SHARE Updates: Childcare, Vaccines, Engagement Survey, and Raises
Happy Anniversary
SHARE is turning 23! Who would have imagined, back when we voted for our union, in September 1997, where we’d be today? We’re looking forward to more sticking together, whatever lies ahead.
Childcare Concerns
The school year is here, and this year’s unconventional schooling will affect many SHARE families, as well as staffing throughout the hospital. SHARE is involved in the Child Care Task Force that UMass Memorial management set up, and we are having additional discussions about how to help SHARE members.
SHARE has emphasized flexibility and innovation. Senior management is telling department level managers that it’s OK to try new things in order to help SHARE members in this complicated COVID situation.
See more about childcare -- including SHARE’s recommendations -- in this post.
UMass Memorial Flu Vaccine Requirement
SHARE is currently gathering questions and concerns from members about the hospital’s new flu vaccine mandate. If you have input that you’d like to include in this conversation, please contact your SHARE organizer, email share.comment@theshareunion.org, or call the SHARE office (508-929-4020).
COVID Vaccine Trials at UMass Medical School Seeking Volunteers
Are you interested in helping a vaccine trial? UMass Medical School is signing up volunteers for a Phase II/III clinical trial testing a vaccine to prevent infection from the Coronavirus. The vaccine has already passed Phase I testing for safety. UMass is part of a network of 120 centers that will enroll about 30,000 volunteers around the world.
The Medical School plans to enroll several hundred volunteers. Half will receive the vaccine, and the other half will receive a placebo. It’s a “double-blind” study, meaning that neither the volunteers nor the researchers will know who gets which, in order to ensure valid results.
For more information, check out this article on the Medical School’s website.
Free Covid testing
The City of Worcester and UMass Memorial have announced a jointly-sponsored series of free COVID testing sessions around the city. The current list includes:
Thursday, September 10, 1-5pm, Community Healthlink, Inc., 72 Jacques Ave, Worcester
Monday, September 15, noon-4pm, Great Brook Valley, 19 Tacoma St, Worcester
Wednesday, September 16, 2-6pm, Lady of Loreto Church, 33 Massasoit Rd, Worcester
Thursday, September 17, 1-5pm, Community Healthlink, 72 Jacques Ave, Worcester
UMass Memorial Engagement Survey
UMass Memorial is currently reporting department-level Engagement Survey results to employees. If you haven’t yet heard about your results and had an opportunity to discuss them, now’s a good time to ask your supervisor or manager. Figuring out how to improve the culture in your department may not be easy, but talking about these results is an important part of that process. The SHARE organizing staff is happy to help support you in these conversations. Our union’s mission involves continual work toward improving how it feels to come to work. Let’s help put this feedback — your own comments and experiences! — to good use.
SHARE Raise Effective 9/27/20
At the end of this month, SHARE members will receive the 3rd of the 4 raises in our current contract. And don’t forget! Raise time can be a great time to set aside more money in your 401(k), and get even more benefit from the employer’s match. Raise details below:
Wages Year 1 (effective 9/30/18): 1% ATB plus platform movement of 1.93%, or a $0.60/hour minimum raise, whichever is greater.
Year 2 (effective 9/29/19): 1% ATB plus platform movement of 1.93%, or a $0.60/hour minimum raise, whichever is greater.
Year 3 (effective 9/27/20): 1% ATB plus platform movement of 1.93%, or a $0.60/hour minimum raise, whichever is greater.
Year 4 (effective 9/26/21): 1% ATB plus platform movement of 1.93%, or a $0.60/hour minimum raise, whichever is greater
Any amount greater than Max Cap is paid as a bonus. Bonus = (bonus rate) x (hours paid in previous FY, including overtime).
This raise is the only contractually negotiated change upcoming for SHARE members; you can find the full Contract Agreement online.
Child Care and Flexibility for Fall 2020: SHARE Update
SHARE has been actively discussing the stories we are hearing from SHARE members about their struggles to work and care for children with the school schedules this fall. SHARE is involved in the Child Care Task Force that UMass Memorial management set up, and having additional discussions about how to help SHARE members.
SHARE has emphasized flexibility and innovation, urging senior management to tell department level managers that it’s OK to try new things in order to help SHARE members in this complicated COVID situation.
Carol Hehir, a Staff Organizer who has been representing SHARE on the child care task force with the hospital, has this to say about the process so far, “I’ve been impressed. We are all on the same page, trying to figure out how we can support employees. Of course, we have to keep the hospital running, but we are trying to come up with as many options to help people balance child care and work as possible.”
Here are some of the ideas SHARE has been promoting:
Goals to be Balanced
Let’s be clear about the goals that we are trying to take into account, though how to balance them may not be easy in some situations:
Operational needs of the department – getting the work done
Work security – keeping SHARE members working in spite of the COVID challenges
Safety – social distancing, preventing the spread of the virus
Fairness – Balancing needs of all employees in the department.
Guiding Principles for How to Approach a Problem
Flexibility: The more we can empower departments to offer flexibility, the more likely we are to find solutions that work for individuals and the whole department. (See ideas below.)
Creativity is encouraged: If your department can come up with an unusual solution that works for everyone and gets the work done, more power to you!
Transparency: When everyone understands what the problem is and what the limitations are, they are more likely to be able to come up with a solution, to understand why a change is a good idea. We’re urging management to communicate early and often.
