National Nurses United

Florida nurses at oak hill hospital in Brooksville and Fawcett Memorial Hospital in Port Charlotte staged informational pick- ets in September to call attention to under- staffing and patient care protections at their facilities. Management at both hospitals, which are affiliated with HCA, have refused to convene a task force of RNs at the hospital to review and recommend solutions to staffing and patient care issues. RNs at both hospitals have submitted hundreds of formal complaints, assignment despite objection forms, to document instances where nurses believe the patient assignment compromises safe patient care. At Oak Hill, for example, critical care nurses are often assigned three patients, whereas many other facilities and the California ratio law limit the maximum to two. At Fawcett, the spine-orthopedic RNs often have seven patient assignments, though standards elsewhere call for a maxi- mum of four. "There is overwhelming consensus among RNs that Oak Hill needs to do more to resolve systemic issues related to staffing," said Barbara Hart, RN and member of the bargaining team. "The exist- ing systems are not enough. An RN task force can turn around recommendations and start implementing solutions with manage- ment. This is the bedrock of patient care." Minnesota registered nurses on Sept. 13 approved a contract offer from Sanford Bemidji Hospital, ending nearly six months of contract negotiations that included infor- mational picketing and a strike vote. "It was a long, tough road, but we have an agreement in place that our nurses can feel good about," said Peter Danielson, RN, chair of the Minnesota Nurses Associ- ation (MNA) bargaining team. "While to us this isn't a perfect resolution, it is a compromise that helps put our patients first. This new contract takes some impor- tant steps by offering a specific timeline to help make management more accountable for improving unsafe staffing levels inside our hospital." The current contract between the hospital and 230 nurses represented by MNA expired on Feb. 28 and negotiations have been ongoing since early April. Nurs- es voted overwhelmingly on July 28 to reject Sanford's "final" contract offer, instead authorizing bargaining team lead- ers to call for a strike. Sanford Health, a growing corporate health giant that employs 18,000 workers across eight different states, recently bought Bemidji hospital—previously known as North Country Regional Hospital—and was negotiating its first contract with members of the Minnesota Nurses Association. Texas the texas statewide rn union negotiat- ing team met with negotiators for the five Texas HCA-affiliated hospitals and contin- ues to make progress toward a first union contract, in September reaching tentative agreement on three issues: seniority, job vacancy and posting, and layoffs and recall. The language ensures that the most experi- enced nurses are retained and existing staff nurses are prioritized over temporary or outside nurses. Veterans Affairs nnu va directors met July 9 to 10, in Niagara Falls for a productive meeting to discuss NNU-VA issues. The highlight of the weekend was a training on workplace violence, covering topics such as the varying levels of violence, how to anticipate it, and how to handle it. Nurses learned about model contract language addressing violence in the workplace and protection of staff RNs, valu- able advice for the nation VA negotiating team to use at the bargaining table. VA nurs- es will be asking for a Nurse Practice Council at all of our hospitals as a direct result of this training. —Staff report of their facilities to join throngs of cheering coworkers who were waiting for them with picket signs and steaming cups of coffee. The strike lines were crowded and lively; nurses brought their kids, many younger nurses stepped up to lead chants on the bullhorn, and nurses showed up with endless trays of home cooked food to share. Strangers showed up with roses for the nurses, and the beeps and honks of motorists passing by filled the air with a kind of music. "When nurses are on the outside of the hospital, there's something wrong on the inside," said DeAnn McEwen, RN and member of the CNA/NNOC Council of Presidents. "As nurs- es, we stand up and speak with caring, compassion, and courage. When they say, 'Cut back,' we say, 'Fight back!'" Numerous labor leaders and local public officials stopped by the strike lines to show their support. California state Sen. Loni Hancock, whose mother was an RN, swung by to express her appreciation for nurses. AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka also took the stage at one of the strike rallies to encourage the RNs and let them know thou- sands of fellow union members were standing alongside them. "RNs are the hardest-work- ing people in the country," said Trumka. "You're the last line of defense for patients and there is no compromise when it comes to patient care." Kaiser nurses returned to work the following morning, but some Sutter facili- ties and Children's Oakland locked out their nursing staff. When about 50 Children's RNs scheduled to work reported at 7 a.m. on Sept. 23 to start their shifts, hospital administrators told them one by one that they had been replaced and were not need- ed. A large group of supportive coworkers yelled, "Locked out!" after each RN was turned away. "Children's administration has decided to spend millions of dollars on forcing nurses to strike rather than on employee benefits and safe staffing," said Children's RN Martha Kuhl. "They are taking advantage of the economic times and trying to roll back improvements we have won over many years through our contract. Everyone deserves healthcare and if nurses can't afford health- care, who will be able to?" One of the enduring slogans of the day will be a message that hospitals, after this momentous joint strike, won't soon forget: "You take on one of us, you take on all of us." —Staff report 10 N A T I O N A L N U R S E 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 S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 1 WRAP-UP REPORT Florida registered nurses picketed and rallied for safer staffing and the formation of an RN task force at their HCA-affiliated hospital. (Continued from page 9) NewsBriefs_Sept 10/11/11 9:30 PM Page 10

• Cover