Nurses at Valencia, Calif.-based Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital held a rally June 20 to protest recent layoffs and call for more safety measures, reports radio station KHTS.
The California Nurses Association said its members want Henry Mayo Newhall to address safety issues, including the reuse of personal protective equipment, along with the recent layoffs of experienced emergency department nurses amid staffing shortages.
"We are fighting for our rights," an RN with Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital told KHTS. "We have been exposed to COVID, we don't have the proper PPE, and now we are understaffed with too many patients because of recent layoffs."
The union contends the hospital's decision to ration PPE and implement what it considers unsafe PPE protocols is increasing the risk of COVID-19 exposure for workers and patients. It also is urging the hospital to reinstate laid-off nurses.
Henry Mayo Newhall addressed the union's concerns in a statement provided to Becker's Hospital Review: "We have carefully managed our PPE inventory levels throughout the COVID-19 pandemic to ensure we always have adequate supplies of PPE for our staff, and our PPE protocols meet all state and federal safety requirements."
The hospital said it staffs units "to ensure we safely meet the needs of our patients, and we adjust staffing levels when necessary."