https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/15/business/hospital-staffing-ascension.html
Stephanie Bates, a Genesys nurse who works a 12-hour shift ending at 11:30 p.m., said that multiple times a week, she is ordered to work until 3:30 a.m. She said that she refuses so that she can care for her young children early in the morning. Other nurses echoed her experience.
On at least four occasions this year, managers have written in nurses’ employment files that refusing to work 16-hour shifts “is not in line with our value of dedication,” according to internal disciplinary records reviewed by The Times.
Nurses in nearly every unit at the hospital said in interviews that they were regularly required to care for more patients than allowed under their contract — restrictions that are supposed to ensure the safety of patients. “You just try to do damage control your whole shift,” said Stephanie Atchley, a Genesys nurse. “It just all snowballs into very poor care.”
Dr. Dale Hanson, a physician who treats patients at Genesys, said that most days, there are not enough nurses, resulting in prolonged hospital stays for his patients. Some get marooned in the emergency room because of nursing shortages in other parts of the hospital.
Dr. Hanson blamed Ascension’s aggressive cost-cutting, which he said has resulted in “miserable” conditions for patients and staff.