Opinion ID: 766384
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Nurses

Text: 45 During some of the second and all of the third shift at Caney Creek--almost two thirds of the day--the registered nurses act as building supervisors. Although a registered nurse is the highest ranking employee in the building throughout these periods, an administrator is always on call. According to Caney Creek's procedures, the registered nurses acting as building supervisors are in charge of the facility and all rehabilitation staff. The building supervisor is responsible for patient care and must ensure adequate staffing. According to an internal memorandum in the record, the nurses acting as building supervisors at Caney Creek are authorized to shift staff between units and must write up anyone who does not comply with the request immediately. In addition, the nurses have authority to call employees into work early or ask employees to remain on duty beyond the normal end of shift in the event of staff shortages, although the nurses do not have authority to force an employee to work in these situations. The registered nurses do not retain keys to the facility, although they have access to a set of keys that they must give to the security guard when he comes on duty. 46 The registered nurses are responsible for medical services, particularly when there are no doctors in the building, which is frequently the case. The registered nurses are also responsible for ensuring that the licensed practical nurses properly dispense patient medications. The registered nurses do not make the initial work schedules, but they are expected to deal with situations in which the facility might become shorthanded for any reason. A nurse, acting as building supervisor, could send an employee home, but the nurse would then need to inform that employee's immediate supervisor. 47 Our task is to decide whether these responsibilities call for the exercise of independent judgment under section 152(11). Unfortunately, the NLRB has continuously interpreted independent judgment in a manner that is inconsistent with this circuit's precedent. According to NLRB interpretations, the practice of a nurse supervising a nurse's aide in administering patient care, for example, does not involve independent judgment. The NLRB classifies these activities as routine because the nurses have the ability to direct patient care by virtue of their training and expertise, not because of their connection with management. This court, however, has repeatedly rejected this interpretation, and found that nurses are supervisors when they direct assistants with respect to patient care, rectify staffing shortages, fill out evaluation forms, and serve as the highest ranking employeein the building during off-peak shifts. See Mid-America Care Foundation v. NLRB, 148 F.3d 638, 641 (6th Cir. 1998). 48 In Mid-America, we addressed the NLRB's argument that this court should defer to the board's interpretation of independent judgment. In reversing the NLRB's conclusion that nurses are not supervisors, we held that the NLRB interpretation was not entitled to the normal deference given to agency interpretations of ambiguous provisions because the rule announced differed from the NLRB's actual application of this rule. See id. at 642. 49 [W]hen an agency's application of a statutory interpretation (which itself ordinarily would be entitled to deference) frustrates judicial review by subtly and obliquely revising the stated interpretation to impose a more stringent definition or a higher standard of compliance in certain factual contexts, Chevron deference is inappropriate. 50 Id. (citing Allentown Mack Sales & Serv., Inc. v. NLRB, 118 S. Ct. 818, 827-28 (1998) and Chevron, U.S.A., Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc., 467 U.S. 837 (1984)). This court has continued to overturn NLRB decisions finding that nurses are not supervisors even though the nurses direct others in providing patient care, address scheduling shortages, and have some evaluative role with respect to other employees. This court, not the NLRB, is the ultimate interpreter of this statutory provision, and we again reject the NLRB's wooden and narrow definition of the term independent judgment. 51 The registered nurses at KRCC direct the LPNs in the proper dispensing of medication, regularly serve as the highest ranking employees in the building, seek additional employees in the event of a staffing shortage, move employees between units as needed, and have the authority to write up employees who do not cooperate with staffing assignments. These duties involve independent judgment which is not limited to, or inherent in, the professional training of nurses. These duties are supervisory in nature, and there can be no doubt that these activities are conducted in the interest of the employer. See NLRB v. Health Care & Retirement Corp. of Am., 511 U.S. 571, 577 (1994). After a careful examination of the record, we conclude that the evidence readily establishes that Caney Creek's registered nurses are supervisors, and does not support the NLRB's decision to include them in the bargaining unit.