Present: Scott Grefe, Molly Kennedy, Chuck Carlson, Amanda Mathiowetz, Shannon Pech, John Knobbe, Ryan Cates, Connie Anderson, Melissa Gresczyk, Colleen Ryan, Meghan Goodrich, Paul Ploog, Tudy Fowler, Tom Christensen, and Rita Olson
Management Agenda Items:
1. Overtime and Injury Data a) Data shows that CY 2013 Assaults are down significantly from 2012. Concern over 8 of 10 reports on Unit 800 was for one specific patient. Management states that this was because of a medication issue and is now stabilized. Union’s concern is that this is a repeating pattern of multiple assaults until a newly admitted patient stabilizes and questions what measures are being undertaken to correct this. b) Overtime hours are right at the hours budgeted (1200 for SC and LPN combined). AFSCME asked that on the overtime report, holiday overtime get removed to receive a more accurate number. This is being looked into.
2. Update on FNH Consultant Project a) Consultants are reviewing the initial report. The final report should hopefully be out the end of December.
3. Update on Staff Advisory Committee formation a) Very well rounded attendance. Each unit had a representative. These meetings are held monthly and we encourage all suggestions. Trying to come up with how to get night staff present. Meetings are the 2nd Friday of the month at 1 pm and the minutes are posted on the Share Point site.
4. Update on NOC Shift vacation a) There will now be 6 vacation slots. This will start on the January 29th, 2014 schedule.
5. Update on small programs volunteer project a) Asked for CRP and Nursing Home volunteers. 38 expressed interest from CRP, 11 from the Nursing Home. There will be more information to come on how it will be granted. Hoping that this will be a temporary fix. b) To pick up additional shifts management will first go by those interested in the program. When chosen out of the program it will be granted by seniority. c) OT will only be granted to employees from outside of the program(s) to avoid inversing program staff. d) Management will develop criteria to ensure that volunteers are capable and qualified to work within FNH and CRP. e) The RNOD of the respective programs will be doing the OT offering. f) AFSCME expressed that we currently have 31 patients in CRP with more on the way. Since the law was passed that mandated if a patient is committed to CRP they must be in the facility within 48 hours of the commitment, we have gained patients but no staff. CRP is currently fully staffed aside from one .5 position, for a program that has a capacity of 25 patients. Looking at the rate of intakes to discharges --- going by sheer numbers we will have 40 patients by early to mid-January. AFSCME questions if this program properly staffed. Looking at the numbers of injuries combined with the number of patients we will potentially have in the near future, it would suggest that CRP is in need of more direct care staff.
6. December lead leveling closed and being reviewed a) 28 people total from MSH/CRP – MSOP totals not available
7. Update on Imminent Risk training – second step at MSH a) Staff will receive 30 minutes of training credit. This is an ongoing training opportunity. The training will be done by the unit TTSs on the units.
8. Meal costs for hospital coverage a) ISJ is ending their contract therefore meals will no longer be covered when not in travel status. Travel status would include hospital coverage that is outside of 35 miles. When covering within 35 miles, hospital security will help with breaks. It is important to let hospital security know you are there upon arrival. If you are covering outside of 35 miles you will get reimbursed for your meal by filling out an Employee Expense Report. Staff also have the option of getting cash from the patient bank but this must be arranged the day before. b) In the process of updating med trip bags.
9. Expectations during hospital coverage a) Management announced that employee owned electronics are no longer allowed while sitting hospital coverage. AFSCME questioned the expectations of staff during hospital coverage and what are allowable activities. Management restated that staff are to act professionally while on state business in a public setting.
10. Cameras for common areas a) Management is exploring the cost of cameras in common areas. These cameras will be reviewed in response to incidents. There is a policy in place when it comes to camera review. AFSCME cautioned that there is a DHS policy in place for use of recorded material and video footage can and has been misinterpreted when used as an investigatory tool.
11. Electronic suggestion box a) This is in place. The handwritten suggestion box is no longer. The Executive Team will automatically be alerted when a suggestion is received and this will not be anonymous. The Executive Team will respond to the suggestion or hand it off to the appropriate staff who can best respond. All suggestions can be seen by all staff and the progress of the response.
12. Engagement Survey a) The 3rd Engagement Survey will be sent out via email January 13th. The survey will be identical to the two previous years. DHS conducts a separate survey in February. This is not the same survey.
