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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 J U LY | A U G U S T 2 0 1 4 NEWS BRIEFS CALIFORNIA R egistered nurses at three San Francisco Bay Area hospi- tals, Queen of the Valley Medical Center in Napa, Sutter Tracy Community Hospital, and Watsonville Community Hospital went on strike Aug. 14, citing common concerns about safe staffing and other patient care needs. Watsonville RNs walked out for three days, while RNs at the other two hospitals conducted one-day strikes. At Queen of the Valley, the RNs have proposed language to improve staffing to meet state minimum staffing requirements and patient need, rather than to base staffing on budget goals. The RNs are also proposing the hospital provide sufficient staffing so that RNs are able to take meal and rest breaks without leaving patients without adequate staffing care; many RNs now are unable to take their breaks due to poor staffing. "I am here with all of my coworkers, family, friends, and the community to send a message to our administration and to every- one that we deserve to give good patient care, safe patient care, and all of us, the nurses, the patients, the community, deserve good staffing," said MaryLou Bahn, an obstetrics RN and nurse negotiator at Queen of the Valley, where the nurses are fighting for their first contract. "What's happened over the past few months and years at this hospital is that there are fewer and fewer nurses and we are not able to deliver safe patient care every shift. This is our community. All of us deserve great care." The hospital is also demanding major takeaways in language that would allow management to make wholesale cuts in health benefits, pensions, and other time off with just 30 days notice. For Sutter Tracy RNs, who are also fight- ing for a first contract, nursing standards with strong patient safety and staffing language are a particularly important goal. They note that the hospital has a high turnover of its nursing workforce and continues to rely on out-of- town traveler nurses. The RNs cite the refusal of hospital nego- tiators to address their concerns about safe staffing language to protect patients and to support provisions to protect RNs from on- the-job injuries due to unsafe patient lifting policies. The RNs are also at odds with the hospital over agreement on an RN-elected professional practice committee to meet with management on patient care issues. "It's about time to dow what we need to do," said Viv Corpuz, an ICU RN at Sutter Tracy. "We need to strike to show the community that the nurses are devalued and this affects patient care." The RNs and Sutter Tracy officials have been bargaining for more than two years now, without a resolution, during which time hospital officials unilaterally implemented changes to the health plan. A National Labor Relations Board administrative law judge ruled that Sutter Tracy had violated federal law with that unilateral change. Sutter has appealed that decision to the NLRB in Washington. At Watsonville Community, the RNs, who also struck in December, are continuing a protest against demands by hospital exec- utives for sharp reductions in health cover- age, and the hospital's refusal to address concerns about patient care conditions, especially safe staffing. "We raise serious concerns about safe staffing and clinical practices but we receive no serious response. We are talking about patients' lives," said Roseann Farris, a criti- cal care RN at Watsonville. "We need to take this action in order for the hospital to take our concerns seriously." Nurses say relations with hospital officials have been aggravated by a hard line pushed by corporate executives at Tennessee-based Community Health Systems, which now operates the former locally owned and oper- ated hospital in Watsonville. Federal courts and the federal National Labor Relations Board around the country have repeatedly sanctioned CHS hospitals for violations of labor law and infringements on the rights of RNs. A central concern, say Watsonville RNs, is what they view as the hospital's stance in stifling the voice of the RNs in patient care and safe staffing issues. Hospital negotiators have refused to consider RN proposals for fair resolution of unresolved staffing, patient care, and other nursing practice issues. The hospital also rejected language to assure implementation of safe practices for lifting patients to prevent patient falls and injuries to nurses, as well as other patient care proposals by the RNs. —Staff report RNs at three hospitals strike From far left clock- wise: RNs from Sutter Tracy Community Hos- pital, Queen of the Valley Medical Center, and Watsonville Com- munity Hospital went on strike in August for fair contracts and to improve patient care.