October 3, 2024
Dear Colleagues,
On Thursday October 3, 2024, we held the first session of negotiations for the next MNA contract. Our hope isthat we continue our long history of collaborative discussions leading to a strong new contract that meets shared goals for retaining and recruitingoutstanding nurses that share our commitment to high quality, community-based care.
As we move into these discussions, I want to acknowledge that challenges facing all health care providers continue to impact our nursing team. Planning for the long-term financial stability ofthis hospital has required some recent staffing changes throughout thehospital, including several nurse leaders and a limited number of front-line nursing roles. I pledge to do everything possible to support our entire nursing team as we adjust to an updated operating model.
Retaining our talented nursing staff is a top priority. We have taken steps to engage staff in defining nurse practice standards and cultivating collaborative and supportive unit cultures that support a dual focus on providing outstanding patient care and fostering professional growth through our unit based and hospital wide nurse practice councils. We also continue to focus on recruitment and have welcomed 38 new nurse residents to BID Plymouth, who are being precepted by our tenured nurses. We are taking particular care to assure that these nurses, as well as those who have successfully completed the Nurse Resident Program, many of whom are playing important roles in hard to fill night and weekend shifts, are well supported as they launch their career with BID Plymouth.
While our first negotiating sessionfocused largely on logistical issues, we did establish a schedule of full day bargaining sessions through December. Our next bargaining session will be on October 17.
I am grateful for your contributions, your ongoing commitment to patient care, and the collaborative environment we have built.
Best regards,
Donna Doherty, RN BSN MMHC
SVP Patient Care Services & Chief Nursing Officer
BID Plymouth