SHARE members having a say is key. Working things out together as a department allows people to volunteer to help in ways that work for them. Two heads (or twelve) are better than one when looking for ideas and suggestions.
Not One Size Fits All: Different people may need different kinds of help or flexibility. Every department is different. Solutions for lower income employees may be different than those for higher income employees.
Getting help: SHARE Organizers and Reps are happy to help, and can escalate the department’s issues when needed.
Innovating Ideas that Might Help
This is a list of possible items that could be changed to help an employee and department deal with a problem related to COVID and/or Child Care. It is not meant to be an exhaustive list.
Decreasing or increasing hours: Could be permanent or temporary. Others in the department may want to pick up extra time, or decrease time in a way that adds up to a solution for the department.
Work from Home: We encourage departments to look with a fresh eye at what tasks can be done from home. Work from Home is functioning quite well in a variety of departments already. Perhaps 2 SHARE members could split the week so that each could work from home on the days their child is learning remotely.
Change of working days or hours: It could be moving from days to evenings to accommodate schooling needs, or changing start and end times. If someone is working from home, perhaps the flexibility to accomplish 8 hours of work across 10 hours would help, if the work does not need to be done at a certain time. Or some employees may want to work more on the weekend.
Juggling tasks: Co-workers could swap tasks, to make the timing or work from home possible. Everyone needs to be involved in that conversation, so no one feels “dumped on.”
Bringing (older) kids to work is usually not possible, but has worked in some areas in a pinch.
Technological Solutions: IS has been asked to help where technology is limiting flexibility, such as with phone systems that allow working from home. Please escalate these issues so that we can find a solution if at all possible.
Job Sharing: See page 60 in the SHARE-UMass Memorial contract for guidelines.
Extra staff: Float pool or temporary staff could help.
TODAY: SHARE Info Meeting
What SHARE Members Said on the COVID Survey
and
Recommendations for a Second Surge
Zoom meeting, click here at the time of the meeting:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84639191022?pwd=dXpaUnVGYVFQTHFNOUgrQzVlWjNGUT09;
Bring your thoughts and your questions, or just come to listen!
Back-to-School and Child Care: What Kind of Help Do SHARE Members Need?
SHARE is participating in the hospital’s child care task force, which is trying to figure out how to help UMass Memorial working families who are dealing with remote or hybrid school this fall. The task force needs to know what you need.
1. If you need child care support this fall, please fill out this short hospital survey
The survey focuses on what kind of child care you would need this fall so that you can work. The deadline is 5pm on August 28nd (Friday), so do it now!
2. If you have other ideas about what you need to support you and your family with school (like working from home, flexible hours, etc), please send them to: share.comment@theshareunion.org
Or contact your SHARE Organizer or Rep.
Ideas for How UMass Memorial Could
Support SHARE Members with Schooling this Fall
UMass Memorial should focus on solutions to help for lower-income families especially.
Different people may need different kinds of help. There’s no “one-size-fits-all” solution.
Having a say and working things out together as a department are key.
Flexibility: The more we can empower departments to offer flexibility, the more likely they are to find solutions that work for individuals and the department. For example, a SHARE employee might want to go part-time to support their children doing remote learning, and departments should be encouraged to figure out if that can work (without dumping more work on other SHARE members).
Expand Work from Home: Working from home is working in many departments at UMass Memorial. We should encourage departments to allow work from home, and figure out where we need new technology to make that possible.
Help Getting Childcare: UMass Memorial should look at helping SHARE members afford additional child care they need because of remote or hybrid schooling this fall. We should also look at how to help connect employees with other resources they need
SHARE Info Meetings & End-of-Summer Updates
We hope this finds you well here at the end of the Dog Days of Summer. We hope to see many of you in the Information Meetings over the next couple of days. Read on for more details about those, as well as . . .
The SHARE COVID Survey results and recommendations to management,
Back-to-School considerations,
SHARE Member Spotlights, and
An FSA reminder
SHARE Virtual Information Meetings
Please join SHARE organizers online in the coming days to discuss the outcomes from the recent SHARE COVID survey, and to discuss the recommendations that we are currently making to hospital management about our hospital’s ongoing operations, including the preparations for a potential second surge of the coronavirus in Central Massachusetts. We have currently scheduled two sessions. Click the date below to log in automatically during the Zoom session:
Wednesday, August 26th, 8:00-8:45 am
Thursday, August 27th, 4:00-4:45
SHARE COVID Survey Results
In case you missed it, SHARE recently published a results-summary of the SHARE COVID Survey, along with our union’s recommendations to UMass Memorial.
Work continues to be intense for many SHARE members. Many SHARE members have had very different experiences. Above all, we recognize the need to urge the hospital to:
Commit to job security and Health Insurance
Focus on PPE and safety
Focus on department leadership
Provide Hazard Pay
Continue and expand Work-from-Home arrangements
Create greater transparency and choice for Labor Pool deployments
SHARE has categorized its specific recommendations in four groups, based on the feedback from members in these scenarios during the previous surge:
Back-to-School Survey for UMass Memorial Employees
If you have school age children in your home, SHARE encourages you to complete our hospital’s brief childcare survey. The hospital’s Childcare Task Force is currently working to rapidly develop strategies to help accommodate families and the new needs involved with remote schooling and increased limitations in childcare.
