Reno, Nev.-based Saint Mary's Regional Medical Center has reached a three-year contract agreement with nurses, according to the Reno Gazette Journal.
The new contract includes a 4 percent yearly pay raise and expanded nondiscrimination protections. The National Nurses Organizing Committee, which represents almost 600 Saint Mary's nurses, announced the agreement Oct. 3.
The contract will allow better patient advocacy and improve nurse retention rates, Jeremy Shea, RN, a member of the nurses' negotiating team, said to the Reno Gazette Journal.
Nurses said an initial agreement fell apart about a month ago when Saint Mary's threatened to remove the nurse staffing provisions. Nurses also held a Sept. 18 picket at the hospital amid negotiations.
"We are glad to move forward together to ensure Saint Mary's Regional Medical Center remains the best place in our region for quality and compassionate patient care and a great place to work," hospital spokesperson Amber Norris wrote in a statement to the Reno Gazette Journal.
Saint Mary's, owned by Ontario, Calif.-based Prime Healthcare, is the second-largest healthcare provider in the Reno area.