Hudson Reporter, August 10, 2011 In response to complaints from a local nurses' union and a public interest group, the state conducted an investigation on July 6 and 7 of Meadowlands Hospital in Secaucus, which was taken over by a private company last year. A report was released on Tuesday alleging that there were several deficiencies, ranging from the hospital failing to implement its policies for handwashing - specifically referencing an anesthesiologist who failed to do so when switching gloves - to failing to maintain clean operating rooms. ... Hospital

Lindsey Dunn, Becker's Hospital Review, December 17, 2010 Nurses at Memorial Hospital of Salem County in Swedesboro, NJ, have approved unionization, according to news release by the Health Professionals and Allied Employees, New Jersey's largest union and the one that will represent Salem County nurses. Community Health Systems, the parent company of MHSC, originally objected to the election, claiming that a substantial number of RNs were supervisors and ineligible to vote. ... Nurses

Christopher Ramírez, Press of Atlantic City, January 14, 2011 The union representing nearly 500 nurses at Shore Memorial Hospital in Somers Point has filed a complaint against the hospital for the way recent layoffs were handled and intends to file additional grievances. The New York State Nurses Association has filed unfair labor practice charges against the hospital with the National Labor Relations Board and is in contact with a pair of state agencies concerning personnel and patient care issues. ... Nurses

Shaun Smith, Shore News Today, January 12, 2011 Somers Point – Although Shore Memorial Hospital announced previously that it was paring down its staff by as many as 90 employees, recent adjustments have reduced the number to 81. Joan Gavin, vice president of nursing, said Monday that 22 registered nurses’ positions have been eliminated; however, all but seven have found other positions within the hospital. “Nursing staffing is unique with maximum flexibility,” Gavin said. According to Gavin, there are 400 registered nurses working at the hospital. Shore Memorial Hospital President and CEO Ron Johnson announced in December that 90 ... Layoffs

Jaime Marine, NJ.com, September 4, 2010 Mannington Township - Registered nurses working at The Memorial Hospital of Salem County here have voted in the union election, but the ballots will not be counted until the National Labor Relations Board can hear an appeal filed by the hospital and CHS, the hospital’s parent corporation. “Nurses won their right to vote even after significant obstacles were placed in their path by the hospital,” said Ann Twomey, president of the 12,000-member Health Professionals and Allied Employees. ... Salem

Jaime E. Marine, NJ.com, August 8, 2010 Mannington Township - The nurses at The Memorial Hospital of Salem County have won the right to vote in a union election, according to the Health Professionals and Allied Employees union. "Memorial Hospital of Salem County has received a decision - issued on August 2 by the regional director for the Philadelphia office of the National Labor Relations Board - directing an election for the purpose of allowing the hospital's nurses to decide whether or not they want to be represented for collective bargaining purposes by the Health Professionals and Allied Employees," James L. Angle, chief executive officer ... Memorial

Jaime E. Marine, Sunbeam, July 14, 2010 Mannington Township - The National Labor Relations Board recently dismissed charges filed by the attorneys for the parent company of The Memorial Hospital of Salem County against the Health Professionals and Allied Employees union and pro-union nurses, according to a news release issued by the HPAE on Monday. Hospital spokesman George J. Gennaoui declined Tuesday to comment on the matter. ... Nurses

Press of Atlantic City, May 29, 2010 South Jersey Healthcare and its nurses union have agreed to a new three-year labor contract. The two sides struck the deal Thursday night, hospital officials said Friday, alleviating any concerns about a work stoppage at the Vineland-based hospital network by doing so before the current contract's expiration date May 31. The nurses union has about 750 members and is under the umbrella of Health Professionals and Allied Employees. ... South

Jaime E. Marine, Star-Ledger, May 21, 2010 Mannington Township - Saying they want a larger role in patient care and to protect health services for the community, more than 70 percent of the registered nurses at The Memorial Hospital of Salem County filed a petition for an election to join the state's largest nursing union, according to a release issued Thursday by HPAE. The petition for the election to join the Health Professionals and Allied Employees union was filed on Wednesday. Nurse Lorie Halter, RN ICU, said in a press release that the registered nurses want to make sure the hospital stays an important part of the community. ... Salem

Mike Curley, Northern Valley Suburbanite, May 20, 2010 Englewood – The nursing staff at the Englewood Hospital and Medical Center raffled off 32 gift baskets to benefit nursing students in Haiti last week, as part of Nurses Week. The nurses were able to raise $10,700 from the gift basket raffle, which were assembled and donated primarily by the nursing units at the hospital, though a few were donated by others such as the hospital's gift shop, the president and vice president and the Advance Practice Nurse Group. The gift baskets were displayed in the lobby from May 5 to May 12, after which the winners were announced so they could claim their prizes. ... Nurses

Joe Carlson, Modern Healthcare, April 20, 2010 If nurses in New Jersey enjoyed the nurse-patient staffing ratios seen by their colleagues in California, researchers estimate that the Garden State might have seen 14% fewer surgical deaths in 2006, according to predictive modeling in a new study of nurse-patient ratios. The study, “Implications of the California nurse staffing mandate for other states,” published today in the journal Health Services Research, finds that the nurse-to-patient ratios enacted by law in California in 2004 have had the effect of decreasing nurse burnout and lowering turnover and the number who reported that workloads caused them to miss changes in patient conditions. ... Nurse

Tara Driggs, Northern Valley Suburbanite, February 4, 2010 After 17 days of bearing intense heat, administering non-stop emergency care and witnessing unbelievable strength, two nurses from Englewood Hospital and Medical Center returned from Haiti January 29. Fort Lee resident Cathi Goldfischer and Wyckoff resident Arlene Keys were sent to Haiti as part of the NJ-1 Disaster Medical Assistance Team (DMAT), which functions within the National Disaster Medical System. Both nurses have worked at Englewood Hospital for more than 20 years. ... Local

Andrew Kitchenman, NJBIZ, November 2, 2009 A three-year effort to improve the work environment for New Jersey’s nurses is under way, with 47 state hospitals set to participate in a session from November 16 to 18. The hospitals are participating in the Transforming Care at the Bedside initiative, to train support nurses so they can spend more time with their patients. The training also is intended to increase retention and decrease turnover among nurses, according to Aline Homes, director of the New Jersey Hospital Association Institute for Quality and Patient Safety. The NJHA is sponsoring the initiative.

Star Ledger, June 17, 2009 Unionized nurses at Englewood Hospital and Medical Center approved a new three-year contract yesterday that union officials said achieved their main goal of adding more nurses per patient. Eighty-five percent of the nearly 500 nurses who voted at the Clinton Inn in Tenafly ratified the contract, said Jeanne Otersen, a spokeswoman for the Health Professionals and Allied Employees union. The union successfully bargained for salary increases and no changes in their pension plan, but gave up a paid half-hour lunch break. ... Nurses

Karen DeMarco, Bergen NOW, June 17, 2009 Englewood - Members of the Health Professionals and Allied Employees local union have voted to ratify a new contract, thus bringing an end to the two-week lockout of healthcare workers by Englewood Hospital and Medical Center. In a written statement released late Tuesday afternoon, the union stated that "winning nurse staffing improvements long advocated made the two-week lockout feel worthwhile. ... We have always been proud of the nursing care we provide at Englewood Hospital, and in each contract we've worked to improve our nurse-to-patient staffing levels ..." Englewood