VSEA State Hospital Member Writes Letter Warning Of VSH Staffing Issues
"Not only are these mandates incredibly disruptive to our personal and family lives, but the state is paying veteran staff members time and a half for work shifts that should have been covered at straight time. Most of my fellow workers feel this recent flurry of mandates is unfair and largely due to administrative indifference and incompetence."
Courageous Peter! Thank You!
Article published Mar 16, 2011
State hospital staff is misused
I have worked as a psychiatric technician at the Vermont State Hospital for the last seven years. We, the techs and the nurses, are on “the front lines” working with Vermont’s most vulnerable and, at times, most dangerous population.
In this current employment “recession,” we are fortunate to have good-paying jobs with adequate benefits. Accordingly, a vast majority of my co-workers are active in the rehabilitation process and describe their roles as challenging and rewarding.
This resolve and commitment to our clients’ recovery, however, has been severely tested over the last few months. During this period, there have been hundreds of staff mandates — when techs and nurses are forced to work overtime to cover personnel shortages on the units.
Under our labor contract, we are obligated, during a crisis — like a snow emergency — to man the floors with a minimum number of bodies to maintain safety and to provide services to our clients. How or why, then, have we been in a staffing crisis for two months?
Not only are these mandates incredibly disruptive to our personal and family lives, but the state is paying veteran staff members time and a half for work shifts that should have been covered at straight time. Most of my fellow workers feel this recent flurry of mandates is unfair and largely due to administrative indifference and incompetence.
Morale is at an all-time low.
When acuity levels are high on the units, our jobs are very stressful. Working with hostile and sometimes physically aggressive clients for 16 hours can be dangerous. Techs and nurses are not alert, client care suffers, involuntary procedures increase, and more workers are injured.
Over the past four years, significant improvements have been made to the hospital’s “therapeutic environment.” I now believe the Department of Mental Health and/or the Legislature should conduct an investigation into personnel and fiscal mismanagement at the Vermont State Hospital.
Peter Bartlett
St. Albans