the union said scheduled personnel cover only about 10. The remaining 11 rooms rely on on-call staff.
The situation, the union said in its letter to the American College of Surgeons, results in operating room staff working “execssive amounts of overtime.”
The union is requesting that Tufts temporarily fill some vacancies with experienced traveling nurses until the hospital can hire full-time staff.
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As Charlene Verga, the associate director of clinical nursing for the union, said, it’s just one mistake away from hurting a patient, from a nurse losing their license, all because they were overworked and tired.
“I wouldn’t want my loved one to have surgery at Tufts, and I feel bad saying that, but it’s nurses saving the day right now,” she said.
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