MNA: As Smith College Budget Cuts Endanger RN Services, Community Members and Medical Staff Advocate to Protect Student Health by Petitioning and Writing Letters to College Administrators

Smith College in Northampton plans to cut one of two full-time registered nurse positions at Pelham Medical Services, jeopardizing the ability of medical staff to meet the diverse healthcare needs of students

NORTHAMPTON, Mass., May 22, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Hundreds of community members have signed a petition urging Smith College to preserve full RN services at Pelham Medical Services at the Schacht Center for Health and Wellness. The college recently announced budget cuts, including eliminating one of two full-time nursing positions, prompting medical team members to write letters to Smith administrators out of concern that the cut will mean a deterioration of care for students who often require diverse and complex treatment.

"This decision raises significant apprehension about our ability to meet the diverse healthcare needs of our students," the community petition on Change.org says. "The reduction in staffing will severely impede our capacity to maintain the level of service excellence that our students rightfully expect. Our nurses play a pivotal role in providing clinical support across medical, counseling, and psychiatry services. Without this position, we anticipate the need to consider scaling back our hours and narrowing our scope of services."

In the petition, medical staff point to an increased need for student healthcare at Pelham, and highlight the complicated nature of providing care to a diverse student population:

• Nurses at Pelham see in-person care visits linked to 50 different nurse protocols and standing orders created by the medical director.
  • Having nurses see more straightforward visit types allows our doctor and nurse practitioners to see medically and psychiatrically complex patients every day.
• So far for the 2023-2024 academic year, there have been 1478 nursing visits, up from 687 nurse visits pre-pandemic in the 2018-2019 academic year.
• Care at Pelham Medical Services has only expanded and become more complex in recent years, such that top diagnoses seen by the doctor and nurse practitioners in the medical service now include anxiety, eating disorders, and depression.
  • We rely upon nursing to provide triage, care coordination, after hours support, lab testing and medical procedures, immunizations, emergency care, crisis response care, and direct office visit care.

Explanation of the Impact of the RN Elimination:

The current clinical staffing at the Schacht Center currently consists of one medical assistant, three RN's (2 FTE and 1 PTE), and six providers between medical services and psychiatric providers in the counseling services. The RN's and medical assistant provide support for both medical and psychiatric providers. Schedules are already staggered to provide adequate daily coverage.

Eliminating this 35-hour RN position will only allow for one FTE and one PTE for daily RN staffing, resulting in only 1 RN two days per week. The nurses currently manage anywhere from 10-30 triage calls, 10-20 nursing appointments, all walk-in urgent care appointments, and prescription calls and refill needs for both the medical and psychiatry providers on a daily basis.

Steps taken so far in the advocacy effort include:

• 10 medical team members sent a letter on May 10 to the Smith College President, Dean of the College, VP of Finance, Dean of Students and Kris Evans, LICSW, Director, Schacht Center for Health & Wellness.
• Created and shared an online petition on May 16, which was shared with students, faculty/staff, and alums, who have then shared it in private online social media groups for students, parents, and alums.

"Nurses truly form the bedrock of our care," the medical team members wrote to college administrators on May 10. "Elimination of this RN position will inevitably increase risk to Smith College by reducing safeguards that help keep our most vulnerable students safe and able to stay on campus.

"Please help us by funding this position so that we can carry out our commitment to our mission to provide high quality, compassionate health care to support and serve our students, so that they can stay safe and flourish here at Smith."

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Founded in 1903, the Massachusetts Nurses Association is the largest union of registered nurses in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Its 25,000 members advance the nursing profession by fostering high standards of nursing practice, promoting the economic and general welfare of nurses in the workplace, projecting a positive and realistic view of nursing, and by lobbying the Legislature and regulatory agencies on health care issues affecting nurses and the public.

SOURCE Massachusetts Nurses Association