Humans of UNAC/UHCP: Ahsan Haque, RN
Nursing is my second career. I was born and grew up in Bangladesh. When I came here to the United States, I was in a different field, working in the hospitality industry. But I had family members in the medical field, and I saw the respect and satisfaction they got from doing such rewarding work. Unlike other fields, in nursing you feel rewarded inside when you can help someone else.
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“Nursing is my second career. I was born and grew up in Bangladesh. When I came here to the United States, I was in a different field, working in the hospitality industry. But I had family members in the medical field, and I saw the respect and satisfaction they got from doing such rewarding work.
“Nursing is my second career. I was born and grew up in Bangladesh. When I came here to the United States, I was in a different field, working in the hospitality industry. But I had family members in the medical field, and I saw the respect and satisfaction they got from doing such rewarding work. Unlike other fields, in nursing you feel rewarded inside when you can help someone else.
“When I went to school and then started practicing, I felt I was now doing something from the heart. I’m doing something that helps people feel better. The most important thing for me is when a patient can say ‘I learned something from you.’
“Nurses spend more time with the patients. It’s best when we can take our time and just connect with a patient.
“I came to St. Francis in 2005, so I’ve held on here for 18 years. I got hired from St. Jude back when nurses needed a minimum of five years of experience to come here. We had plenty of nurses in the telemetry unit. Many of them had almost 20 years at the hospital. I was fortunate to be trained by all those experienced nurses.
“Compared to right now, we are very short in all departments. For the new grads coming in, we are training them, and within six months, they get a way better offer than Prime is offering; they just quit. Because they spent only six months of their time with this hospital, they don’t have any connection to the community.
“After COVID, it started falling apart. Everybody was way over ratio. Now that we have our ratios back without the waivers, we need the staffing. Running short also costs money.
“We went through different ownerships through the years. But Prime took over after the bankruptcy. With the way they have treated us for three years, we are now at the point where enough is enough.
“So, we need to step up to save our community and our own licenses because of what understaffing does to affect patient safety. The turnover rate for nurses is over 50 percent. It’s way above other hospitals. We do have some legacy nurses, but there are more new nurses who don’t get the same opportunities I did.
“This is my fourth time bargaining at the bargaining table. Our staff rep Sandi Marques has been a mentor for me. She encouraged me to get more involved.
“At this set of negotiations, our goal is to protect the safety and the care of our community. We are just trying to maintain our nurses.”
—Ahsan Haque, RN, BSN, PCCN
Treasurer, St. Francis Registered Nurses Association