Doctors Modesto RNs Win Major Gains In Pay, RN Protections, Patient Care Standards - California Nurses Association

Main Category: Nursing / Midwifery
Article Date: 20 May 2008 - 13:00 PDT

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Registered nurses at Doctors Medical Center, Modesto have won substantial enhancements in compensation, patient care standards, and RN protections in a new tentative contract settlement, the California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee announced.

The pact, which must be ratified by the nurses in upcoming membership meetings, affects 865 RNs at the hospital, which is part of the Tenet Healthcare system.

Under the agreement, Doctors' RNs will earn considerable economic improvements -- with significant gains in across-the-board pay, and equity pay gains for long-term RNs. By then end of 2010, nurses will have seen pay increases ranging from 29.5 percent up to 48 percent since voting to join CNA/NNOC in 2006. In June, the nurses will receive their fourth raise since becoming part of CNA/NNOC.

"We are very pleased with this contract, which will benefit both nurses and patients," said Laura Fairhurst, RN, who works in the emergency department at DMC and is a member of the CNA/NNOC bargaining team. "The strong patient care protections in addition to the salary improvements will greatly enhance our ability to recruit and retain experienced nurses to our medical center."

The Doctors' pact augments a larger system-wide agreement negotiated between CNA/NNOC RNs and Tenet last year which provided sweeping improvements in patient care standards and securing RN rights. Among the most important are:

- Adherence to state-mandated RN staffing ratios with the force of contract law with guarantees that an RN may not be called off work if it leaves her or his unit out of compliance with the ratio.

- Restrictions on the unsafe assignment of RNs (floating) to areas for which they do not have clinical expertise.

- Assurance that the introduction of new technology will not replace RN professional clinical judgment or displace RNs.

- Tenet's commitment to not claim any CNA/NNOC RNs as "supervisors", making them ineligible for representation as a result of a controversial 2006 ruling by the Bush administration's federal labor board.

The system-wide master agreement also provides for additional negotiations by RNs at individual hospitals on critical issues such as local pay practices and Doctors' RNs won important breakthroughs in the new tentative pact as well.

- Agreement that the hospital will require nurse registry or temporary RNs to be called off scheduled work shifts or to float before any of those assignments are made to regular Doctors' staff nurses.

- Expanded educational leave for RNs to enhance their clinical and patient advocacy expertise.

- Improved holiday scheduling for RNs.

California Nurses Association