National Nurses United

NewsBriefs:October 2007 10/18/07 4:32 PM Page 5 Clockwise from opposite page: RNs chant on the strike lines at Alta Bates hospital in Berkeley; RNs at Marin General Hospital pause in their picket; RNs at California Pacific Medical Center rally; RNs at Sutter Solano Medical Center ask for honks of support from passing motorists. that only one of 10 missed meals or breaks is reported. RNs also report that managers resort to other tactics; at Sutter Solano, some managers are pressuring nurses to clock out as if they were taking a rest period, but in reality to keep working through their breaks. In contrast to Sutter, many other hospital systems have now added a dedicated break relief RN to their unit staffing. Most nurses are unwilling to risk their patients' safety and instead skip their meals and breaks. In a typical week, said Ruth Sandberg, an L&D RN at Alta Bates hospital, she is never able to take a break with real coverage. "I always get up and take care of my patients," said Sandberg. OCTOBER 2007 W W W. C A L N U R S E S . O R G "Most of the time, I just sit outside my patients' rooms and eat," explained Braillard about how she copes with no down time. Tina Simon, a post-anesthetic care unit RN at Eden Medical Center in Castro Valley, said she was walking the picket line in support of all her medical-surgical coworkers who run themselves ragged without any rest. She admitted that sometimes she doesn't get her break, too, and that it's not about money. "I don't want the penalty pay," said Simon, who also serves as a bargaining team member. "I want my lunch! We don't want nurses tired. You've got to be on your toes, thinking. If I were the patient, I wouldn't want a nurse taking care of me with low blood sugar." Nurses also charge that facilities violate the state-mandated minimum RN-to-patient staffing ratios in a variety of ways. At some hospitals that are still using higher numbers of licensed vocational nurses, managers have LVNs directly responsible for patients and force RNs to "cover" an LVN's patients in addition to their own assignments. Nurses in REGISTERED NURSE 5

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