Bouncing Checks and Burnout: The Struggles of Nurses in South Hadley

What up, nurse gang? What up, TikTok? So today on nurses and the news story out of South Hadley, headline reads, local nurses continue to face bounce checks and burnout. These nurses are going for weeks being unpaid and their checks are bouncing. This is at a nursing home. But they continue to show up for work because they said they care about those patients. Take a deeper look into it.

South Hadley, Massachusetts. This week, employees are going unpaid at a nursing home in South Hadley as well as others across the state. And they’re highlighting the bigger issue, burnout in the nursing field. For now, it’s one thing, but checks bouncer and not getting paid is a whole another ball game says we have been reporting all week about the bounce checks at Pioneer Valley Rehabilitation Center in South Hadley. One nurse who’s been in contact with the media says some staff members have been able to cash a check this week. But she still has not been paid and her previous checks are continuing to bounce.

Staff at Pioneer Valley Rehab Center have told the news that for months they have been overworked, understaffed and undersupplied, all while dealing with bounce checks going unpaid for weeks. Many stick around, taking money out of their own pockets as they continue to take care of patients despite having no income to support their own families. This is happening at all four Massachusetts nursing homes owned by Bluepoint Healthcare. And I would be gone with the quickness. Don’t be a martyr and take food out of your own family’s mouth. That’s not being smart. That’s just being silly.

Thank you for that live report. Our reports this week on employees going unpaid at a nursing home at South Hadley as well as others across the state, are highlighting a bigger issue, burnout in the nursing field. Western masters reporter Reagan Lokrete joining us live in South Hadley. After getting answers first, Reagan, what updates can you share?

Well, Chris, we’ve been reporting all week about the bounce checks here at the Pioneer Valley Rehabilitation Center in South Hadley. Now, one nurse that I have been keeping in contact with tells me although other staff members have been able to cash checks this week, she has still not been paid and her previous checks are continuing to bounce. Now I spoke with an AIC professor and she tells me this is the first time in her 50 years in nursing she’s ever heard of nurses not being paid.

Staff members at Pioneer Valley Rehabilitation Center in South Hadley tell Western Mass News for months they have been overworked, understaffed and undersupplied, all while dealing with bounce checks, essentially going unpaid for weeks. Many stick around, taking money out of their own pockets as they continue to take care of patients despite having no income to support their own families. And as we reported, this seems to be happening at all four Massachusetts.