CRONA
Committee for Recognition of Nursing Achievement
Area Representatives and Membership Meeting
April 4 and 6, 2006

Gallup Poll
In November 2005, Gallup asked more than 1,000 Americans which professionals they trusted the most. The answer, by a huge margin, was nurses – even more than doctors and police officers, more than journalists by far, and way more than politicians and lawyers. This makes sense, as anybody who has spent more than a day in a hospital knows. Throughout the month of May and every month thereafter, we honor our nurses, our colleagues and heroes of the patient care units.

Negotiations 2007
The current contract expires March 31, 2007. Negotiations for a new contract start in January 2007. CRONA is evaluating the possibility of conducting our negotiation survey electronically in the next several weeks. If your home email address has changed within the last year, please email your new address to crona@crona.org as soon as possible. In addition, your Area Representative(s) will be asking you for an update of your home email address. We look forward to your participation.

In order to keep you informed before and during negotiations, it is important that you log on to the CRONA website regularly. It is also vital that CRONA has your home/personal email address. We cannot use the hospital email for CRONA business.

Negotiation Committees
There are three (3) vacancies in the SHC Negotiation Committee and one (1) vacancy in the LPCH Negotiation Committee. If you are interested in becoming a member, please download a Consent To Serve Form from the CRONA website (crona.org). Fax the form to CRONA at 650-366-0182.

Duties of the Negotiation Committees are (from CRONA Bylaws):
1. To gather information regarding trends in the economy that affect nurses’ standards of working and living conditions.
2. To Keep CRONA abreast of contracts in California and particularly in the Bay Area.
3. To Keep CRONA abreast of CNA and ANA activities (and other nursing unions) in economic security programs.
4. To prepare contract proposals to be submitted to the Hospital at the beginning of the contract negotiations.
5. To elect, by secret ballot, the Chief Negotiator and members of the Negotiating Team.
6. To submit contract proposals to the (CRONA) Executive Board for review.

The Negotiation Committees (12 members each) prepare the contract proposals. The Negotiating Teams (7 members each) negotiate the new contract. The Negotiation Committees elect the members of the Negotiating Teams from the members of the Negotiation Committees. If you have any questions related to negotiations and roles of the committees, please email crona@crona.org.

CRONA Bylaws
Please submit your proposed Bylaws changes to the Bylaws Committee by June 30, 2006. Send your proposed changes to Beth Thomas, Chairperson of the Bylaws Committee at crona@crona.org or fax to Beth Thomas at 650-366-0182. Proposed changes to the CRONA Bylaws will be discussed and voted at the annual CRONA Convention on October 3, 2006.

Healthstream
Nurses are inaccurately being told that four (4) hours are allotted to complete Healthstream. According to Federal and State laws, you are to be paid the time needed to complete courses required by the Employer. You can complete Healthstream at home or at the Library. Some nurses are being asked to complete Healthstream and take a regular patient assignment. There may be rare occasions when this is possible. We advise you not to get distracted from your patient assignment when completing Healthstream during regular work hours. This means answering call lights promptly, documenting properly, taking legitimate breaks and completing your work on time. If part of your shift is designated for Healthstream and you are not able to complete all the modules, ask your manager to assign you additional hours the next time you are scheduled to work or you can finish the modules at home.

Disciplinary Actions and Grievances
For the past year CRONA has been involved in disciplinary actions and grievances related to patient complaints, unsatisfactory performance, hostile behavior, breach of confidentiality, HIPAA violation, falsification of records, inadequate/improper documentation of controlled drugs, use of hospital property for non-work-related activities and failure to follow policies and procedures. In several of these cases, the hospital has been issuing disciplinary actions under the general category of “gross misconduct” which can result to termination. In many cases, nurses have been placed on administrative leave without pay pending completion of the investigation. CRONA strongly disagrees and has protested the manner in which the hospital is disciplining nurses without due process.

We advise you to exercise good judgment when performing your responsibilities. Follow policies and procedures and when in doubt, ask. Nurses are being assigned heavy workloads with limited resources. Follow the chain of command and complete an Assignment Despite Objection Form when necessary. You can download the ADO form from crona.org. Ask for a CRONA representative if you are in a meeting with your manager that may lead in a disciplinary action. Most importantly and as required by the California Board of Registered Nursing you have a duty (as Resource Nurses and Staff Nurses) to advocate for (nurses and ultimately) your patients.

CRONA CE Class
Remember to register for the Thursday, June 1, 2006 continuing education class from 1800-12100 at the Stanford Golf Course Grill. The registration fee is $100 and includes three (3) CE credits, dinner, fun and the opportunity to network with other CRONA nurses. You can use your education funds for this class. Glen Koike, Health Facilities Evaluator for the Department of Health Services and a former Stanford registered nurse will be the speaker. Glen will provide an overview of the role of the Department of Health Services in relation to hospitals, what triggers a DHS visit and/or compliance check and the investigatory process when DHS visits a facility.

Lorie Johnson, President
On behalf of the CRONA Executive Board

Click on title for Attachments:
June 1, 2006 CEU Class Registration Form
CRONA Nurse Thank You