Copyright Newsweek
Tenet Health nurses in California will hold a one-day strike later this month to protest the hospital's “refusal to address nurses’ deep concerns about patient care and safe staffing.” The California Nurses Association (CNA)/National Nurses United (NNU) announced Wednesday that more than 3,000 nurses have been under contract negotiations with Tenet since February, “with little to no movement on key issues.” Why It Matters Kristi Carson has worked as an ER nurse at Doctors Medical Center in Modesto, California, for nine years. She told Newsweek in an interview Wednesday that this isn't just a staffing issue; it's a patient care and community issue. Carson said the nurses are facing a "manufactured staffing shortage" that is "taking a toll" on staff and leading to injury or inadequate patient care. She adds that her employer chalks this up to nurse burnout, which she said implies a sort of failing on the nurses' part. "We know what we can do and how we can help patients, and we're not provided the resources to do it," she said. The union and Tenet began contract negotiations in February but were unable to reach an agreement by the time contracts expired in June. Carson said Tenet has continued to "drag its feet" on fair contract talks and continues policies that lead to short staffing. What To Know In a statement to Newsweek, Tenet Health said this strike comes amid contract negotiations with the union and maintained that the health system will "remain focused on providing safe, quality care to our patients, just as we do every day." "We are disappointed that the union is taking this strike action, which in our view is not constructive or necessary," Tenet said. "We have been negotiating in good faith with the union to reach a new contract and even proposed to the union that the parties engage in a mediation to attempt to resolve any differences." Rather than "engage in productive mediation and negotiations," Tenet said the union delivered its intent to strike. The strike is planned for Thursday, October 30 at hospital locations in San Ramon, Manteca, Modesto, Turlock, Palm Springs and Joshua Tree. The nurses voted unanimously to authorize the strike in early September. On Monday, they delivered a 10-day notice of their strike to Tenet to allow management to make alternative plans for patient care. While this is a work stoppage, Carson said that nurses in the strike line will be available to enter the buildings to help care for patients if needed. Tenet said the hospital will remain fully operational during the strike so "patients and their loved ones can be assured that our hospitals will be staffed with qualified and experienced replacement nurses as well as all of our other caregivers through the strike’s duration." According to the unions, the nurses are asking Tenet management to agree to a set of standards to “ensure the highest quality of patient care.” Nurses at these hospitals are asking Tenet to invest in the staff and the communities by implementing changes in the hospital. Those changes include guaranteed meal and rest break coverage; improvements to recruitment and retention of experienced nurses; establishing lift teams to help with turning and lifting patients; and “safe staffing” at all times, to ensure there is an adequate number of nurses and ancillary staff on a unit to prevent delays in patient care. Carson said that in bargaining sessions, the nurses tried to educate Tenet on what was happening at their facilities and the failure of their policies, but the health system continues to delay action. The upcoming strike, she said, demonstrates the solidarity among the nurses. "The strike is a way to let Tenet know the nurses not only have a voice, we also have power," she said. "We hold economic power as well. If they're only concerned [with] making money, we will let them know that we will not continue to go through this every single day." Back in July, thousands of nurses at Tenet hospitals in California held informational pickets to "raise awareness in their communities about management’s refusal to ensure appropriate staffing and training, and the impact it has on the quality of patient care and the retention of experienced nursing staff." The nurses were pushing for lift support, rapid-response nurses for emergencies on each shift, rest and meal breaks during 12-hour shifts and adequate orientation standards for new graduates and new hires. In a statement at the time, CNA President Sandy Reding said that Tenet's multibillion-dollar profits are "made on the backs of nurses who give tirelessly day-in and day-out and the patients who they are shortchanging," adding that Tenet can afford to provide its nurses the necessary resources to improve both the retention and the quality of care at its hospitals. Last year, the Massachusetts Nurses Association filed several complaints to state agencies against Tenet facility St. Vincent Hospital, due to concerns over safe staffing practices. What Happens Next The October 30 strike is scheduled to take place at six Tenet hospitals across California. Participating hospitals include San Ramon Medical Center, Doctors Hospital Manteca, Doctors Medical Center, Emanuel Medical Center, Desert Regional Medical Center and Hi-Desert Medical Center. CNA represents 3,100 nurses at Tenet hospitals in California. "We are standing up, and we are standing up against a very powerful, multi-billion dollar healthcare corporation who is getting rich on the backs of nurses and patients and our communities," Carson said. "We are standing up to say we deserve better, our patients deserve better, and we will continue to fight for that and do whatever it takes until this multi-billion dollar corporation is able to see beyond the dollars and how much they can squeeze out of our communities every single day, and provide a fair contract for nurses in such a way that we are able to provide the best care we can for our patients." Tenet Health said its focus will now shift to ensuring that patients will continue to receive the high-quality care during the demonstration and will "stand ready to resume good faith negotiations at the strike’s conclusion."
