City Nursing Director Resigns

The city seems to start at $45K. I believe YNHH starts at $75K. Granted, a school nurse's schedule is a lot softer than a hospital nurse's (no holidays, nights, weekends, etc.). Also, YNHH wants its nurses to at least pursue a BSN. Obamacare made becoming a nurse more difficult and expensive by killing off the hospital based diploma programs, which obviously decreases the supply of nurses.

I can't speak to her work overall, but with the caveat that n = 1 here, I have to say that this might actually be a good thing. I volunteered at the vaccination clinic a few weeks back and it was really disorganized: by mid afternoon, people were waiting up to 2 hours and 15 minutes past their appointment time. There was also zero social distancing for the majority of the day because no one had put a contingency plan in place to contact people when we got backed up, and it was very cold outside so the patients were filling the lobby. My understanding was that Ms. Vazquez was the planner/decision-maker for the clinic, but she was not around, so we just tried to make do while falling further and further behind. Hopefully they've worked out the kinks by now, but at the time it was a frustrating experience. (And a bit worrying for me, since I seemed to be the only front-line volunteer there who wasn't already vaccinated.)

I am hoping the City has reached out the excellent nursing programs at SCSU and Yale to fill in some of the unmet needs in the schools.

@1644...


Normally you're right about the schedules, but since the pandemic hit, the New Haven Public Health nurses have been working nights, weekends and Holidays, and the normally non-scheduled, non-paid weeks and days off have been worked. These City of New Haven employees get no earned vacation time, and no one from the city has addressed this, nor have they addressed what will happen on a going-forward basis. It would seem they work under the most labor-unfriendly contract in the City's history.

12 nurses left since August? That number may well represent 33% of all nurses? Has the HR department been involved via exit interviews to determine the root cause of resignations? Do they even care? It may be pay, schedules, or even perceived mistreatment. Who knows, unless you ask, but 33% of a workforce leaving is not indicative a good atmosphere.

If I were a parent of school-age children, I'd call the staffing issue a crisis. If I had a special-needs student, I'd be demanding answers.

Twelve frontline staff leaving, but you also have the director of nursing walking away with no reason given. Something is rotten at Meadow St.

The number of resignations is excessive. Twelve in less than nine months. The city has 41 public health nurses position with 35 filled (www.newhavenindependent.org/index.php/archives/entry/nurse_funding/). A 34% turnover in nine months! Imagine 34% turn over in 9 months in say any city department. Something tells me there is MUCH more to this story.

Why aren't these nurses receiving extra "combat pay" for their work? I thought New Haven received funds from the State for exactly this situation. If that is correct then the City should communicate how the funds were spent, especially since schools are still closed to the majority of students.

MrHinkyDink No disagreement. Overall, I would expect school nurse position, and public health, to be a sleepy backwater for teh unambitious. No adrenaline junkies like ED/ER nurses, ICU nurses, no ambition to be an APRN or nurse anesthetist. Just someone with perhaps a diploma or an associates degree who is happy to accept the small salary for the slow pace and social hours. Bond's troops may not share her energy and sense of mission, I do have to wonder about the benefit of a few hours of vaccinations on a Saturday at Meadow Street when there are so many other vaccination options. Also, while she (and NHI) got a shout out from Lamont, places like Casa Otonal and Berger should be covered by CVS or Walgrens under the federal congregate living program.

NHPS Family: Given the salaries, New Haven won't attract Yale MSN or SCSU BSN holders. The city should try to recruit graduates from Gateway and Housatonic with Associates, and perhaps some leftover diploma holders wo don't want to go back to school.

1644-Yes I agree. My comment was regarding the possibility of using current nursing students. I am assuming they must need practical hours in order to obtain a degree. Senior nursing students can absolutely handle school coverage. They are running the vaccination and testing clinics quite well.

NHPS Family: I doubt students are running vaccination and testing clinics. I do know they are staffing them, and presumably working under the supervision of a licensed registered nurse, APRN, Pharmacist, or physician. They are repeatedly doing one, discrete practical act, jabbing people. They are not doing the differential diagnosis required of school nurses, nor are they working independently. I don't know the nursing cirricula, but do assume. like you, it requires clinical hours. In every medical education track that I am aware of, though, clinical hours are performed under the supervision of a licensed person. YSN, of course, has many students who are licensed, at least in their home states, but they are at YSN to get advanced training, not to do the generalist work of a school nurse. The schools need full-time nurses who can get to know the students, especially those with chronic medical problems.

ironic how we saw articles two months ago about how city and BOE boasted about t hey were hiring nurses for schools because there was a nurse shortage prior to covaid( MANY schools shared nurses) now as the BOE embarks on opening the next level of grades 6- 8 there are even more schools with out nurses in place.
Tell me who can afford to pay 75k in student loans, pay rent/mortgage/car note & insurance and utilities we wont mention have a family child care etc etc on that salary...But Mr Ecklier and his crew will continue to push to put children in places they themselves wont go..(BACK out into the public ) All meetings still virtual, government office barely staffed if opened at all... HYPOCRISY

YNNH does not start nurses at $75,000...

The high turnover is due to the pay, extreme disorganization of the department, lack of OT pay despite putting in the hours, and the culture of disrespect and no appreciation within the department. I'm not surprised at this resignation. School nursing is not a cush job and the fact that other commenters have said this is part of the problem here. While it's not a traditional hospital nurse job these nurses are doing hospital procedures like caths, tubefeeds, wound care, injections, med management, care coordination, emergency response, first aid, etc...Not only are these city nurses working full days at their schools but then they are being mandated to work vaccine clinics after their full day. No OT pay authorized. The entire system is broken. How can you have any sort of moral and sense of confidence when you are being paid pennies with a BSN degree and expected to work without support, organization, and appropriate compensation? The nursing director has no staff to support or assist her, why would she stick around? She's not getting OT herself for all of her hours while getting paid not even what some regular hospital nurses make. Her boss is touting all of these clinics and how great of a job they are doing but these nurses are burnt out, stressed, overworked, and underpaid. How can you keep any employee when this is happening?