National Nurses United

NewsBriefs_Oct Alt 11/25/09 6:45 PM Page 4 NewsBriefs CHW RNS IN CALIFORNIA AND NEVADA BR L CALIFORNIA | NEVADA everaging the enormous power of 13,000 r egistered nurse colleagues working at 32 facilities throughout California and N evada and the thr eat of the largest RN strik e in history, the Catholic Healthcare West RN bar gaining team in November negotiated a landmark master contract that includes unprecedented workplace and patient protections against pandemics like H1N1 swine flu, as well as holding the line against takeaways during a time of recession. CHW RNs overwhelmingly approved the new four-year contract in November. "Catholic Healthcare West nurses have stood together to protect our communities and our patients," said Allen Fitzpatrick, an RN at St. Mary's Medical Center in San Francisco and a bargaining team leader. "Our unity has been essential to achieving a no vel agree4 REGISTERED NURSE ment that we think will help patients, nurses, and our communities now and in the future." Under the terms of the contract, CHW, one of the largest Catholic hospital chains in the country, agreed after pandemic emergencies are declared to form a new system-wide emergency task force, the Pandemic Task Force (PTF), comprising CNA/NNOC RNs and hospital representatives. The task force will monitor the system's preparedness and set uniform standards on full implementation of federal, state, and local guidelines; the availability of proper safety equipment; and communication and training policies for all hospital personnel. At each facility, RN committees, working together with facility infection control teams, will implement these system-wide policies and procedures. CHW also agreed in the contract to comply with all federal, state, and local laws and regulations to limit the spread of infection, W W W. C A L N U R S E S . O R G which gives RNs and patients the added protection of contract law. The hospital chain also agreed to provide proper education and equipment, such as single-use N95 masks. "We have been increasingly alarmed at the spread of this [H1N1] virus and the diffi culties we have faced in ensuring the highest standard of safety measures," said Kathy Dennis, an RN at Mercy General Hospital in Sacramento. "Now we can proudly expect the best possible standards to limit contagion and protect our members as well." Karen Ann Hays, an RN at CHW-owned Mercy San Juan Medical Center in Sacramento, was the first known healthcare worker in California to die in July from H1N1. It's unknown whether she contracted H1N1 at work. The infection control standards set by the new contract should help ensure that other RNs and patients are not unnecessarily exposed to the virus. OCTOBER 2009

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