Our impressions are promising: SHARE leaders involved on the Task Force report that the hospital seems to have a clear-eyed view of the challenges that families currently face, and how they could potentially affect staffing and patient care. The challenges are real, and the shared information can help us take care of the needs together.
Labor Scholarship Awarded to High School Senior in SHARE Family
SHARE is also pleased to congratulate Nancy Foskett, a SHARE member in the HIM department: her son Liam recently received a $1000 scholarship from the Central Massachusetts AFL-CIO to recognize his academic performance as a student at South High and his essay on Labor History.
SHARE’D Stories
We continue to put the spotlight on more SHARE members and their experience of life during the pandemic in our SHARE’D Stories project. Most recently we’ve heard from Cancer Center PCA’s Tammy Berry and Kellie Morton and Single Billing Office representative Laurie Abernathy.
FSA Reminder
Don’t forget that, through August 31, you can make modifications to your Flex Spending Account (FSA). Putting aside money in an FSA is a great way to save the money you would have paid on taxes on out-of-pocket medical expenses.
Congratulations to Our Union's Latest Scholarship Winner
Liam with SHARE Organizer Carol Hehir. The Scholarships are typically awarded during the annual Central Massachusetts Labor Day Breakfast. Since the breakfast is cancelled this year for social distancing reasons, Carol took the celebration on the road.
Congratulations to Liam Foskett, who recently received the $1000 Central Massachusetts AFL-CIO Scholarship, a prize awarded to select rising college students in AFSCME families. Liam’s mother, Nancy Foskett, is a SHARE member in the HIM department.
Liam recently graduated from South High. This Fall, he will begin at Westfield State College, where he plans to major in English. Liam was required to write an essay about Labor History in his scholarship application, and he is grateful to all of the union members who have made this scholarship possible.
Keep your eye on the SHARE blog over the coming school year for more #scholarships. For other educational opportunities, including the ongoing AFSCME Free College program, check out posts tagged #education.
The SHARE Member Experience: COVID Survey Results
More than 1800 SHARE members answered the SHARE COVID Survey, giving a picture of all the different kinds of experiences SHARE members had in the Spring of 2020. It was an intense time: very scary for many people and a lot of hard work, mixed with some really positive experiences. Thank you as always for helping to keep our hospital and our union running strong through it all, and for describing your experience so that we can continue to learn and improve.
We encourage you to explore this link to the summary of the results:
SHARE COVID Survey Results
SHARE Leaders continue to give feedback to UMass Memorial senior management, in discussions that now focus on preparing for a possible second COVID surge. If you would like to talk to your SHARE Organizer about the report, your experiences, or thinking ahead, please send a message to one of us SHARE organizers listed below. Thank you.
bobbi-jo.lewis@theshareunion.org
deb.largesse@theshareunion.org
elisabeth.szanto@theshareunion.org
janet.wilder@theshareunion.org
SHARE Member Spotlights: Kellie Morton & Tammy Berry
Tammy Berry & Kellie Morton
PCA II’s, Cancer Center, June 2020
Kellie: It’s hard, because this is not the norm, but its going to be the new norm. I have to say at the beginning of this it was definitely scary. Then we all started pulling together and watching out for each other – our manager hasn’t really been able to be fully present here because of everything she’s got going on with this, which we understand, we don’t blame her for that. And then things started to level out a little bit, we felt safer because of all these screeners and things downstairs. We’ve been operating at 80%, our clinics, through this entire thing. From what my manager told me, there’s been no transmissions whatsoever to staff here, or to other patients – so we’ve done an awesome job, working together. There’s a lot that could have gone wrong that didn’t go wrong, and we’re very thankful for that. But with all the increased volume from other clinics coming back, it’s a little scarier.
Tammy: Telehealth has really changed the way we work a lot. For one thing, it takes time, it takes a worker off the floor. There’s a lot that goes into getting the patient ready for that appointment. And some of these people have been locked up for a while, and they want to talk, know what I’m saying? So while that coworker is tied up doing that it can get busy. We work hard to get people out of those waiting rooms too, so they’re not sitting around near each other.
K: I think what I’m going to remember about this time is the way we’ve really pulled together. If we didn’t know for sure what was going on, we’d go to each other to make sure, are we doing the right thing, and we’ve gotten much stronger as a team. Those of us who really wanted to connect with each other here at work, we really have. So coming to work during this three month period, I felt safe being around everybody, being around people who knew exactly what was going on every day, the same way I felt, and then we could kind of work through it together. Even without the managers being around so much. I feel safe at work because I have confidence in my coworkers, in my team. At least until they change things on us, and then there’s a scramble. There’ve been moments that we all just totally broke down. But there are people around you who say ‘Don’t worry. Don’t worry. We’re going to get through this. We’ll get through it together.’ Yeah, we’re kind of all angry about some of the same things, but we’re also looking out for each other.
T: Our patients are hanging in too, you know, they’re scared to come, and I mean they’ll tell you I am really scared to be here – I haven’t been out in months. And we just reassure them, today a lady was like ‘can I touch that?’ In the room. And I said ‘you can touch that, I clean this room like crazy when another person leaves, whatever you touch I’m cleaning right away. It’s ok, you’re going to be ok here.’ I try to tell them that its good, you’re good here, but I don’t think they really want to come.
