Issue link: https://nnumagazine.uberflip.com/i/447674
W hen Gov. Arnold Schwarzeneg- ger announced this spring that he was releasing $90 million over the next five years in federal and state funds to recruit and train more nurses, the daily media and nursing publications all gushed about this move being an olive branch to RNs, given his public antagonism toward ratios and nurse activism over the past year. Advance for Nurses called his pro- posal a "progressive plan" and other news outlets covered the story without any real critique. And if you read his press release, it's very vague. Here's the real deal: The $90 mil- lion is based on alleged private con- tributions that haven't even been committed. And a good portion is slated as matching funds, contingent on com- munity colleges first putting up money that they don't even have, since their budgets have been slashed so severely. And let's not forget the bottom line: No matter how many nurses you graduate, recruit, and train, you can't get nurses to stay in bedside nursing if they're working under conditions that they feel jeopardize patient safety—the kinds of conditions created by the poli- cies for which Schwarzenegger advo- cates. —Deborah Burger, RN C A L I F O R N I A N U R S E S E P T E M B E R 2 0 0 5 7 No "There" There to Gov's Nursing Plan Scripps RNs Pick CNA,Again A fter a year-long effort to win a first contract, then a bruising anti-union campaign when the question of whether to stay organized was put to nurses again in late July, some 250 RNs with Scripps Memorial Hospital, Encinitas ultimately chose to stick with CNA. Nurses there have been frustrated in bargaining with the hos- pital, which refuses to accept contract terms that are considered basic to all CNA contracts: a step system for wages, a closed shop, and creation of a Professional Practice Committee. The RNs have already waged two one- day strikes and filed an unsafe patient care complaint with the state Depart- ment of Health Services. They hope the recent referendum will convince management to stop trying to break up the union and push them back to the bargaining table for good faith talks. —Staff report "Nurse Adams, please report to rooms 13 through 100 immediately...you have patients who need your attention."