DHS asked to weigh-in on over 100 complaints from nurses at UW Health Systems

 

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) --Strong allegations tonight against a "level one" trauma center, one of only two in the entire state, but UW Health Systems is fighting back. They say nurses, crying about patient-safety issues, have ulterior motives, and it's all about the money. 

Wisconsin's Department of Health Services is being asked to weigh-in on what's going on at UW Health Systems. There are more than 100 complaints from nurses dealing with patient safety. 

Bright orange papers, and a sense of urgency, as nurses hand them off to DHS. What was written on those orange papers are examples of what nurses say has been swept under the rug by UW Health System administrators for too long. 

"We are so extremely understaffed, that some nurses have to work 16 hours. That is just no good for anybody's well-being, not for patients especially. We're exhausted. Sixteen hours? You're not sharp," said Mary Jorgensen, inpatient operating room registered nurse at UW Health. 

Among the complaints, "no X-Ray techs available," "not enough nurses to cover vacations," and a "sick nurse coming into work because there's no other option." Another claims a surgeon said to an inexperienced nurse post-op it was "unfair to me (the nurse) and unfair to the patient."

"Everybody's just so short staffed and we're being asked to do more with less and less, it's terrifying," said Jorgensen.

In a written statement, UW Health says "employees should not work more than 16.5 consecutive hours, except in emergency situations," but nurses say it's happening even with no emergency. 

UW Health says the safety talk is just a ploy to get nurses more money, saying in September, SEIU "threatened to bring their concerns to DHS if we didn't meet their demands." 

Nurses say that compensation is part of the problem, because experienced nurses won't stay at a level one trauma center unless the pay is there. 

"We do transplants at UW liver, hearts, lungs, kidneys, pancreas, we do open heart. And they need to be competitive to keep people there," said Jorgensen.

Nurses have been working without a contract since 2018. They say UW Health lost 23% of its nurses since January. 

UW Health says that those numbers are not accurate, and that "the turnover rate for UW Health RNS in the O.R. is 9.9%."

"We didn't want to clearly go to the Department of Health, it's a drastic measure, but it was our last resort," said Jorgensen. 

UW Health says their commitment to quality and safety is real. SEIU Wisconsin said they went to DHS to make the hospital system the best it can be.