K: A lot of the ones on my end are coming a couple times a week. Almost every encounter since this began, anytime I left the room, I’ll say ok, be safe, stay safe. And they’ll say right back to me – this has happened so many times – they’re all wishing me that I’ll be safe, and they are thanking us. Constantly. For being here. They are scared for us. I mean, these patients are going through an awful lot, and they are worrying about us. They say thank you so much for being here, for all you do. So many people say when this is all done I’m taking you all out to dinner, the whole staff, I’m taking you all out for dinner! We have good patients! And we get to know them really well.
T: I try not to watch the news, but I know there are those people who think that this is a total conspiracy and that this isn’t real, and I’m like, come visit and see what’s happening around here. I had a patient who said, ‘this mask stuff is crazy, this isn’t going on,’ and I said to him, ‘it is, and it’s very scary.’ I said to him, ‘do you want to come with me across to the hospital and then you can see the people on ventilators?’ He really didn’t believe it. I made him wear his mask while he was here though.
Click here to connect with more SHARE’D Stories!
K: Looking around me, around my neighborhood, all the drive by’s, I think people have gotten closer even though they can’t be together. I’ve watched so many people drive down my street – this is an example, a gentleman worked for an asphalt paving company, and they had I don’t know how many tractor trailers drive to his house, I mean horns blaring, and it was awesome, I stood outside my house and I waved to them. There was this parade of trucks and when they came back around past my house I was still out there waving. That was just awesome that those guys did all that because they cared so much about that person. Tammy’s grandkids did that to her too.
T: They did. And then my daughter turned thirty so I did that to her. And then she told me that that was her best birthday ever, and I believe her – it showed that so many people cared about her and wanted to say happy birthday to her. It’s special, its very special. They’ve done it for me too, Easter, Mother’s Day, leaving presents for me at the end of my driveway.
K: I miss hugging the most, cause I’m a hugger. We’re both huggers! That’s been the hardest thing! It’s been so hard not to hug a patient, or touch them, you even see the doctors, patients will reach out to them and then pull back and say I’m sorry. But that’s what they would normally do. Having no contact has been really, really hard on a lot of people. Even just a pat on the back, let me hold onto you for a second. I mean, people are crying, they’re upset, and you want to touch them and all you can do is just stand in front of them. It’s hard. Then I go home and I’m next to my husband and I’m like, am I too close to you? Ha! Sometimes I find myself backing away and then I’m like wait a minute, we live together!
Last Chance! Take the SHARE COVID Survey Today or Tomorrow!
Hi SHARE members,
SHARE is setting up meetings now to talk to management about will happen if the numbers of COVID patients go up again. We need to hear your thoughts, to make sure we have a full picture of SHARE members’ experiences. We will close the survey at midnight, Wednesday, July 15th.
Click here to take the SHARE COVID Survey
Click here to take the survey in Spanish
Many thanks to the 1500+ SHARE members who already filled out the SHARE COVID Survey! We’ve gotten lots of great comments and feedback so far.
SHARE will write a report of SHARE members’ responses, and send it to all SHARE members.
—Janet, for SHARE
SHARE Member Spotlight: Laurie Abernathy, Collector, Single Billing Office
Laurie Abernathy
Collector, Single Billing Office, 306 Belmont Street, 7/1/20
This has been a very challenging time in our lives because of the COVID pandemic. But because of the pandemic, my dream, to work from home, has come true. I have been remotely working since mid-March.I work in the SBO ( single billing office) located at 306 Belmont St, our group consists of over 400 employee’s, Customer Service, Physician, Hospital Billing, Payment Posting and several other departments.
Our management did a very good job of getting us out of the building and set up to work remotely quickly. There were glitches, especially in the first few weeks, but we worked together with IT and got the issues resolved. During the beginning of the transition , work was a little more stressful than normal, due to the fact that information and processes were continually changing. Our department had daily Webex meetings, which helped us stay connected and get up to date information. We also had a SharePoint tab created to share pictures of our workspace, and any other pictures that we wanted to share, they are pretty funny , some with cats stepping on keyboards, or lying on the table near the workstations, It also helped to make us feel connected. Once things smoothed out, It was easier to concentrate on work. I feel I have been more productive at home, less distractions like phones ringing, hearing others’ conversations, and of no interruptions. It has been comforting to be able to check in with my son during the day as he does his schoolwork,we have time to eat together, and go for a walk more regularly. Another factor that contributes to feeling more productive is that overall, I feel less stressed. The feeling of worrying that we’ve done all we need to do before leaving the house – dressing, breakfast, lunch making, Do I have my phone?, Is there enough gas in the car?etc. Then there’s the commute, whether you drive or take public transportation, you’re always worried about being on time. Most of that disappears while working remotely, and it creates a less hectic atmosphere about work.
Click here to connect with more SHARE’D Stories
The pandemic has changed the world, and we are all wondering what the “new normal” will be. I am hopeful that it will cause people to be more mindful of the present and appreciate what we have today, because tomorrow is not promised.
SHARE Survey about Working During COVID -- Please Fill It Out!
This has been a very challenging time for many SHARE members. The Corona virus pandemic brought huge changes and really hard work for lots of people. Unfortunately, experts are predicting that COVID-19 isn’t going away any time soon, and we may face another surge in the future.
As the SHARE union, we want to figure out what we can do to both improve working conditions for staff as well as improve care for our patients, when and if another surge comes. Please fill out the following survey so we can learn what went well and what needs to be improved in the future. If you have any questions about the survey, or would like to provide more feedback about your experience, please don't hesitate to contact us.
