UPDATE: LARA receives report from UPHS nurses

UPDATE — Friday, August 225h, 2017 4:30 p.m. ET

ABC 10 has confirmed the report from the Michigan Nurses Association has been handed in to the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs. The report complied by nurses at UP Health System – Marquette alleges hundreds of patient safety care violations due to under-staffing. Stay with ABC 10 and ABC10UP.com for the latest on this developing story.

UPDATE — Friday, August 25th, 2017 2:30 p.m. ET

Frustrated with staffing numbers and the hundreds of documented issues with patient care, the Michigan Nurses Association and nurses from UP Health System Marquette filed a report Thursday afternoon with the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services.

According to officials with DHHS, that report will be turned over to the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA). Jeannie Vogel, a Public Information Officer for LARA, tells ABC 10 when a complaint is filed with them, the agency reviews it to determine if any of the allegations violate state or federal regulations.

If LARA determines the complaint is deemed a possible immediate jeopardy (IJ), they will investigate within 48 hours. If it’s not deemed an IJ, the complaint could be investigated within five days or during the next routine inspection.

Vogel added hospital complaints are also forwarded to the hospital’s accrediting organization for review. As of Friday afternoon, LARA has yet to receive the report.

MARQUETTE — The Michigan Nurses Association handed in a report to the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) Thursday afternoon, regarding what the union is calling 780 incidents of unsafe patient care conditions reported by nurses at UP Health System – Marquette.

The report is a compilation of hundreds of unsafe patient care reports recorded since January 1st, 2017. More than 100 instances of IVs running dry and 12 reports of patients falling were cited in the report. The nurses union says these safety concerns are due to staffing levels at the hospital and their reports are being disregarded by management.

“Some of the safety issues have to do with nurses working longer than their shifts, nurses working more hours than they’re typically scheduled – some nurses working anywhere from unscheduled 12 up to 16 hour shifts just because there’s nobody there to relieve them,” said union leader Scott Balko.

In addition to the report, the nurses announced they will vote next week to authorize the union’s negotiating team to call a strike if they feel it is warranted. UP Health System – Marquette did release a statement to ABC 10 about the report:

“Delivering safe, high-quality care is UP Health System – Marquette’s top priority. We take all concerns regarding patient safety very seriously, and we have worked to ensure that our staff have many ways to share ideas, voice concerns and ask questions. In fact, the forms the Michigan Nurses Association is delivering to the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services today were part of an initiative to expand the ways we collect feedback from our nurses. We carefully review and work to address any issue raised as quickly and thoroughly as possible.”

“These forms were intended to serve as a constructive tool to generate conversation and collaboration, and we are disappointed that the union has opted to leverage them in this way while we are negotiating a new contract that better meets the needs of our staff, our community and our hospital. We welcome the opportunity to sit down and discuss these concerns with the MNA, our nursing staff or anyone in our community.”

You can read the report the MI Nurses Association turned into the DHHS by clicking http://www.supportupnurses.org/nurses-speak-out.html.