City Of Hope RNs Sound Alarm On Patient Care Practices As Contract Talks Heighten

Main Category: Nursing / Midwifery
Also Included In: Public Health
Article Date: 16 Jun 2009 - 3:00 PDT

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City of Hope Medical Center registered nurses will be joined by a broad coalition of public officials, religious and labor leaders, and hospital employees at a June 17 rally at the Duarte facility, the California Nurses Association announced.

The action was called to highlight the nurses' concern about the lowering of patient care standards at the prestigious cancer center. RNs have been in bargaining over patient care issues since February. The hospital refused to agree to an extension of the contract, which expired on April 30.

Over the past few years, the severity of illness of COH patients has increased as the RNs are being assigned additional non-direct care responsibilities on top of more paperwork and having to navigate complex new technologies.

WHAT: Nurses and Patients Rally for Safe Patient Care
WHEN: Wednesday, June 17, 2009 - 3:00 p.m.
WHERE: City of Hope Medical Center
1500 East Duarte Road, Duarte, California 91010

Key Patient Care Issues Include:

- Designated meal and break relief RN: RNs on half a dozen units are working 12 ½ hour shifts and frequently are unable to take a meal or rest break.

- Safe staffing: The nurses want to maintain optimal RN-to-patient staffing which has recently been downgraded by management, requiring nurses to now care for more acutely ill patients.

- The nurses are strongly opposed to a management proposal which would give the hospital carte blanche to assign non-RN work to RNs.

The last bargaining session was on April 30. The next bargaining date is June 25. City of Hope netted $1.5 billion in revenue over the past two fiscal years. In the current fiscal year, it has netted $54.1 million, which is attributed to, among other things, increased patient service volume.

Source
California Nurses Association