National Nurses United

nities from Sacramento, Fresno, respectively, their separate, slightly lower wage tier will be eliminated by July 2009. At that time, all Kaiser RNs under this CNA/NNOC contract will earn what the San Francisco Bay Area RNs make. The bargaining team also convinced Kaiser to agree to numerous provisions pro- moting conditions for safe patient care and the integrity of nursing practice. Nurses are now guaranteed a "zero-lift" policy to ensure that they are not endangering themselves or patients by carrying or handling too much patient weight. Kaiser adopted CNA/NNOC's "Model of Care" language, which states that registered nurses are the coordinators of care, that all patients are assigned to an RN, and that RNs delegate tasks to LVNs and lesser-skilled workers. The hospital system also agreed to language stating that technology will not replace the professional judgment of the RN/NP. The state's safe RN-to -patient ratios are now written into the contract, and inpatient and emergency department charge nurses can't be counted toward the ratios. In addition, nurses won many improvements to GRASP, Kaiser's patient acuity and staffing system, including stronger implementation and enforcement language. The no cancellation policy was also renewed and made permanent. To make sure that problems are being sur- faced and resolved, the contract also expands the number of paid hours Kaiser RNs can spend serving on Professional Practice Com- mittees to eight hours per month. A new PPC was added for home health/hospice. New or returning RNs at two yet-to-be- determined pilot facilities will enjoy the benefits of an RN/NP preceptor/mentor program intended to retain nurses. And to top it all off, Kaiser agreed to pay for all of the time bargaining team members spend in negotiations and approved caucuses during the next round of contract talks. "This is my third contract negotiation, and so far this is the best one because there was something for everybody, from ICU to med-surg to home health to advice," said Zenei Triunfo-Cortez, a post-anesthesia RN for Kaiser South San Francisco and CNA/NNOC vice president. "I think it 's a very good package. Kaiser wants to be the employer of choice, to attract all the new nurses, and I think this contract will go a long way toward that." —staff report O C T O B E R 2 0 0 6 W W W . C A L N U R S E S . O R G R E G I S T E R E D N U R S E 9 CLEVELAND dozens of registered nurses from some of the city's most prestigious hospitals ral- lied Aug. 7 in Public Square to protest unsafe staffing conditions and to fight for the right to advocate for their patients. Nurses in Ohio routinely work under condi- tions that jeopardize patient safety and com- promise their ability to provide quality care, they report. Too many patients, unsafe float- ing to other units, and mandatory overtime are detrimental to patient safety, yet are not uncommon in local hospitals. Nurses' con- cerns for patient safety go unheeded, and in some cases have resulted in retaliatory action as was reported by one RN who was suspended three days for refusing to float to the neonatal ICU, for which she had no experience. "NNOC nurses introduced a proposal and are now petitioning the Ohio Board of Nurs- ing (OBN) to incorporate language in the Nurse Practice Act that grants RNs not merely the obligation but the RIGHT to advocate on behalf of patient safety," said Kathryn Ryan, RN. "This goes a long way to protect all Ohio nurses from disciplinary action by hospitals when they speak up on behalf of patients." Nurses have been busy collecting signa- tures in support of the proposal and a delega- tion of nurses delivered the petitions and addressed the OBN at its Sept. 21 meeting. Local leaders are calling for their cowork- ers to keep a personal record of unsafe staffing situations. The documentation will be collected and is vital on many fronts in the fight for safe staffing. Plans to expand this effort across Ohio will be discussed at upcoming leadership planning meetings. — katrina howard FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. a national labor Relations Board hearing officer on Sept. 19 threw out the results of a narrowly-lost June union election by some 550 RNs at Flagstaff Medical Center, ruling that the hospital illegally and repeatedly threatened nurses that they would lose scheduled raises and pension benefits if they joined CNA/NNOC. As a result, a new election may be sched- uled by next June, though the hospital is appealing the decision. There are currently no unionized hospitals of significance in Arizona. Pro-union Flagstaff Medical Center RNs were overjoyed and felt vindicated by the decision. "We are elated," said Diane Baker, an RN who works in the endoscopy depart- ment. "We knew this was not a fair election. We hope that the hospital will obey the law but, more importantly, recognize that FMC nurses are committed to winning a contract that will give us a voice in patient care, salary, and benefits that will recruit and retain the most qualified nurses to our hospital." The hearing officer found that top hospi- tal administrators, including FMC President Bill Bradel, held more than 40 one-hour meetings over five days prior to the election during which nurses were told their annual merit raises would be frozen. "A threat of loss of benefits is serious mis- conduct," wrote hearing officer Charlotte Ben- ford. "The threats made at employee meetings affected almost all the employees, thus, I find that it would interfere with employee free choice in the election." —staff report ST. LOUIS, Mo. cna/nnoc nurses joined local healthcare activists with the group Grass Roots Orga- nizing Aug. 29 in Jefferson City to stage guerilla theater illustrating the public's need for universal, single-payer healthcare. In front of the Governor's mansion, some activists performed the role of corporate healthcare "pirates" and others played patients. The pirates forced the everyday cit- izens – a working-class woman, an elderly woman, a handicapped man, and a nurse – to give them money and "walk the plank." "I work for a hospital that I can't afford to go to," said one St. Louis RN who declined to use her name because she fears repercussion from her employer. Other speakers testified about all Missourians' need for healthcare coverage. Grass Roots Organizing has been fighting to restore funding cut from Missouri's Medic- aid programs, expand Medicaid eligibility to elderly and disabled seniors to 100 percent of the poverty level, and maintain the program beyond the current June 30, 2008 deadline. Earlier this year, volunteers collected and submitted 94,000 signatures to qualify an ini- tiative to save Missouri Medicaid, but unfor- tunately came up short. —staff report WRAP-UP REPORT

• Cover