Fremont-Rideout RNs Set August 31 Strike Date, USA

Main Category: Nursing / Midwifery
Article Date: 28 Aug 2007 - 1:00 PDT

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Fremont-Rideout Health Group (FRHG) registered nurses will hold a one-day strike August 31 to protest the continued intransigence of hospital officials on negotiating a first contract for the RNs that strengthens their ability to protect patients.

The RNs will discuss the pending strike Wednesday press event at 12 noon at the Fremont Medical Center Administration Building, 949 Plumas St., in Yuba City. The California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee represents 450 RNs at Fremont Medical Center, Rideout Memorial Hospital, Feather River Surgical Center, and Fremont-Rideout Cancer Center.

"Strikes are always a last resort for nurses, but there is too much at stake for this community and for our patients for us not to take a strong stand," said Shawna Van Dusen, a labor and delivery RN who works at Fremont Medical Center and is a member of the CNA nurse negotiating team.

Negotiations with the hospital will continue this week, and the RNs urged hospital officials to act now to solve the many problems facing their hospital and begin to treat the RNs with respect.

Earlier this year the California HealthCare Foundation rated Fremont Medical Center and Rideout Memorial Hospital "Below Average" and "Poor", respectively, in the areas of patient care.

To correct those substandard conditions the administration should reach an agreement with the RNs that enhances the quality of care and raises the standards for nurses to better retain qualified RNs and recruit new nurses for the community, says CNA.

Safe patient care is at the center of the dispute. The RNs want the hospital to agree to set the state's RN-to-patient ratios in the contract, subject to contract enforcement provisions, as many other CNA-represented hospitals across California have this language, most recently nine Tenet Healthcare hospitals in a contract agreement approved this week.

A second major patient care issue is the unsafe assignment of RNs to areas outside their specialty area of expertise.

"We are losing good registered nurses every week to area hospitals because of the substandard pay and benefits at FRHG," said Heather Avalos, an intensive care unit RN at Rideout Memorial Hospital and a member of the CNA nurse negotiating team. "We want to be able to stay here and continue to serve our community, but more and more nurses are realizing that we cannot afford to work at FRHG."

The California Nurses Association and National Nurses Organizing Committee is the largest and fastest growing professional RN organization in the nation, representing over 75,000 registered nurses in every state. For more information, visit http://www.CalNurses.org