National Nurses United

J U LY | A U G U S T | S E P T E M B E R 2 0 2 1 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 7 CALIFORNIA R egistered nurses at Chinese Hospital in San Francisco held a one-day strike May 25 to protest substandard workplace and eco- nomic conditions that nurses say has driven experienced nurses away and undermines the hospital's ability to recruit new RNs. The nurses picketed all day and held a virtual rally in the evening. Located in the heart of San Francisco's Chinatown, this is the only Chinese hospital in the United States and is a critical resource for the city's large Chinese community. Chinese Hospital RNs voted to join Cali- fornia Nurses Association/National Nurses United in August 2019. CNA represents more than 100 RNs at the facility. They have been in negotiations for their first collective bargaining contract since February 2020. "For the past year, we've given Chinese Hospital numerous proposals aimed at improving staffing, patient care, and reten- tion of nurses for our patients and our community," said Sherry Yee, RN. "Instead, the hospital administration has failed to cre- ate a better working environment that allows us to provide proper care for our patients to the best of our ability." "Chinese Hospital RNs are dedicated to our community, but the hospital's actions will cause more nurses to leave and create more unsafe staffing," said Geraldine Leung, RN. "Chinese Hospital needs to do the right thing and negotiate a fair contract with us." "Chinese Hospital RNs are very disap- pointed that the hospital has not taken more seriously the problem they have created with recruitment and retention. We have lost far too many experienced nurses due to their unwillingness to stay competitive with San Francisco-area RNs," said Alson Toy, RN. Retention is especially critical given the large number of bilingual Chinese Hospital RNs for the preponderance of monolingual Chinese-speaking patients at the hospital and their families. "Losing many of our bilingual RNs would be a devastating blow to our patients and community," said Leung. Among other concerns, RNs cite the hos- pital's refusal to provide bedside RNs with meal and break relief. The hospital has pressed to have nurse supervisors provide meal and break relief, regardless of their lack of clinical expertise and daily experi- ence at the bedside with patients. "For nurses, this means ensuring we have safe staffing at all times. That means having nurses with the experience and expertise to notice and respond to the subtle changes in condition of our extremely vulnerable patients, so that we are able to take the meal and rest breaks we need with the assurance our patients are receiving the care they need," said Yee. —Charles Idelson Chinese Hospital RNs hold one-day strike Nurses protest substandard workplace and economic conditions

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