National Nurses United

12 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 A P R I L | M AY 2 0 1 5 WRAP-UP REPORT California spring was the season for settling contracts. Registered nurses at a number of California hospitals ratified new pacts that upheld existing protections and benefits while securing provisions aimed at improv- ing patient care and safety. Poised to strike, nurses at Arrowhead Regional Medical Center (ARMC) and other San Bernardino County health facilities ended up ratifying in March a new two-year contract intended to improve patient care throughout the County's healthcare system by stemming the loss of county RNs to the private sector. RNs say the pact, which includes a minimum 7 percent pay increase over two years, begins to address their wage disparity with the private sector and is a crit- ical win for patients and residents by secur- ing experienced RNs for the community. New language also bans the mandatory assignment of nurses to work outside their specialty areas of clinical expertise and ensure units are fully staffed with experi- enced, specialized nurses. Some 150 RNs at USC Verdugo Hills Hospital overwhelmingly voted in late April to approve their first union contract, culmi- nating a yearlong campaign persuading the University of Southern California to invest in patient care improvements at the hospi- tal. The agreement includes contract protec- tions for nurses to advocate for improved patient care, as well as wage and benefit improvements to enhance recruitment and retention at the hospital. RNs at Oroville Hospital unanimously approved a new four-year contract with no takeaways in early March that expands and strengthens their professional practice committee and provides across-the-board wage increases. Illinois prepared to strike, some 1,550 Universi- ty of Chicago Medical Center RNs voted May 5 to approve a new contract with the hospital that they say will strengthen patient care protec- tions. "University of Chicago nurses stood together to end the unsafe prac- tice of rotating shifts, to keep staffing advo- cacy in the hands of bedside clinical nurses, and to improve staffing conditions for our patients and the community," said RN Talisa Hardin, who works in the burn unit. Under the new pact, all RNs will have a regular permanent shift with no rotation between day and night shifts, a dangerous and exhausting practice that had prompted RNs to fall asleep at the wheel on their way home. A second significant gain is the addition of eight new "patient care support nurses" to assist when nursing units are overwhelmed and need extra clinical help or are facing emergencies. Further, UCMC RNs main- tained the traditional clinical role of charge nurses, which the hospital had been seeking to replace with administrative managers. The agreement also provides an across-the- board pay increase of 9.5 percent for all UCMC RNs over the four years of the pact, with additional increases based on years of experience. International nurse volunteers with Registered Nurse Response Network (RNRN), a disaster relief project of National Nurses United and the California Nurses Foundation, embarked in April upon the USNS Comfort (T-AH 20), a Military Sealift Command ship, joining mili- tary personnel and healthcare professionals, engineers, and environmental experts for Continuing Promise, a humanitarian mission that includes stops in 11 countries throughout South America, Central America, and the Caribbean. Between April and late Septem- ber, groups of volunteers will perform hundreds of surgical procedures at no cost, treat thousands of patients, reinforce local infrastructure, and provide veterinary services. "It's an amazing feeling to be able to help someone and to see them walk away, knowing they are in a better position," said RNRN volunteer Amy Bowen, an emer- gency room nurse from Lake Ozark, Mo. Washington, D.C. to dramatically improve care at District of Columbia hospitals, NNU registered nurs- es joined with city councilmembers and community leaders in March to reintroduce the 2015 Patient Protection Act, a bill modeled on a California law that would estab- lish RN-to-patient ratios which set specific limits on the number of patients assigned to one RN. As of press time, a committee hear- ing on the bill is scheduled for June. Registered nurses, who "see the crisis every day" are fighting for this bill because protecting patients is an intrinsic part of their calling, said Stephanie Simms, a neonatal intensive care RN at MedStar's Washington Hospital Center. "Direct-care nurses applaud the sponsors of the Patient Protection Act for their willingness to put the people first, to improve patient care at our hospitals, and to heal DC by enacting this legislation," Simms said. Initially introduced in early 2013, the Patient Protection Act has been ferociously opposed by the wealthy hospital industry lobby. District of Columbia RNs along with Council and community supporters perse- vered and have included several key addi- tions and improvements to this year's bill. Some 65 organizations in the District of Columbia are backing the legislation. This call for official legislation on safer staffing comes at an especially critical time, as local RNs at MedStar Washington Hospi- tal Center (MWHC) and Providence Hospi- tal have recently been forced to strike over issues including hospital management reducing staff to dangerous levels. "Nurses at our hospital and hospitals across this city are short staffed and stretched thin, which makes it impossible for us to give patients the care they need and deserve," said Fidelis Kweyila, a medical- surgical RN at Providence. "We will not rest until the Patient Protection Act is enacted in the District of Columbia so that every patient is protected." —Staff report From left: RN volun- teers provide medical care on an internation- al humanitarian mis- sion; Washington, D.C. RNs cheer the reintro- duction of ratios legis- lation in their city. NEWS BRIEFS

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