The majority of nurses are not at work today because they didn’t receive the paychecks they were promised.
Information for this story are from interviews with two nurses—one has been with LBJ for nine years, and another for three years.
The former was at work this morning because she said that she feels for the patients, while the other decided to stay home. She shared how the LBJ Hospital nurses are on strike.
The nurses learned earlier this week that they were not getting the promised increase in pay, the CEO explained at a meeting last week. They said, the CEO told them that the pay hikes would be effective this pay period—the same information the CEO gave KHJ News.
According to the nurses, the increases in their latest paychecks were between 18 and less than 50 cents.
The nurses reported that the LBJ CEO Moefaauo Bill Emmsley said, at a meeting last week, that all nurses above entry level will receive an increase in their salary rate, although no details were provided.
The CEO only gave media the entry level salaries: $9.88/hour for Certified Nurse Assistant,
$13.22/hour for Licensed Practical Nurse & $18.42/hour for Registered Nurse.
The more senior nurse who spoke to KHJ News by phone said “this was the last strae on the camel’s back.”
Crying, she said, “We nurses have been overworked, putting in 150 to 180 hours every two weeks. We are tired, we want to spend time with our families.”
She said, it’s not just about the money. “The situation with patient care is getting very dangerous,” she said. “The nurse to patient ratio is sometimes 1-12, and that violates CMS regulations. “And if there’s a critically ill patient, I feel sorry for the other patients who deserve to be cared, because the seriously ill patient will be my priority.”
Though she fully supports the stay at home protest by her colleagues, she decided to work today because she “feels for the patients.” She said, the nurses are fed up and they’re doing this so their problems can be addressed.
She added that CEO Moefaauo was made aware of the nurses not getting the raises they were expecting, but it appears that nothing was done to address it.
The less senior of the two nurses, who contacted KHJ News said, that the “nurses are on strike.”
She said, after the meeting last week with the CEO, they were looking forward to seeing higher paychecks but “what a disappointment to see just an 18 cent increase.”
She was certain the CEO told them at the meeting that this was going to be a system wide pay increase, to upgrade not just entry level salaries but all paygrades of nurses.
She said, the day shift and night shift nurses in the core wards and clinics have all decided to stay home. The nurses on contract are the ones who are still working, she said.
According to her, the nurses from Fiji have still not been paid since they arrived three weeks ago.
The nurse revealed that her supervisor also opted to stay home because after being promised that excess leave would be paid, this was not included in her paycheck.
KHJ News sent emails to the LBJ CEO and Chairman of the LBJ Board of Directors, Dr. Malouamaua Tuiolosega, requesting comments to be included in this report.
Dr. Tuiolosega said that he was just learning about the matter from our email and he would let the CEO respond.
There was no response from the CEO as we went to air; and when KHJ News stopped by his office after 2 on Friday afternoon, he had left for the day.
