Page 14
The OSEA News
August 10,1978
Grievance adds staff to dangerous Ward 84
SALEM - At Oregon State
Hospital “Ward 84 is the end of
the
line,”
according
to
psychiatric security aide and
OSE A Job Representative Fred
Martin. Ward 84 is one of seven
wards which constitute the
Psychiatric Security Unit at the
hospital; it is the maximum
security men’s ward. It also is
the admitting ward for all male
patients sent to the security unit
of the hospital.
All of this responsibility
means potentially grave danger
to the psychiatric security aides
who worked in the ward. While
the minimum staffing for the
ward was supposed to be three,
Martin said that often there
were fewer than that when
aides were called to duties in
other parts of the hospital.
Martin got the unamous support
of the 16 psychiatric security
aides in the ward to file a
grievance in mid-June to
demand minimum staffing of
four on the ward during the day
and swing shifts.
The grievance noted oother
problems which increased the
danger to the psych security
aides on the ward. One of the
three aides on the ward was “in
charge of being responsible for
manning the office, leaving only
two PSAs to supervise ap
proximately 30 patients. One of
the two PSAs working the ward
area is also responsible for the
only key to admit any available
help ( in the event of an in
cident) from outside the ward.
This is a potentially dangerous
situation. A second key can be
obtained, but there is a time
factor involved, again causing a
potentially
. dangerous
situation.”
The grievance goes on to
outline the dangers in the event
of a fight or an incident: “The
charge aide must leave the
office to assist the other two
aides,
again creating a
potentially dangerous situation
for the following reasons:
• “Three aides are not
enough to break up a fight in
volving two or more patients:
• “Three aides are not suf
ficient to safely handle a
psychotic patient who has at
tacked either staff or another
patient;
® “No one is in the office to
answer the phone or to call for
help
if
the
situation
deteriorates;
• “No one is available to
open the door to admit help
from the other wards;
• “No one is watching the
other patients.”
The grievance was filed under
Article 13 (Safety and Health)
of the state central agreement.
The grievance first went to
There are several fights a
week on the ward, Martin said.
Patients will attack staff and
other patients. And because
Ward 84 is also the admitting
ward for the unit, there is no
history on the new patients to
tell what kind of shape they are
in or to warn about individual
traits, the one and a half-year
veteran said.
All the same, even before the
grievance was resolved, the
psychiatric security aides on
that ward regard themselves as
something of the “creme de la
creme.” Only one of the 16 PSAs
on the ward has been there less
than a year; many, including
Martin, are college graduates.
Other factors work to make the
morale of the PSAs on Ward 84
high compared with psychiatric
aides elsewhere. And because
they don’t have the turnover,
Ward 84 PSAs support one
another very well and have a
kind of a “sixth sense” so they
“can tell when something is
building and start moving” to
prevent it, Martin said.
“The handling of this
grievance,”
said
OSE A
Employe Representative Ken
Allen, “is an example of the
best of what our job
representatives can do. Martin
and the other PSAs on the ward
did the whole thing by them
selves.”
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Martin organized it.
the executive committee of the
Psychiatric Security Section. At
that meeting, several alter
natives were suggested in
cluding not pulling aides off the
ward for other activities.
However, according to the
minutes,
“The
Executive
Committee was in agreement
that this ward should have four
psychiatric aides at a minimum
during day and swing shift to
prevent staff injuries.” Another
meeting was arranged between
Martin, OSH superintendent
Dean Brooks, unit clinical
director Prasanna Pati and
others.
The three main resolutions of
the grievance were that staffing
on day and swing shifts would
be increased to four; that
security aides will not be pulled
from the ward for other duties,
and that four will not be con
strued as a maximum.
Seven other resolutions were
added to make working in the
ward safer, to help insure that
adequate staff would be
available and that help could
becalled as needed.
Though the grievance was
resolved rather quickly (11 days
for a matter this important),
Martin said management put a
tremendous amount of pressure
on him. They would say such
things as: “If you’re unhappy,
I’ll transfer you to another
ward” or “Tell us what you
would o if you were in charge.”
He also notes that while four is
not to be considered a
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The danger of Ward 84 is not
to be sniffed at. “We have
several mass murderers and
some people who have killed
prison guards,” Martin said. “If
they can’t be handled any place
else, we get them. When there
were only two people, that left
you very vulnerable.”
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