Nurses at Warren State Hospital raised their concerns about staffing and the difficulty in hiring new nurses in their rural location.
In January, the state recognized our concerns and agreed to increase the starting rate by hiring new nurses in at Step 5 instead of Step 1. This is a 9% increase in the hiring rate.
The state will also increase the pay of any current registered nurse to Step 5, ensuring that no new hire is paid more than an existing member of the union.
The state hires new RNs at Step 5 in several facilities where it is difficult to recruit new nurses. We have raised this idea at Meet & Discuss meetings for several other facilities and will continue to push where there is a documented need.