National Nurses United

8 N A T I O N A L N U R S E 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 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 2 0 NEWS BRIEFS GEORGIA R egistered nurses and AFGE Local 2778 health care workers at the Atlanta VA Medical Center (VAMC) held a rally in October to alert the public to the abrupt closure of the Atlanta Community Living Center (essen- tially a Veterans Health Administration nursing home), the displacement of the patient residents, and concerns about the lack of appropriate training for nurses moved to provide care outside of their expertise. "It broke my heart to see my patients moved outside of the Atlanta area where they are far from their loved ones, their families, and those of us who have built long-lasting relationships with our patient residents over years," said Marie Bien-Aime, a registered nurse and member of NNU, which repre- sents 900 nurses at Atlanta VAMC. "We, who have worked with these patient residents in our Community Living Center, understand how important connection is to vulnerable people, and to lose their connections to staff, to their families, and their support circle can be devastating and lead to poor outcomes." Nurses, veterans, and other health care workers say it is unconscionable that they were left out of the decision to close down and relocate the CLC patients to other facili- ties. The CLC was closed in mid-April with staff and patients given little notice. More than 20 patient residents were moved to other facilities; some of the facilities were more than 100 miles away from Atlanta. "The voices of staff at the Atlanta VAMC have been ignored and silenced during this pandemic," said Rozena Williams, president of AFGE Local 2778. "Veterans care cannot be prioritized until management listens to the VA workers on the front lines of this cri- sis." Nurses are also deeply concerned about management's decision to "float" CLC nurses with expertise in geriatric care into other units without providing appropriate preparation and training. "I have worked with geriatric patients for more than a decade and have a great deal of knowledge in my field, but it is not reason- able or safe to expect me to work in a unit without providing me with the appropriate training," said Hanatu Scott, a registered nurse and NNU member. "I am willing to do the work, I am a nurse and I am committed to my patients, but I must have the training or I am being set up to fail and my patients' safety is at risk." —Rachel Berger RNs decry closure of Atlanta VA nursing home TEXAS N urses at the Hospitals of Provi- dence (THOP), East Campus in El Paso, ratified their first con- tract in November, after more than a year of negotiations. They organized with National Nurses Organizing Commit- tee (NNOC) in September 2019, joining hundreds of RNs at THOP Sierra and Memorial campuses, which also ratified their contracts with Tenet Healthcare. Together, the three campuses now total more than 1,000 NNOC nurses. "THOP East Campus nurses are excited we will be able to have the protections that our fellow union RNs at THOP Sierra and Memorial Campus have had for years," said Tanya Borunda, an RN in the post-anesthesia care unit and a member of the bargaining team. "We will have guaranteed raises and a voice in the care we provide to our patients and our nursing practice." The Tenet RNs' fight to win a fair con- tract included weekly sticker-up actions before every bargaining session and three socially distanced shift-change actions. The nurses fended off management's efforts to reduce retirement and paid time off benefits. Their first contract includes guarantees of fair and equitable wage increases for nurses. With this agreement, nurses can no longer be called off or cancelled if that action puts the hospital out of compliance with the staffing grids or negatively impacts patients. A week before the contract ratification, the RNs participated in a car caravan of more than 100 cars to urge the El Paso community to adhere to Judge Ricardo Sarmaniego's stay home order during the surge. —Staff report El Paso nurses win first contract, others renew

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