National Nurses United

to the 2008 state seismic safety stan- dards if the hospital's governing body submits a resolution to the State Department of Health Services (DHS) that they commit to comply with the 2030 seismic safety standards by 2020. California's hospitals have known since 1994 that they must comply with seis- mic safety standards by 2008 and 2030. Some have complied, some have asked for and received extensions, and some have done nothing—believing that their trade association, CHA, would eventually get the Legislature to further relax the requirement or secure public bonding so they would not have to pay for their own upgrades. A hospital's (or corporation's) failure to plan for future construction needs, however, is no excuse to jeopardize the safety of patients and hospital employees in the event of an earthquake. If a hospital isn't preparing to comply by now, why do we believe they will comply by 2020? The bill has no way of deter- mining which hospitals have legitimate financial problems paying for upgrades; all hospitals are granted the extension. CNA is actively opposing this legisla- tion. I n a very public display of CNA's power in state politics, both houses of the California Legislature on May 9 issued proclamations honoring the organization for its work on behalf of patients and nurses. The proclamation was timed to coincide with National Nurses Week. CNA president Deborah Burger, RN, and a delegation of CNA nurse lead- ers accepted the award on behalf of CNA's 60,000 members. The proclamation states that nurs- es are often the last line of defense for patient safety at a time when health- care companies tend to care more about the bottom line than quality care, and commends CNA members for their advocacy, for fighting to pass the minimum RN-to-patient staffing ratios, and for being "change-makers." RNs who attended the ceremonies said it is high time that their legislators acknowledged all the work the CNA is doing. "We're the only political power- house able to push a healthcare agen- da," said Jan Howe, a hospice home care RN for Kaiser Permanente in Hay- ward. "We sponsor legislation, we fight in the political arena. And we're final- ly getting some credit for it." Richard Sandness, a surgery RN at Mercy Hospital of Folsom, found the timing of the proclamation to be telling. "The Legislature is acknowledging us for telling the truth, despite Schwarzenegger's popularity," he said. "I think they're a little in awe of us." C A L I F O R N I A N U R S E J U N E 2 0 0 5 5 Mercy Merced RNs Vote in CNA M ore than 80 percent of Mercy Medical Center Merced RNs voted in early May to switch their representation from the Ameri- can Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees to CNA. About 240 RNs from the facility will be join- ing CNA's ranks, and another 50 per diem nurses not currently represented are expected to be included soon. The RNs with Mercy Merced, which is run by Catholic Healthcare West, will likely join 4,200 other CHW RNs currently in contract talks. For years, Mercy Merced RNs have felt they weren't adequately represent- ed during a decade of turmoil for the city's hospitals. The two facilities were originally competitors, but both even- tually fell under CHW control. CHW first bought what was known as Mercy Hospital, and then also took over Sut- ter Health's lease to operate the main county hospital. When CHW merged the facilities into two campuses of the same "medical center," the company cut services at Mercy, putting strain on the other hospital and, in turn, the staff. "The biggest impact was on the emergency room," reports Dean Lil- lard, a surgical prep unit RN and a member of the organizing committee. "When you have a community that's used to having two hospitals, trying to squeeze it into one, that's a problem." Wait times could stretch into 24 hours and Lillard says at one point the hos- pital even developed a unit for ER patients that were waiting for beds. Lil- lard said many patients and staff, frus- trated with the Merced hospitals, prefer to go to or work in hospitals in sur- rounding communities. These devel- opments concerned the RNs. "Over the years, we've seen a decline in the representation," Lillard said. "We weren't getting any results for the things we were looking for, which was patient care. Looking in the media and seeing the results that CNA was getting for their nurses, passing laws, fighting for ratios, we decided to go with them." Legislature Honors RNs, CNA

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