Registered nurses at Sutter Roseville (Calif.) Medical Center held an informational picket March 5 in protest over safe staffing, according to the California Nurses Association/National Nurses United, which represents 960 RNs at the hospital.
Nurses claim patients are admitted when hospital beds aren't available and subsequently housed in the ER, which limits the ability of ER nurses to safely care for patients needing emergency care, according to a news release. They claim that other units are also left short-staffed because specialized RNs must leave patient assignments to work in the ER, the release reads.
In response to plans for the informational picket, Sutter Roseville CEO Patrick R. Brady said, "We are in negotiations with the union for a new contract for our nurses. This picketing has nothing to do with patient safety provided at Sutter Roseville, which meets or exceeds state staffing ratios."
Sutter Roseville is one of eight Northern California hospitals where RNs, represented by the union, are in contract talks with Sacramento, Calif.-based Sutter Health.
Besides staffing issues, RNs will be protesting management demands for more than 30 reductions in the RNs' existing health coverage, the California Nurses Association/National Nurses United said.
Earlier this week, RNs at Sutter Auburn Faith Hospital in Auburn voted to authorize nurse negotiators to call a strike, if necessary, according to a news release. RNs at Sutter Tracy and Mills-Peninsula Health Services, with facilities in Burlingame and San Mateo, were set to take strike votes March 6. And last month, Roseville RNs voted to give their bargaining team strike authorization. Strikes have not been scheduled.
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