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A P R I L | M AY 2 0 1 5 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 N A T I O N A L N U R S E 11 willing to step up and take on the Sutter Health corporation in the name of safe patient care." Providence RNs note that inadequate staffing and other patient care and economic concerns have contributed to a substantial loss of experienced RNs that undermines quality of care for patients. "Patients come first," said intensive care unit RN Heather Garrant, one of 700 RNs at Providence Little Company of Mary Medical Center in Torrance, Calif. "We want patient safety regulations and protec- tions added to our contract." In a huge insult to RNs, management during the strike encircled the entire hospital with a tall green fence to keep them out. Providence Saint John's Health Center in Santa Monica is refusing to address critical patient safety concerns raised by the 520 RNs at the facility. "Turnover has been huge at this hospital because we as nurses don't feel we can deliver the kind of patient care we need to," said Liz Wade, a labor and delivery RN. "The chronic shortstaffing, lack of break relief nurs- es, and management's refusal to respond seri- ously to our safety demands sends a bad message to RNs and the community." RNs and their family members turned out in droves to all the lively strike lines where they picketed, chanted, and rallied; danced to music; bonded over homemade cuisine specially prepared and brought by their colleagues; and encouraged motorists to honk in support. Saint John's RNs displayed a 140-foot long "wall" of assignment despite objection (ADO) forms filled out by RNs protesting unsafe patient assignments that have been unaddressed by the hospital. "As a member of your negotiating team, we are working very, very hard not just to get a fair contract, but an excellent contract," said Laura Hinerfeld, an ICU RN at Sutter Santa Rosa Regional Hospital, during her facility's noon rally. "We don't just give fair care to our patients, we give excellent care to our patients. I am so proud of us for protecting and continuing the legacy of our community in the face of greedy, corporate healthcare." Nurses at several other facilities, includ- ing University of Chicago Medical Center in Chicago, USC Verdugo Hills Hospital in Glendale, Calif., and Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital in Valencia, Calif., had also been prepared to go on strike, but contract agreements, or significant progress in contract talks, resulted in postponement of their walkouts. —Staff report RNs with Sutter Health, Kaiser Permanente, and Providence Health held strikes April 30 and May 1 to protest understaffing and put some pressure on their employers for a fair contract.