13. Town Hall Meetings a) Will be held January 9th for all shifts
14. eMAR Update a) Management has received an overall positive response from nursing. There are still bugs to work out. AFSCME pointed out that our feedback from nursing has been universally negative as to training, ease of use and considerable increases in med pass time. b) eMAR and the help desk are aware of the glitches and are working to resolve these issues. When there is a glitch to report, staff should let their supervisor know. Staff can also submit this information to the help desk. Electronic medical records are not created to be quicker but rather to be more accurate. Management stated that there problems with available bandwidth to support eMAR at this time. c) OmniCell - Unit 700 will go live with this after the holiday’s and then onto Unit 600.
AFSCME Agenda Items:
1.Progress on developing crisis unit program (update) a) Management stated that the Staff Advisory Committee has been tasked with formulating a list of ideas with their next meeting being January 10th, 2014.
2. Competency Restoration Program (CRP) and the Forensic Nursing Home (FNH) - picking up extra shifts within their programs. a) Addressed under Management item 5.
3. Military leave-changing schedule a) John Knobbe is working with Stu Douglas on getting days off switched for as many people during drill weekends. If it does not cause overtime it is possible for Stu to switch days off. 4. Addition of FT LPN positions This has been brought up repeatedly and is a concern that our LPNs keep bringing back to us as a reason to leave MSH. a) More fulltime positions would mean less bodies and then a different rotation for scheduling would need to happen. 1 position was added over the past year. Management will review this.
5. MSH driver position Management has been provided with the requested data to support labors position that this is a needed SC billet. a) Data has been reviewed by Rita Olson and this has been brought to the TTS group. Bartlett Hall has staff to cover their own trips. The main building would only require a 16.5 hour work week. Between both buildings it is 30.5 hours. This job is great for light duty. At this time management will not be pursuing this because there are not enough hours for a permanent position.
6. SOFS Employee badges a) It has been brought to our attention through the MNOSHA Consultation process that OSHA, the FBI, and The Department of Justice that employees should not have their last name on the badges as a workplace violence prevention measure. This is a current issue in CRP with an employee being targeted by an ex-patient. Anne Barry will be doing research on this.
7. Patient Transport Device training a) By our survey the required training for direct care staff on the proper use of the backboard and Scoop device is still incomplete. TTS and Security Counselor Leads were trained and then asked to train their units. 106 total have been trained.
8. Forensic Nursing Home Vacation availability a) AFSCME scheduling analysis came up with 3 extra per day. b) The Nursing Home has 34 patients and average 6 staff on LOA. They have budgeted 4 float positions to help with the vacancies. Also management is trying to honor staff having every other weekend off. c) AFSCME has been bringing this concern forward for four months and progress to date is limited to awaiting the consultant report. The ratio of 1 vacation spot per 38 employees is singular in Forensic Division which was illustrated using the MSH NOCs ratio of 6 spots for 67 employees. d) Managements response was there is limited funding for staffing and more vacation spots may well result in moving away from the every other weekend off scheduling pattern.
9. FNH and Transition inclusion in CERP a) AFSCME was informed that CRP will be retained in Corrections Retirement and all AFSCME staff will be enrolled in CERP. b) MMB is not supporting leaving Transition and the Forensic Nursing Home in CERP and has proposed grandfathering in current employees enrolling new employees in General Plan. c) AFSCME stated that the language for describing MSH and attached programs has changed from Security Hospital to State Operated Forensic Services and State Operated Forensic Services over the years with the terms being used interchangeably. d) AFSCME noted that when the patients between MSH and Transition it is considered a transfer, not a discharge as it is the same program. e) The Forensic Nursing Home is a separate entity and license and requires a discharge and readmit. f) AFSCME stated that we will be working with area legislators in St Paul to redefine MSH in the statute as Forensic Division in order to retain employees in CERP
10. The SOFS Safety Committee had asked that a patient aggression task force be formed to review and recommend changes using the report information to reduce employee injuries. a) Getting better reports. There has been a reminder email sent out to do incident reports for verbal and nonverbal threats, contraband, etc. so it can be tracked. b) Management stated that the role and members of the Violence Reduction Task Force group were rolled into Best Practices and Safety Committees. 11. OT Roster Status. a) Has not been updated since July 31, 2013. An update is being worked on. Management shared that it is working with central office on some issues before they are able to release the roster. This should be updated twice a year. Employees have 30 days to appeal once it is updated.