Note also that the SHARE website recently added:
a clarification about the hospital’s temporary new Earned/Vacation/Care Time cap, and
more SHARE’D Stories, spotlighting individual SHARE members, and the work that you do for our community
Thank you for everything you do!
Clarifying the Temporary Change to the Earned/Vacation Cap Policy
The COVID surge has required some employees of UMass Memorial to cancel vacations, and therefore build up more time in their banks that they have not been able to use. You may have heard that management has therefore decided to temporarily increase the amount of time that an employee can accrue in their bank (Earned Time, Vacation Time, or Care Time).
The caps have changed to avoid punishing those who have worked through the COVID surge. This change primarily benefits employees and managers who already had lower caps, and who cannot carry over hours at the end of the year. Because SHARE’s contract agreement with the hospital doesn’t include this kind of “use-it-or-lose-it" stipulation about accrued time; because our Contract allows members to cash-out some of their unused time; and because most SHARE members have been able to take their scheduled vacations this year, most members will not find this policy change provides any additional benefit.
There are no accrual rate changes associated with this temporary policy. Also, the hospital intends for SHARE members to continue to schedule and take vacations as usual . . . no change there.
The new temporary policy is being applied retroactively to 5/3/2020. The caps will go back down to normal on 12/31/2022.
Member Spotlight: Nancy Bickford, Unit Secretary
Nancy Bickford
Unit Secretary, Memorial Campus West 3, 6/1/20
I just want to say “Kudos to everyone for how hard they are working”
I pick up extra shifts on some of the COVID floors. Some of the positive outcomes of taking care of patients with the COVID virus has been the strengthening of the TEAM WORK on all the floors. We have had new practice changes and policies take place regarding supplies, precautions, PPE, the nurses swabbing for COVID, PCA’s covering COVID patients and doing 1:1’s.
My most memorable moment:
Margaret, Nancy, and Rebecca on West 3
To see everyone working together as a team by brainstorming, helping each other problem solve, education of the PPE, bringing supplies to the COVID rooms, etc. The staff was fully on board with whatever needed to be done.
How it works on the COVID floors
The PCA’s are outstanding! They had to try to conserve PPE while taking care of COVID patients safely. They had to work with the RN strategically in caring for the COVID patients and while doing 1:1 coverage for a confused COVID patient. Some of the PCA’s were taking care of 10 patients on the COVID floors and working overtime to help cover the staffing needs.
The PCA’s assigned to 1:1 COVID patients have to sit outside the patient’s room, watching the patient through the glass window, gowned and gloved with the N95 in their hand ready to go in a patients room as quick as possible when needed.
Staff changing roles as needed
RN’s, unit secretaries, labor pool during the COVID crisis had to help in other areas than they normally do on a normal work day. Unit secretaries and RN’s had to work as runners for the floor to get supplies for the nurse’s taking care of the COVID patients. RN’s had to also come to the COVID floor from other departments and help pass meds to the staff in a COVID room. It was tough at certain times for the unit secretaries to do both roles. The desk, and as a runner to help the staff taking care of the COVID patients by delivering supplies needed when they called the desk via intercom.
The Labor Pool employees came in from different areas of the hospital such as clinics, registration, etc. to help on the COVID floors. They really did not want to go in to a COVID patients’ room because they needed education and information on PPE, what to expect while doing a 1:1, and helping on the floor in general. They were very helpful when they came to our patient floors but were also very nervous.
Communication and education are the key when any new staff get sent to floors other than their normal position within the hospital. Helping transition the employees to new areas that they are not familiar with is a big part in taking care of the CARETAKER.
Having more one to one’s from the labor pool would help the PCA’s on the floor be runners for the RN’s in the COVID patients’ rooms.
Tough Job
Wearing the PPE is very draining and tiring for the PCA’s, RN’s, and Doctors. It takes a lot more time to gown in and gown out of a room. Time management is a key role regarding care of the patient with PPE equipment. Nurses and PCA’s are caring for the patient, and they may be in one patients’ room for 1 ½ hours for total care, they come out sweating from the PPE. The patient rings again 5 minutes later and the RN and PCA must gown up again to care for the patient’s needs.
Click here to connect with more SHARE’D Stories
I work evenings, staff on COVID floors are working so hard that they do not even get to eat dinner at a normal time if even at all. Staff are working 12-16-hour shifts, starting to get burned out. It is tough to eat a meal on a COVID floor. Healthy food is the key to stay sharp and strong throughout the shift. Healthy snacks do help!
Employees are now dealing with kids at home and having to be teachers too. Employees are doing a full day’s work before they even get to work. They are exhausted, but still doing a GREAT job!
Managers are doing a great job with the communication on all the new procedures and policies each day.
Staff Getting Exposed to Virus
Some patients squeaked through: They test negative twice, and on the 5th day, they were positive. We have semi private rooms so any patient under investigation will be moved to a COVID floor. Symptoms of the COVID virus don’t reveal themselves right away. All staff advised to protect themselves and wear N95. We cannot tell who is carrying the virus, so we all should be protecting ourselves in this crisis.
Member Spotlight: Dianne Degon, ASR
Dianne Degon
Access Services Representative, University Campus Radiology, 5/29/20
Dianne Degon has helped keep things running in our hospital’s Radiology Department for over 20 years. But she’s also a real expert when it comes to childcare, and moved quickly to make sense of the Massachusetts Emergency Childcare system when the COVID crisis began. Below, Dianne describes her experience with work and family during the peak of the coronavirus.
