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Health council takes on fiscal, professional concerns
Feburary 3, 2005 Ann O'Hara of Syracuse speaks; in background is Dona Frazee of the Albany Visiting Nurses Association. More and more, health care professionals are dealing with issues that go beyond patient care. How do I deal with issues concerning mergers, privitizations and staff consolidations? Will my collective bargaining rights be stripped away? These are some of the tough questions members of the New York State United Teachers Health Care Professionals Council attempted to tackle at its January meeting. The Bush administration "has an anti-union agenda and is looking to roll back collective bargaining rights for RNs," said Anne Goldman, a New York City nurse who chairs the council. "We are constantly challenged, and these are just a few things we need to be on the lookout for." Another concern is protecting members' rights and privacy in an era of heightened accountability and scrutiny of the profession. "We need to be sure employers are not setting the stage for invasions of privacy," Goldman said. "With mandatory random drug and psychological testing, the union has to monitor and be aware and sensitive to what's going on." Gov. Pataki's executive budget, which threatens a major blow to health care with nearly $1.5 billion in cuts and taxes, is also an issue. With recent proposals from Washington , both the state's Medicaid and Medicare programs could see huge cuts, NYSUT legislative representative Floyd Cameron told the council. (See related budget article) Good news On a positive note, council members learned that the statewide union's Education and Learning Trust was recently certified to provide Infection Control and Barrier Precautions training, which is required by the state Health Department every four years for nurse licensure renewal. "We demonstrate how quickly infection and bacteria can spread by talking about real-life situations," said council member Ann O'Hara, a school nurse from the Syracuse Teachers Association. "This is necessary material and shows that the union is paying attention to health care professionals." For more information about the course, visit www.nysut.org. — Clarisse Butler |
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