Thousands of nurses at Stanford and Lucile Packard Children's hospitals in Palo Alto, Calif., will strike beginning April 25.
The Committee for Recognition of Nursing Achievement, a union at Stanford Health Care and Stanford Children's Health that represents about 5,000 nurses, announced the strike date in an April 13 news release.
"Striking is a last resort, but the hospitals are refusing to take our well-being seriously. The hospitals must provide nurses the same level of care, respect and support that we provide each day for our patients," Charon Brown, a nurse in the cardiovascular intensive care unit at Stanford Health Care, said in the release. "Nurses are exhausted and we're burning out. We need contracts that give us time for rest and recovery, mental health support and wages and benefits that take care of us and our families."
On April 8, nurses at Stanford and Lucile Packard Children's hospitals authorized the union to call a strike. Now the union has officially issued a 10-day strike notice to hospitals after nurses' contracts expired March 31.
In a statement shared with Becker's, Stanford Health Care Chief Nurse Executive and Vice President of Patient Care Services Dale Beatty, DNP, RN, and Stanford Children's Health Senior Vice President of Patient Care and Chief Nursing Officer Jesus Cepero, PhD, RN, acknowledged receipt of the strike notice and highlighted efforts to ensure care is not interrupted if the strike occurs.
Drs. Beatty and Cepero said hospitals secured the services of licensed, qualified, experienced replacement nurses as part of those efforts.
"While we respect our nurses' rights to engage in this work action, we are disappointed that the union has chosen to strike," their statement said. "We are proud of our nurses and have proposed highly competitive contract terms, including market-leading pay and proposals that further our commitment to enhanced nurse staffing and wellness."
Hospital leaders also said the proposals will help hospitals continue to recruit and retain nurses at a rate above the national benchmark. Overall, there has been an increase of nearly 1,200 nurses across both hospitals since January 2019, they said.
More information on negotiations is available here and here.