National Nurses United

and put the Santa Clara Valley patients at risk of delayed lifesaving care." Los Angeles County Registered nurses at Antelope Valley Med- ical Center (AVMC) in Lancaster, Calif., spoke out at the Antelope Valley Healthcare District (AVHD) Board of Directors meeting in July to demand safe staffing and a strong union contract that prioritizes recruitment and retention. In June the nurses picketed to protest chronic short staffing. Understaffing is a major concern for nurses at AVMC, which has one of the busiest ERs in the country. The night shift at the ER will sometimes be staffed with fewer than 10 RNs for more than 100 patients, jeopardizing patient care. Additionally, nurses throughout the hospital are being pressured to work overtime after their 12-hour shift has ended due to the next shift being understaffed. Nurses are also being floated to work in units outside of their area of expertise, which is not safe for patients or nurses. Additionally, nurses throughout the hospital have filed dozens of assignment despite objection forms (ADOs), reporting unsafe staffing and missed meal and rest breaks. "Our home units are where we provide the best, specialized care to the area's highly acute patients," said Brandi Wechsberg, post-anesthesia care unit RN at AVMC. "Floating a recovery room nurse to the ER, which could occur under the hospital's pro- posal, would not be safe for our patients and it would put our nursing license at risk." San Benito County Since 2022, registered nurses from Hazel Hawkins Memorial Hospital in Hollister, Calif., have been fighting to keep all service lines open. The Board of Directors of the San Benito Health District filed for Chapter 9 bankruptcy and made moves to sell the hos- pital to a private entity. Nurses fought back and in March 2024, a district court judge dismissed the San Benito County Health Care District's assertion of bankruptcy, stat- ing that the district "failed to show it is insolvent. The judge's decision aligns with the findings of a 2023 report commissioned by San Benito County, which found that Hazel Hawkins "does not need to be in bank- ruptcy or sold to a for-profit provider." Fortunately, the San Benito County Board of Supervisors agreed with the nurses that Hazel Hawkins should remain a public facility. In July 2024, Hazel Hawkins nurses attended a San Benito County Board of Supervisors special meeting to discuss their ongoing concerns about patient safety and the future of the public hospital. "Nurses want to thank the board of supervisors for the heavy lifting they are doing to underscore to the public why it is important to keep Hazel Hawkins Memorial Hospital a public institution and why a sale to a private entity is harmful and unwar- ranted," said Arihanna Sanchez, a registered nurse in the emergency department. "As nurses whose main concern is the health and welfare of the public, we know that pub- lic oversight is critical to ensure that the needs of our community are met." Now there are two measures on the November ballot that will affect the future of the hospital: One measure, which the nurses support, would form a new, separate entity called a "Joint Powers Authority," which would keep the hospital under local control. The other measure, which RNs oppose, would lease and irrevocably sell San Benito County's only hospital to a not-for-profit "shell" company controlled by an unknown and unproven for-profit company. Alameda County In June, registered nurses at Alameda Hos- pital in Alameda, Calif. picketed outside the hospital to pressure hospital and county leaders to reverse dangerous cuts to patient care. Alameda Health System (AHS), which has served the East Bay community for 160 years, planned to shut down all surgical serv- ices at the hospital by October. In September, nurses at Alameda and San Leandro hospitals, both part of AHS, held a rally and speak-out at the AHS Board of Trustees meeting in Oakland, Calif. to highlight their patient safety concerns, including cuts to staffing, and AHS' failure to meaningfully address these serious issues during bargaining. "Throughout negotiations, our goal has been to address the working conditions that drive us away from the bedside so we can retain experienced nurses and attract new ones," said Mawata Kamara, RN in the emergency department at San Leandro Hospital and a CNA/NNOC board member. "Unfortunately, AHS has neglected to take this process seriously." For the past several months, nurses have proposed improvements to workplace violence safety, improved staffing, and pro- tections to ensure technology is used to enhance nursing practice, not undermine nurses' ability to provide safe patient care. Nurses say AHS has failed to address nurses' staffing concerns; instead, manage- ment has focused on cost-cutting measures and the closure of surgical units at Alameda Hospital. —Staff report J U LY | A U G U S T | S E P T E M B E R 2 0 2 4 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 11

• Cover