|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
Registered nurses at San Ramon Regional Medical Center joined their fellow members from the California Nurses Association in picketing outside eight Tenet Healthcare hospitals on Tuesday, in an effort to have Tenet management increase their investment in nursing staff.
It was a small gathering outside of San Ramon Regional — participating nurses would join the picket line in shifts, ensuring that they would not have to walk out on their work shift and disrupt hospital operations — but spirits were high as those in attendance rallied for nurses.
“We are out here supporting our patients; we are patient advocates for the best healthcare possible for our patients here,” said Lynda Bredleau, a 20-year nurse at San Ramon Regional. “We’re actually doing this in support of all of the nurses that are in this union … We want Tenant to invest in nurse staff so that we can have experienced nurses, and recruit and retain the nurses we have.”
An “informational picket,” Bredleau’s group joined nurses from Arizona, California, Florida and Texas, in encouraging Tenant management to invest in their nurses, with a particular focus on ensuring that nurses stay rested and receive adequate breaks during their shifts.
“A good way to ensure we maintain our staff is to ensure adequate break relief because studies show that nurses that get adequate breaks provide the best care possible,” Bredleau said.
San Ramon Regional spokeswoman Krista Deans said Tuesday, “We are disappointed that the union is taking this approach as it is not constructive or necessary. We have made good progress toward a new contract with the union and will continue to negotiate in good faith in hopes of reaching a successful resolution, without the need to disrupt our patients or staff in their mission.”
According to CNA officials, in 2018 alone, nurses at the eight Tenet hospitals reported more than 57,000 missed breaks, a 28% increase over 2016 figures.
“Research studies shows that when RNs are able to take adequate rest and meal breaks they are more likely not to experience fatigue, which can lead to medical errors, and injuries to both RNs and their patients,” RNA officials wrote in a statement. “According to information supplied by Tenet, the company paid out a total of nearly eight million dollars in penalty pay to RNs from 2016-2018 for more than 140,000 missed meal breaks in the eight California hospitals holding the pickets.”
Union officials further criticized Tenet’s use of “on call” nurses, saying the company commonly uses the system for regularly scheduled procedures and non-emergent situations. As opposed to the intended purpose of the on call system, which officials say is supposed to be used for unexpected and emergent conditions.
Officials added that in 2018, “nurses at Hi-Desert Medical Center in Joshua Tree, San Ramon Regional Medical Center in San Ramon, and Twin Cities Community Hospital in Templeton, averaged more than 1000 hours each on call.”
The San Ramon Regional nurse’s demonstration was joined by pickets at Tenet hospitals in Modesto, Turlock, Los Alamitos, Palm Springs, Joshua Tree, Templeton and San Luis Obispo.
My husband was sent to San Ramon Regional last spring. The nurses who worked with him were not only highly competent and professional but very kind. He thrived while he was there. One of the nurses had an evaluation observation during this time. The negativity of the evaluator was obvious. He asked us many questions about her work, which he should have been able to see had he known what to look for. We should have not been involved in this at all.
When the doctor who was hired by our insurer prescribed a medication my husband was not supposed to have, it was the nursing staff who contacted him and worked with him to get the order changed.
These ladies and gentleman work so hard to care for their patients, they ARE the best side of San Ramon Regional. I hope the hospital realizes this and finds the funds to meet the nurses needs as well their patients’ needs.
I’ve had a few surgeries at San Ramon Regional and felt I received terrific, professional treatment from caring nurses. I have a friend who is a nurse and I know their job is often very difficult. Regular breaks are essential for people who are taking care of patients. They have lots of responsibility and they deserve to feel appreciated by their employers. I hope Tenet will realize how hard these caregivers work, and how moral and can be eroded when their efforts are not respected by providing adequate rest periods throughout their shifts. Poor moral results in a poor attitude towards their job, which leads to poor patient care.