Augusta, GA
Nurses at Charlie Norwood VA Medical Center speak on alleged hostile working environment
AUGUSTA, Ga. (WJBF) – Nurses at Charlie Norwood are talking out about what they’re calling a hostile working surroundings.NewsChannel 6 spoke with the top of the native nurses union.
Lengthy working hours and lack of coaching are just some of the complaints coming from a gaggle of nurses right here at Charlie Norwood. They are saying one thing must be finished earlier than sufferers right here start struggling too.
“There’s a veteran who we take care of day by day who deserves the very best care that we may give them,” mentioned Irma Westmoreland.
Irma Westmoreland is a registered nurse at Charlie Norwood VA Medical heart. She’s additionally the president of the native nurses union. She says nurses at Charlie Norwood are feeling disrespected and undervalued.
She says, “We’ve got been detailing nurses from place to position to cowl holes in staffing and detailing nurses for 90 days six months 9 months. A few of these particulars are voluntarily and a few aren’t.”
Westmoreland says the large situation with the detailing on the medical heart is, that they’re placing inexperienced nurses in areas that they’ve by no means labored earlier than with out enough coaching.
“We’ve had nurses moved from the ambulatory day surgical procedure space to the ICU to care for sufferers within the step-down unit and so they’ve by no means taken care of these sorts of sufferers earlier than,” she mentioned.
She says it’s like making a plastic surgeon do a neurosurgeon’s job. She says usually nurses would obtain a 30-day discover of a element change and inside these 30 days, there’s coaching for that element, however that protocol is now not being adopted.
“Generally they have been detailed after which the coaching didn’t begin for days and days after that,” she mentioned.
The element adjustments are a results of a staffing scarcity. The Nationwide Nurses Union says that greater than 85 nurses have left Charlie Norwood VA Medical Heart inside the previous 6 months. That’s additionally known as for different nurses to work longer hours.
She says, “There’s been legal guidelines on the books to repair it, like different work schedules. Working three 12 hour shifts and nonetheless being paid for 80 hours and that legislation known as 72 for 80 scheduling and it’s been on the books for years and years, however Charlie Norwood doesn’t need to use it.”
And Westmoreland says nurses working lengthy hours to fill holes in staffing is barely placing sufferers in danger.
“While you’re so short-staffed otherwise you’re exhausted from not having the ability to take a break or take a lunch break and even get an enough aid you’re going to make errors. It units us all up for errors, however on the opposite aspect of that mistake is a veteran who put their life on the road for us,” mentioned Westmoreland.
Westmoreland says she and a gaggle of nurses from Charlie Norwood tried to make their considerations identified to the director with a peaceable demonstration outdoors his workplace, however she says they have been met with barricades and police pressure.
She says. “We have been very peaceable, we simply needed to current our petition that over 3 hundred nurses had signed on the VA concerning the points that now we have. We simply needed to current the petition. We had foam boards We weren’t allowed to enter the chief suite. We have been informed that if we went up into the chief suite we might be arrested.
NewsChannel 6 handed alongside these considerations to hospital leaders they are saying they’re engaged on a response.
AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – A two-passenger plane crashed in Saluda County Sunday morning, according to the Saluda County Sheriff’s Office.
The plane crashed between Persimmon Hill Golf Course and the Saluda County Airport, according to a Facebook post from the Sheriff’s Office.
Officials say Sheriff Deputies, EMS, and the Saluda County Fire Service responded to the scene.
Two passengers were flown via Life Net to receive medical treatment, officials say.
No further information is available at this time.
Copyright 2024 WRDW/WAGT. All rights reserved.
“Unfortunately we’ve had some bad circumstances recently, so anything positive would be good for downtown. We love people downtown, for all the restaurants, and bars, and little boutique shops that are here too. The more people the merrier. The better and safer downtown, the better it is for all of us. I’m excited hockey is coming back,” said Adrian Estrada, The Loft Owner.
AUGUSTA, Ga. (WJBF) – The end of an era–it’s the last full week for Dr. Brooks Keel as the President of Augusta University.
As the days are winding down before he retires, he’s taking a moment to look back.
“It’s a bittersweet moment for me and for Tammie, and it has been all along,” said Keel. “We wanted to retire when I was on a high note, when things were going well–and things have never been better at this university.”
Dr. Keel will retire after more than 14 years in the University of Georgia System, serving as president of Georgia Southern University before moving to Augusta.
He also graduated from both elements of Augusta University, earning a bachelor’s degree in biology and chemistry from Augusta College in 1978, and a doctorate in reproductive endocrinology from the Medical College of Georgia in 1982.
This also marks the end of a nine-year journey as president for Augusta University, a role he took on July 8, 2015.
He says of all the accomplishments, rebranding from Georgia Regents to Augusta University takes the cake.
“I knew at the time there would be some folks in the community who would be very passionate about this, who’d be really pleased. But I never really understood the depth, and the breadth of how much this community just really did not care for the name of Georgia Regents University,” Keel said.
“I still to this day will get people that will stop me in a grocery store–or Home Depot or whatever–and say, thank you for helping bring the Augusta back to the name of the university.”
Under his leadership, the university helped create Wellstar MCG Health, which will invest nearly $800 Million over the next 10 years in facilities and infrastructure.
Last fall, AU surpassed the 10,000-student mark for the first time in the history of the institution.
Since Keel took over, more than 18,000 students have graduated from Augusta University, going on to jobs varied in the 160+ academic programs at the university.
He credits the partnership between the school and city, as the university’s economic impact on the state has grown by nearly $1 Billion.
“We always knew that Augusta University could never live up to its potential without the city of Augusta. The city of Augusta, I don’t believe either can reach its full potential without Augusta University–we’re so intertwined,” Keel said.
His retirement also marks the end of a 40-year career in research and higher education, but Keel says it wasn’t possible on his own.
“The President gets a lot of credit for accomplishments of the University, but I personally have done very little–other than surrounding myself with an unbelievable team who have done the lion share of the hard work, the heavy lifting,” said Keel.
Dr. Russell Keen will take over as the new president on Monday, July 1st–Keel says the university is in good hands.
“We’ve been working together for 14 years, and we’ve gotten to know each other very well during that time. I can say without hesitation that he without question is the best person for this job–the right person, at the right time,” Keel said.
Keel and his wife will go back to Florida following his retirement, but not before reflecting on what he calls a remarkable journey.
“It’s been the thrill of my life to be able to serve my alma mater, and to be able to provide that sort of experience for our students. It has grown and exceeded my expectations far more than I could ever imagined,” said Keel.
It’s the end of one chapter for Keel, who is just as excited about the next one.
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