LETTER: ‘Queen’s Health Systems Does Not Value Nurses Equally’

As a nurse at North Hawaii Community Hospital, I believe in and support the vision and guiding principle of the Queen’s Health System “to be the preeminent health care system of the Pacific, providing super patient care…”

“One Team Committed to Best Patient C.A.R.E. for our Community.”

The second point of their KA ‘IKE PONO goals states, “We are Queen’s– to be the best place to work and practice in Hawaii.”

These are great goals. but aren’t being realized.

Over the last three months the nurses of NHCH have sought to discuss changes we feel are important to improve patient safety through increasing nurse staffing levels, restructuring practices to ensure safe patient care, and improve nurse recruitment and retention for the hospital.

But Queen’s management has refused to join the discussion or settle a fair contract that treats the nurses at NHCH as equals to the nurses at other Queens facilities.

What their mission statement really means is to be the best place to work on Oahu.

The nurses at NHCH have not asked for anything that is not already available to the nurses at other Queens hospitals. NHCH nurses ARE Queen’s nurses, so why are we treated as sub-par? I wonder what Queen Emma would say?

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