I’m good . . . doing even better than I would have expected. I have been a foster mother for over 30 years and have four adopted children at home: they’re 11, 13, 14, and 16, and two older children: 25 and 26. I’ve got only one foster right now; he’s seven months old. I met him when he was a one-month old from the NICU.
While I’m at work, my foster child is in the state’s Emergency Child Care. That program has really worked well for me. Emergency Child Care is different from regular daycare, it covers the hours that you work, and it’s only if you really need it. They look to see if you have anyone else, a spouse or someone else living in your home, who can watch the kids. If you have other options, you don’t qualify. Fees are covered during Emergency Child Care.
The child care centers get donations and supplies from the state, so they’ve got what they need, like cleaning supplies and hand sanitizer. Daycare providers are required to wear masks and we are required to hand the child at the door and not walk into the home. Parents are required to wear masks dropping off and picking up, but masks won’t apply to little kids, under two, though. Providers are also required to keep 6 feet between kids for social distancing.
You can go to the EEC website to find the application and search for the emergency childcare providers. You can search by address, or zip code, or town. The hours vary from place to place, and you can find that information online. I was lucky and discovered an in-home provider near me. She’s only taking care of one other kid right now. I’d used her before, so I already knew how good she was, but you can interview first.
My workdays go really fast. Telehealth is really picking up. We get lots of calls. Our team is doing well, working well with the docs in our area. Since I’m on-site, I’m transferring calls to whichever Nuclear Medicine scheduler is on for the day and also putting in the faxes in for them. The first two weeks [of the pandemic] we were working relatively slowly, but we’ve got the new process down now, and things are smoother, and we’re scheduling faster.
Click here to connect with more SHARE’D Stories
Often when we schedule something, we have to re-schedule the procedure for a couple weeks later due to the precautions with the virus . . . and we just hope that it doesn’t happen again, that we don’t have to schedule out even further. Thankfully, the patients are really understanding and nice about it.
My older kids are home. They have to get all of their chores and schoolwork done while I’m at work. We have a couple of staff who come to the house regularly to provide ABA support. They’ve been really helpful. Thankfully that’s an essential service, and has continued through the shutdown. The kids are all responsible to email their teachers right before I get home, so I get a response from each of their teachers. I set that up that system as soon as the schools were out, so it’s become a good routine.
Actually, the thing I’m most nervous about is things re-opening, the kids going back to school. Right now, we don’t have the usual trips across town for appointments in the evening, none of the usual sports teams. No rushing to get fast food. We’re eating all homemade meals and then enjoying our together-time in the evenings. The girls are making dinner every night. We can all sit down together to watch TV. It’s been a surprising upside. When things get more back to normal, I’ll definitely want to preserve some of the special habits we've started now.
***
In this past article from the Telegram & Gazette, you can read about Dianne's experience having fostered over fifty children!
A Message from SHARE
Dear Member,
Right now, in the very deepest part of our hearts, we are grieving. This week has been one of revelations and affirmations. Our country is suffering.
SHARE stands with the Black community—Black Lives Matter. The systemic oppression of Black people, including the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and many before them, continues to be woven into our cultural fabric. We are all subject to the pervasive virus of racism.
We formed our union in 1997 to have a say in decisions that affect us, to set a standard of treating every single person with kindness and respect, and to cultivate community. Our strength comes from building relationships, listening to each other's stories, and taking care of one another. We are committed to standing with our most vulnerable members who experience discrimination, racism, harm, and injustice. In this moment, it is particularly important to support the Black and Brown members of our community.
Today we simultaneously feel worry, outrage, impotence. We are brokenhearted. But in moments like this, even with a global pandemic still looming over us all, a community response is needed. Building relationships of trust and taking care of each other are needed here. Together, we can demand and create justice. We must make sure that workers on the front lines are heard, and have the resources needed to find a path forward, one that includes justice, dignity, respect, and love in action.
How will this moment activate us? Can we build a new way of living with one another? To do so, we need to stop and listen with intention. Without rushing into reflexive action, we must learn even more fully and deeply from those of us in the Black and Brown communities.
Our conversations may include periods of what seem like silence, of unsaid words that people can’t or won’t share. Or, we may hear hard truths. And some of us will likely say the wrong things. These are difficult conversations; we will have to listen to each other with compassion and engage with respect.
SHARE will continue its work building strength through relationships of trust and building bridges among our communities. We extend an open invitation for you to continue with us in this work. We intend to listen.
In Solidarity,
SHARE
SHARE Member Spotlight: Joshua Resch
JOSHUA RESCH
MENTAL HEALTH ASSOCIATE, PTRC (PSYCHIATRIC TREATMENT CENTER), 4/29/20
Note: PTRC transitioned to an all COVID-positive unit several weeks ago, after a number of patients came down with COVID-19 and were transferred to University for medical treatment.
A lot of us understand the field of inpatient psychiatry, but now the whole game is changed. It’s no longer just about the patient and their condition, whether they are manic, or whatever. We still try to reach out to the patient, talk with them about what they care about, encourage them, talk them down if they are elevated. Now all our interactions come with another thread: We are much more guarded, like if the patient is angry, we take a few steps back to see where the situation goes. It’s a new way of thinking, to find an approach that helps the patient but also protects ourselves and the patient from the disease.
