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A P R I L | M AY | J U N E 2 0 2 2 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 15 CALIFORNIA/NEVADA O n june 23, hundreds of regis- tered nurses at Prime Healthcare facilities Shasta Regional Med- ical Center in Redding, Calif., and Saint Mary's Regional Medical Center in Reno, Nev., held a one-day strike to protest the administration's disregard for staff and patient safety. At Shasta Regional, RNs at the facility are demanding manage- ment take action to change policies that contradict best practices, such as routinely making profit-driven staffing decisions that do not follow the clinically proven safe- staffing ratios needed to protect patients and produce best health outcomes. "We are here for the patients," said Lisa Doms, RN, who works in the operating room at Shasta Regional. "We are commu- nity members, and we want to deliver the safest care possible. But we are stretched beyond our limits with the number of patients assigned to us. We're not staffed enough to be able to safely take a break from our duties during our shifts, and that increases risks to patients." California Nurses Association represents nearly 30 nurses at Shasta Regional, where RNs have been in negotiations since May 2021 for a new contract with little movement on these key issues. The RNs urge manage- ment to invest in nursing staff and agree to a contract that provides key improvements like break and meal periods that maintain safe staffing ratios required under state law. Nurses are demanding a safer workplace that respects the role of RNs as patient advo- cates and competitive compensation levels that will help recruit and retain experienced RNs in light of staff attrition at the facility. "State-mandated nurse-to-patient ratios aren't suggestions, they are data-driven standards that have proven to save lives," said Michelle Gaffney, an RN who works in Shasta Regional's intensive care unit. "The patients deserve nothing less than being consistently cared for throughout their stay in the hospital, and safe staffing levels—for nurses and for all hospital staff—are the best way to do that." Meanwhile, in Reno, Saint Mary's nurses have been in negotiations since October 2021 for a new contract with little to no movement on key issues. CNA/National Nurses Organizing Committee represents more than 500 RNs at the facility. The RNs urge management to agree to a contract that includes major investments in nurse staffing to safely staff Saint Mary's; adequate sup- plies of basic medical equipment and supplies, including personal protective equipment, medical devices, and basic essentials; improved working conditions that will slow the tide of staff attrition; and wages and benefits that are competitive with surrounding community standards to retain and recruit experienced nurses. "Saint Mary's used to be a place nurses like me aspired to work," said Katie Daw- son, an RN in Saint Mary's critical care unit. "But mismanagement is driving talented nurses away from our facility. The best way to fix this is for management to listen to nurses because we know what this hospital needs to succeed." "So many accomplished nurses have left Saint Mary's because of the administration's mismanagement and failures," said Bethany Want, RN, who works in the postpartum unit. "It's time for management to do better and come to the table to solve these prob- lems." —Lucy Diavolo for all working people. Organized attacks on abortion rights, reproductive decision- making, access to health care, and bodily autonomy are part of an anti-worker, anti- democratic, sexist, and racist political agenda. "The responsibility to reverse the impact of this horrible Supreme Court decision rests squarely with the U.S. Con- gress," said NNU Executive Director Bonnie Castillo, RN. "A majority exists in both the House and Senate to codify the protections of Roe v. Wade but it will require the Senate to eliminate the fili- buster to allow for a vote. Senators who say they want to protect a woman's right to control her own body must be willing to change Senate rules so a vote can be held on this crucial issue. Senators are faced with a stark choice: maintain the anti-democratic, archaic Senate filibuster rule or protect a woman's right to choose. Now is the time to take a stand for women and for reproductive health care justice." Days later, NNU called on the U.S. Senate to pass the Women's Health Protection Act and to suspend the fili- buster to allow such a vote. Reproductive justice is requisite for any democracy where working people truly have a say in our workplaces and communi- ties. For us to have a voice at work, to provide for our families, and to advocate for ourselves politically, we must have the human right to maintain bodily auton- omy—to be able to make decisions about when and whether to have children, and to parent children in safe and healthy commu- nities. As another of our nurse practitioner members said, "The ability to have choice and ownership over our reproductive capacity is at the basis of a free society." Nurses will not tolerate these assaults. We will continue to act in solidarity with our coworkers, our patients, and our communities to defend the human rights that workers have fought for and won over centuries of struggle in the United States. And we will continue our relent- less fight for social, political, and economic justice by working collectively, participating in our local and national elections, and never relenting in our workplace struggle to create an equitable and high-quality health care system. —Staff report Redding and Reno nurses hold one-day strike Prime Healthcare RNs protest due to staffing concerns