National Nurses United

to ensure that all California health care employ- ers have a comprehensive, unit-specific plan in place to protect health care workers in all facili- ties. April 1, 2018 was the deadline for Califor- nia health care employers to have their workplace violence prevention plans in place. "We nurses are often the first line of defense when encountering violent situa- tions at work," said Marcia Santini, who has worked as an RN in UCLA Medical Center's emergency department for 30 years. "Our department is constantly subjected to diffi- cult and potentially volatile situations." "It's important that nurses can go into work feeling secure enough to provide the type of care our patients deserve," said Megan Norman, who has worked as an RN in UCDMC's emergency department for four years. "Our department is constantly subjected to dangerous encounters." "We are calling on the University of Cali- fornia to fulfill its legal responsibilities and follow the state's Division of Occupational Safety and Health (CalOSHA) standard," said Roy DeMatei, RN in the cardiovascular thoracic unit at UCSF Parnassus. Although nurses have made some progress in their efforts to prevent workplace violence, they are demanding that UC fully comply with the regulations both for the safety of patients and nurses who work hard every day to care for members of this community. Nurses at each facility are asking UC to increase security staff, improve security in the parking structures, create unit-specific workplace violence prevention plans, and involve nurses and their union when creat- ing and implementing workplace violence prevention plans, among other requests. RNs at UCSF and UCLA are also asking for metal detectors to be installed. According to the Bureau of Labor Statis- tics, in 2018, RNs in private industry in the U.S. experienced a rate of 13.5 violence-relat- ed injuries per 10,000 full-time employees. The injury rate for RNs is more than three times higher than the violence-related injuries for workers overall in the same year. CNA represents 4,081 nurses at UCSF Medical Center, between three campuses, Parnassus Heights, Mission Bay, and Mount Zion; 2,800 RNs, CRNAs, and nurse practi- tioners at UC Davis Medical Center; and 3,000 nurses at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center and 1,000 nurses at UCLA Medical Center in Santa Monica. —Chuleenan Svetvilas O C T O B E R | N O V E M B E R | D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 9 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 N A T I O N A L N U R S E 13 TEXAS R egistered nurses at the Hospitals of Providence East Campus in El Paso voted on Sept. 24 by a wide margin in late September to join National Nurses Organ- izing Committee/National Nurses United (NNOC/NNU). NNOC now represents nearly 500 RNs at East Campus. "This victory is positive on so many levels," said Lena Gonzalez, an RN who has worked in the mother-baby unit at East Campus for nine years. "We won because nurses from throughout the hospital are ready to stand united as strong patient advocates. We know we can accomplish much more together as union members than any one individual ever could." With this vote, the East Campus RNs will join 800 RNs who are already members of NNOC/NNU at the Memorial and Sierra campuses of Hospitals of Provi- dence, which is owned by Dallas-based Tenet Healthcare. They will also join ranks with 5,900 RNs represented by NNOC/ NNU at 12 Tenet hospitals in Arizona, California, and Florida. Patricia Crooks, an RN at Memorial Campus and member of the Joint Nurs- ing Practice Commission of NNOC and California Nurses Association, applauded the election outcome and said, "Tenet and NNU nurses congratulate our newest colleagues at East Campus on their successful drive to become union members. We are inspired by their victory and look forward to working with them for optimal patient care standards at Tenet and all hospitals." The East Campus RNs will now move forward to electing a team of their colleagues to represent them in talks for their first collective bargaining agreement with hospital management. Leading up to the election, the RNs said they will work to achieve improved hospital staffing, uninterrupted meal and rest breaks, adequate equipment and supplies, and meaningful representation and respectful treatment. These are all steps, they say, that will promote retention and recruitment of RNs and guarantee optimal patient care. "I feel really great that we voted to affiliate with NNOC," said Sonia Duran, an RN who has worked at East Campus for seven years, the last three in the emergency room. "This victory is good for the nurses and for all the patients we serve at East Campus. We're excited to move forward to a strong contract that reflects what we need as nurses to provide optimal care." —Staff report East Campus nurses in El Paso win union Join RNs at other Hospitals of Providence campuses and national Tenet group

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