Salinas Valley Memorial Hospital Nurses Union Authorizes A Strike
by Richard Kuehn on 12/07/14
| The California Nurses Association sent out a press release on Friday stating that nurses at Salinas Valley Memorial Hospital are ready to strike in order to stop an erosion in patient care standards and win needed improvements. The strike was authorized by employees who belong to the California Nurses Association/National Nurses United (CAN/NNU) to protest management's refusal to address issues that are fundamental to quality patient care at the facility and answer basic questions regarding their proposed restructuring plan. This strike might get very nasty. "My first interaction with the Hospital CEO, Pete Delgado, resulted in retaliation and silencing of our voice," Linda Sarratt, RN, Telemetry/Step Down Unit, stated in the press release. "My nursing license requires that I speak up about patient care conditions in the hospital. When management tries to stifle RN voices, dangerous conditions can persist in the workplace," she said. The union cited the following conditions which have been documented although the hospital management no longer allows the nurses to fill out Assignment Despite Objection (ADO) forms which were meant to formally document unsafe patient care conditions and bring them to management for review and resolution. | |
|
Delays in care due to management's refusal to have a live person on the unit viewing patient heart rates. A lack of staff leading to numerous unsafe care conditions including patient's not being moved sufficiently risking bedsores and other problems and delays in answering call bells which can contribute to the risk of falls and patient's not receiving timely pain medication. Delays in providing necessary physical therapy to recovering patients. Problems that arise due to the hospitals refusal to hire interpreters and reliance on faulty electronic translation systems. Nurse fatigue caused by extended work shifts and no time off for breaks and lunch. |
|
Comments (0)
