Issue link: https://nnumagazine.uberflip.com/i/117854
WRAP-UP REPORT California CASTRO VALLEY Left to right: RNs dressed up in evening wear to protest a Sutter Health fundraising gala; RNs and kids showed up in costume to oppose Kaiser Permanente's closing of a pediatrics unit; Manhattan VA RNs handed out flyers to educate the public about staffing and equipment problems registered nurses and community activists, all glammed up in tuxedos and evening gowns, successfully stole the spotlight from Sutter Health during their protest of a black-tie fundraising gala the corporate hospital chain held Sept. 22. Nurses, disguised in formalwear, passed out to guests fake menus listing the types of cuts Sutter has served up to the community: psychiatric treatment, cancer screenings for disabled women, bone marrow transplants, skilled nursing facilities, birthing centers. After 18 months of bargaining, thousands of Sutter RNs are still without a contract while Sutter continues to insist on massive takeaways and cut services, all at the same time as it has posted more than $4 billion in profits since 2005. disability proposal have been key sticking points at other Sutter hospitals still bargaining for a contract and facing more than 100 takeaways, especially Alta Bates Summit Medical Center in the East Bay. The RNs cited advancements regarding processing of issues under the contract���s grievance procedure, greater staffing flexibility, and improved language to enhance staffing based on patient acuities. On pay, the RNs will receive modest across-the-board increases of 4 percent over the next two years. BURLINGAME AND SAN MATEO HAYWARD some 750 registered nurses in late September finalized a new two-year contract with Mills-Peninsula Health Services. Key to the agreement was the decision by local hospital officials to withdraw more than three dozen substantial reductions in patient care protections and nurses��� economic and contract standards, as well as improvements in safe staffing. ���The unity and determination of the Mills-Peninsula RNs over the past 16 months has led to a tentative agreement and great victory,��� said Genel Morgan, RN at the Peninsula campus.�����We prevailed with our solidarity and willingness to fight for our practice and our patients.��� Mills-Peninsula RNs said they were especially pleased to see administrators abandon a proposal which would have forced RNs who are sick for more than a week to utilize a short-term disability program that, when combined with state-funded disability, would provide only a fraction of a nurse���s salary.��Sick leave and a slight variation of this short-term more than 300 nurses and children, many dressed in costumes, knocked on Kaiser Permanente���s doors Oct. 20 with their ���Treat us, don���t trick us!��� message in protest of the health giant���s plans to eliminate inpatient pediatric services in the Tri-Valley area. Kaiser is currently building a new facility in San Leandro that���s slated to replace much of Hayward���s services, but does not plan to have an inpatient pediatrics unit. Nurses, teachers, Kaiser members, and community residents oppose this cut, saying that more than 1,000 children per year are hospitalized at the current pediatrics unit in Hayward. Families will endure unnecessary hardship and expense, especially those with kids with chronic diseases, if they are forced to travel to the next-closest pediatric units in Oakland, Santa Clara, or Roseville. ���My son had an emergency appendectomy in this unit, and it was one of the scariest moments of my life,��� said Brannin Dorsey, a Fremont parent and president of the Fremont Unified School District Teachers Association.�� ���It is heartless for Kaiser O C TO B E R 2 0 1 2 to add to parents��� hardships at a time of need. Having to drive to a far-away location, get a hotel, and arrange babysitting is not what parents need at a time of crisis.��This decision is just plain wrong, and it needs to be reversed.��� Veterans Affairs W W W. N A T I O N A L N U R S E S U N I T E D . O R G in an unprecedented direct action, registered nurses working at the Veterans Affairs facility in Manhattan, N.Y. took their concerns about working conditions and patient safety to veterans and the public by leafleting outside the hospital on Aug. 29. Many staff nurses showed up to pass out information and discuss with VA patients and the community their many issues that management has ignored for months. The nurses��� concerns revolve around short staffing and lack of equipment. Management has no set RN staffing guidelines in place and no plan for emergencies beyond forcing RNs to work overtime. The hospital consistently does not stock appropriate quantities of equipment and supplies, such as wheelchairs, lift equipment, vital sign machines, lines, diapers, and food for snacks during non-meal times. One example of management���s inability to staff appropriately is on the telemetry floors. Since management has now mandated that one RN needs to be at the telemetry monitors at all times, there has been a 10 to 50 percent reduction of tele RNs at the bedside. Even though the RNs have encouraged management to use monitor techs (the norm in most hospitals) to watch the monitors, management has refused. ���Our veterans deserve a lot better,��� said Sam Aldi, RN.�����We receive no information, no planning, no feedback from management.��It is a stone wall.�� That helps no one, especially patients for whom quality of care remains an issue. That���s the priority for us: getting our patients quality care.��� ���Staff report N AT I O N A L N U R S E 9