Unfortunately, it was like guerilla warfare when COVID spread in our department. One day you’d talk to a patient or a co-worker, and the next day they were sick, or you were taking the patient to the ED. We watched our patients dwindle down to just 2. It was remarkable, and I’m so curious: What is it about these 2 patients that they didn’t get sick? And 4 or 5 of the staff didn’t get sick – we were the last people standing.
Who knows, maybe we did get sick and we were asymptomatic. We aren’t allowed to get tested unless we have symptoms, so it’s confusing.
A lot of my co-workers come from other countries, and their parents live with them. They are very worried about bringing the virus home and getting them sick.
Some nurses and I volunteer to observe our co-workers taking off and putting on their PPE. It seems ridiculous to say, “Nope, you did that wrong, you have to wash your hands and do it again.” But it’s important.
We are really making sure we have each other’s back. If someone needs to go to the bathroom, you know it’s going to be a 15 minute process.
I think now my co-workers and I are finding ways of creating some humor, we rag on each other more than usual. We’re all still scared, but the humor helps. Hazard pay would help too!
Who are those masked men? They’re the heroes who serve as Mental Health Associates at the PTRC
Some nurses and I volunteer to observe our co-workers taking off and putting on their PPE. It seems ridiculous to say, “Nope, you did that wrong, you have to wash your hands and do it again.” But it’s important.
Click to connect with more SHARE’D Stories
We are really making sure we have each other’s back. If someone needs to go to the bathroom, you know it’s going to be a 15 minute process.
I think now my co-workers and I are finding ways of creating some humor, we rag on each other more than usual. We’re all still scared, but the humor helps. Hazard pay would help too!
Who are those masked men? They’re the heroes who serve as Mental Health Associates at the PTRC
Some nurses and I volunteer to observe our co-workers taking off and putting on their PPE. It seems ridiculous to say, “Nope, you did that wrong, you have to wash your hands and do it again.” But it’s important.
We are really making sure we have each other’s back. If someone needs to go to the bathroom, you know it’s going to be a 15 minute process.
I think now my co-workers and I are finding ways of creating some humor, we rag on each other more than usual. We’re all still scared, but the humor helps. Hazard pay would help too!
Who are those masked men? They’re the heroes who serve as Mental Health Associates at the PTRC
Some nurses and I volunteer to observe our co-workers taking off and putting on their PPE. It seems ridiculous to say, “Nope, you did that wrong, you have to wash your hands and do it again.” But it’s important.
We are really making sure we have each other’s back. If someone needs to go to the bathroom, you know it’s going to be a 15 minute process.
I think now my co-workers and I are finding ways of creating some humor, we rag on each other more than usual. We’re all still scared, but the humor helps. Hazard pay would help too!
SHARE'D Stories: A SHARE Member Gallery
introducing share’d stories
During the pandemic, it’s sometimes been hard to imagine how to move forward. However, SHARE members have worked straight on through, with diligence, teamwork, and compassion. We’ve been highlighting that work on the SHARE blog. Now we’re happy to announce that we’re collecting up those experience in a new online gallery, “SHARE’D Stories.”
SHARE your story
The gallery is growing, and we want to include you. Our stories connect us, and they make our union strong. You can share yours by starting with the link below:
We’re glad to see a recent increase in awareness in the popular media about expertise of healthcare workers and the challenges of working on the front line. Those reports are great, but they often overlook the various roles that people perform in hospitals. Over 2800 SHARE members fill 170 different job titles, and each of us has experiences to tell about. We hope you’ll enjoy, be moved by, learn from, and share these stories.
please note: The SHARE office phone has not been working properly this week. We think it’s fixed now. But, if you are unable to leave a message, contact the SHARE organizing staff via share.comment@theshareunion.org, or contact an organizer directly. Thank you for understanding.
Member Spotlight: Emily Anderson, PCA
Emily Anderson
Patient Care Associate, Memorial Campus, 5/20/20
I had my own brush with COVID symptoms in the beginning of March and stayed out of work for two weeks. The day I went to get tested at the University tent was a cold, snowy day. I felt sad for the workers out in the cold in their PPE. Everyone I dealt with at Employee Health and at the tent were extremely kind and helpful. This was right at the beginning of the crisis, and I think the staff did a great job at what must have been a confusing time. Thankfully, I tested negative and could come back to work. But when I returned, my PCA job felt like a whole new job. Not only were we busy every minute of the shift due to volume, but we needed to think about how to do our job in a very different way. Policies and procedures were changing every day. Our communication had to be thorough and timely to make sure all staff were working properly. There could be a whole new list of things to remember and do properly from day to day. This was stressful, but we appreciated that hospital leadership was working hard to continuously improve our working conditions for safety and improving patient care.
The help from the community has been incredible during this difficult time. Local restaurants and families have provided us with lunches, dinners, and snacks. It makes a difference to not have to think about food when there are so many more important things to do. And there have been some very, creative donations made by friends of my coworkers. One friend has a 3D printer and designed a simple piece of plastic that attaches to our face masks so that the elastic is not riding on your ears all day. It may not sound like much, but it is one more thing that truly helps us concentrate on our patients rather than being distracted. This friend also designed and produced a kind of face shield with just a piece of plastic from notebook dividers and again by making us safer, we can focus on our work. It is wonderful the way so many people from the community have come together to support us.
