Lemanu- Talauega admin voice concern over nurses strike at hospital

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — Governor Lemanu P. S Mauga and Lt Governor Talauega E. V Ale are “very concerned with the nurses' current situation at LBJ.”

This is according to the governor’s Chief of Staff Loa Tauapa’i Laupola in response to Samoa News queries after nurses walked out from the hospital last Friday and picketed waving signs along the roadway to the hospital on Monday morning.

As reported yesterday close to 50 nurses were picking Monday morning along the Faga’alu road leading up to LBJ hospital over unpaid overtime and not getting their promised increment as announced last week by the hospital management and board.

More than 20 nurses did not attend their shifts at the hospital over the weekend as a way of expressing their disappointment with decisions made by the LBJ Hospital management.

According to a senior nurse, “if the LBJ hospital could hire unlicensed nurses from Fiji, put them in hotels to await nursing school in January, how could they not afford to pay our overtime and promised increment?”

The nurse further said this is not the first time, they have had issues with their overtime and now they have had “enough”.

 “If the hospital can afford to make administrative decisions by hiring overseas unlicensed nurses, we are entitled to our overtime.

 “We have worked tirelessly with a mountain of unpaid overtime but their recent decisions have called it into question.

 “We have nothing against our Fijian sisters and brothers here to lend a hand, but they are unlicensed, so all they are doing are nurses assistant work, yet they are getting housing allowances and other benefits that we the local nurses are not entitled to. Where is the fairness in that?

 “They hired the nurses from Fiji, then they announced that we will get an increase in our salaries, as if words will pay our bills,” said the senior nurse.

The Chief of Staff told Samoa News the government leaders are standing by ready to step in to assist the hospital.

“Governor Lemanu and Lieutenant Governor Talauega are very concerned with the nurses' current situation at LBJ.

“They have reached out to the LBJ CEO Moefaauo to solve the issues ASAP and to advise them immediately.

“They are standing ready to step in and help solve the problem,” said Loa.

The hospital issued a statement on Monday afternoon citing “an untimely calamity” for the LBJ patients on the receiving end of an abrupt and ‘without notice’ walk-out by a few nurses on Friday, Dec. 16, 2022, and Monday, Dec. 19, 2022:

In regards to the impact from nurses “abandoning their work stations” (Monday), CEO Moefa’auo met with a group of nurses who provided a letter of grievances.

“After the meeting, the CEO directed all of the nurses to return back to work.

“The CEO's main concern, as he voiced it to the nurses, was to provide continuous safe and quality patient care for the hospital and safety for the employees who remained steadfast.

“The CEO did not shy away from sharing his thoughts that the nursing profession is a the ‘top’ of his agenda, from the beginning.”

According to the statement, the CEO further explained there have been several initiatives already enacted in support of the nurse's agenda.

“The CEO was very empathetic towards the nurses and advised them that he will meet with the Board of Directors and senior management in resolving their issues as presented,” the statement reads.

Several nurses that were part of the Monday strike have not returned to work and told Samoa News unless the hospital addressed their grievances they will not go back to the hospital.

“I am not going back, until I am paid what I’m owed,” said a senior nurse when contacted by Samoa News about whether she has returned to work.

“This is a classic case of broken promises, they announced we were getting increments in our salaries and come pay day, not only we didn’t get paid for our overtime but also we didn’t get the promised boost in our salaries, which were the words by the CEO,” said the disappointed nurses.

According to the statement issued by the hospital, the CEO respects the nurses' rights of freedom of speech, but the CEO's primary responsibility is to ensure high-quality healthcare and continuous safe patient care is not compromised in accordance to the Conditions of Participation for Centers of Medicare & Medicaid Services.

The hospital statement said that the “walk-out was uncalled for, which exacerbated an already bad staffing situation.

“As the CEO reminded the nurses, he has always had an open- door policy, and they failed to use it to their advantage accordingly.

“But instead, they left their duties, which jeopardized the lives of the patients who are dependent on their services.”

The CEO and Management are grateful to the LBJ nurses who remained on their posts during this unfortunate event, the release said.

“In addition, the CEO is thankful to all the nurses who have come out of retirement to assist with the nursing shortage.