Rutgers RWJ Med School Asks Students To Volunteer In Nursing Strike

NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ — As the nurses' strike looms at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick, the medical school affiliated with the hospital is now asking med students to volunteer, unpaid, in the hospital during the strike.

A spokesman for RWJUH said the med school students are not being asked to do any actual nursing work; they will answer call bells and check on patients. He said the students will only serve as volunteers during the "transition" period while a full replacement nursing staff is put in place.

But the Rutgers RWJ Medical School students say they are being used as free labor, and to undermine the nurses who are about to strike next Friday.

"We can't even believe they are asking this of us," said one medical school student, who wanted to remain anonymous. "The school is framing this as an altruistic volunteer opportunity because 'we care so much about our patients,' when it reality it's just a way for them to get free labor. The whole reason the strike is happening is because the nurses want to be paid more. Instead they get us to work for free."

The unionized nurses at RWJUH say they will go on strike at 7 a.m. next Friday, Aug. 4. On that date, more than 1,700 nurses will walk off the job and picket outside the hospital. Among other demands, they have asked for pay raises, a cap on health insurance costs and for the hospital to hire additional nursing staff.

The nurses say they are not satisfied with RWJUH's offers. The United States is in the midst of a national nursing shortage, and understaffing is a huge reason why nurses say they are quitting the profession.

Should the strike go through, RWJUH already said they plan to hire "replacement nurses" that could be in place for "an extended period of time," which a hospital spokesman warned "comes at a great cost."

On Wednesday of this week, Dr. Carol Terregino, one of the deans at Rutgers-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, sent an email out to all second-, third- and fourth-year medical school students, asking them to volunteer during the strike. Dr. Terregino said they will be used "answering call bells, checking in on patients and supporting the replacement nursing staff."

The work will not be paid, nor will the medical school give them credit for course work.

"The only thing they would do for us is write an excused absence from our classes," said the med student. "It's wild they are asking us to take time away from the education we're paying for to volunteer to work the nurses' jobs for free."

One year of tuition at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School is $45,878 for New Jersey residents, and $69,768 for out-of-state residents.

Dean Terregino sent the email blast to all students Wednesday. But Thursday night, hundreds of Rutgers/Robert Wood Johnson med school students signed a petition voicing their anger over it, "and more are signing every minute," said the med student.

Another concern she raised is safety.

"Second-year medical school students haven't even been in a hospital setting yet; they've only studied in classrooms their first and second year of med school," she said. "They say it is answering call bells, OK we can go get someone a blanket. But what if it's something more serious?"

"We are working hard to avert a strike," said the hospital spokesman. "RWJUH has contracted with national nursing agencies for a full replacement nursing staff to maintain full hospital operations ... Our 2nd, 3rd and 4th year medical students may elect to assist on hospital units in a non-medical, non-nursing capacity during the initial transition."

"Due to their familiarity and experience on the units and departments, we are grateful to have them as an added resource for our staff and patients," he said. "Medical students and residents do not and will not replace or substitute for nursing care at any time."

Robert Wood Johnson Nurses Plan To Go On Strike Aug. 4 (July 25)