One of the most challenging changes is interacting with patients. We know this must be a very stressful time for them and we are doing our best to be sensitive to all our patients . . . but especially our elderly patients with hearing loss, confusion, or other issues. It must be scary to see us walk into a noisy room in our full PPE gear—we kind of look like aliens-- and wonder what is happening? We want them to know we care. Our patients can’t see our smiles behind our masks, but they can hear how much we care in our voices and the expression in our eyes.
The pandemic has brought the idea of teamwork to a whole new level. It’s not about helping one another get the work done. It’s about caring for one another’s well-being and supporting each other’s work. When we are feeling anxious, we remind each other to breathe and make sure everyone gets the time they need to regroup. This crisis has made our staff really close, and I’m grateful for each person. These are the people who truly appreciate my experience, understand what I’m going through, and know what I’m talking about when I say, “We’re all in this together.”
SHARE member Ellen Horgan (PCA), Ashley Lanpher RN , SHARE member Nicole Blair ( PCA) & SHARE member Brianna Courteau (PCA) and SHARE member Emily Anderson (PCA)
Click to connect with more SHARE’D Stories
Member Spotlight: Jason Trenkle, Administrative Tech
Jason Trenkle
Administrative Tech & SHARE Executive Board Member, Marlborough Emergency Department, 4/29/20
Jason Trenkle with Marlboro Hospital’s SHARE Signature Poster
We were in a really good place at the start of this. We were able to get a lot of people trained and up to speed and everyone was very flexible. I'm sure we all experienced the same machine gun fire of new protocols that kept coming at us. We'd be told one thing, then five seconds later we'd be told something else. That seemed to get people together quickly. I'm proud of how we've been able to handle this so far.
The honeymoon period of over-staffing, over-training and lots of info has slowed, though, as patient-load has kicked up. People are ever so-slightly clipped, trying to get a lot done and trying to stay focused. Anytime I've had a negative experience though, I can look back on it and understand where it was coming from. Sometimes, I pass people in the hall and am surprised when they seem frustrated with me out of nowhere. Then I remember that they're up to their necks in work, too, and maybe I was being a little too cheery for that moment. Now, I'm trying to be more focused and read the situation better. People are strained and I know it's not personal when we get short with each other.
Other times, I've felt helpless. The other day, everything was slow and we were all pretty relaxed until noon came and patients started pouring in on both ends. All the sudden, we were intubating two people at once, and we didn't have everything we needed. People were really frustrated, so I tried to focus on what was needed two steps down and make it easier for the staff. I try to focus the best I can, despite the tension.
One of the most memorable moments so far is one of the first intubations I was present for. I was outside the door being a gofer and testing all of our new techniques. It was stressful trying to get an old baby monitor with a grainy image to work properly to help people outside the room interact with people inside the room. It's a hard wooden door, there are tons of PPE and hoods, It's hard to communicate through all of that, but we're trying to limit exposure as much as possible. During that first intubation of a COVID-19 patient, it was like, 'OK, this is happening. Ready. Set. Go.' People jumped into it, muttering to themselves all the steps, trying to get it right. And I'm trying to get everyone to doff and don everything properly. The docs are so practiced but sometimes they forget. I try to take care of all if it, but it's hard not to be on edge just to do very simple things. I'm trying to be as efficient as possible but I realize sometimes that I'm taking longer because I'm rushing. I tell myself, 'Just take a breath and see a couple steps ahead. I need to do this, so I can do that.'
The hardest part is that you're never really ready for it. Maybe that's just the ER. We go from zero to one hundred. The day will start off slow and then lunch hits and there's six more patients than when I left half an hour ago. It can turn on a dime and you need to be able to perform at your peak and get everything done and then all the sudden 3 o'clock comes. I don't feel done, but, I've got to go home. I've got to get outta here. The next shift is here. Then I'm heading home and trying to come down, but it's not always that easy. My husband works 9a-5p and lives off of the news. He turns it on as soon as he gets home. It's always stories from other hospitals where it's just dire. When there are touching stories, I try not to weep like a baby. I try to take myself out of the moment for a while. I just look out the window and focus on my breathing. I'm trying to be strong for my family and not put too much on them. I'm trying to be strong for my husband, so that he's not too stressed out. Sometimes it's hard. After four days on, I really get tired and my defenses fall. I feel guilty about that though. So many people are working many more hours than that. I know of a nurse who was hired to work in New York City for 80+ hours a week. It makes me feel silly to say I'm burned out and emotionally pushed. I guess there are a lot of mountains and valleys. I find comfort in being able to go to work and focus on the here and now. But, when I go home I worry about the global scale of this. I worry about the implications, not just financially, but what its going to do to our culture. I worry about all kinds of things that could morph from this. I'm ready to get back to my normal life. I also feel guilty for wanting that, but I want to play soccer with my friends. I want to be able to play pick-up games at the park.
Click to connect with more SHARE’D Stories
I feel grateful for my mornings though. I get in it's 6:45 a.m. when the town hasn't really woken up yet. There usually aren't that many patients and we all get a moment to commiserate about the day before over a cup of coffee. For a moment, it feels normal. Even through the rest of the shift feels totally bonkers and the outside world feels completely different. It feels like our jobs haven't changed, there's just a ton of new protocol. It feels still and it's nice. I'm grateful that even though the world has changed that that part of the day is totally the same.