Nurses picketed in front of Providence St. Joseph Medical Center on Thursday to underscore their demands for patient and staff safety measures and more competitive contracts.
Their last bargaining session with Providence leadership is scheduled for Monday, after which the nurses may choose to strike if an agreement cannot be made, according to officials from the Service Employees International Union’s 121RN chapter.
Nurses contend that security lapses at the hospital have created an unsafe environment for the hospital staff and led to recent incidents of workplace violence. They said these concerns, coupled with what they said is the hospital’s failure to retain staff, have led to widespread burnout — an unsustainable situation for the safety of nurses and patients alike, the union has contended.
Union leaders and Providence management have been in negotiations all week, discussing terms for an updated contract for the nurses, with the current pact expiring this month. Nurses voted overwhelmingly Thursday in favor of a strike, a potential step that awaits the results of Monday’s bargaining session.
“I’ve sat at the bargaining table and watched our ideas for retention get rejected, tabled and set aside. We have waited patiently in the hopes that our concerns about staffing, safety and patient care are taken seriously,” said Connor Palacio, an intensive care unit nurse.
“The hospital respects its employees and their right to participate in union activities but prefers negotiating in person rather than through tactics aimed at influencing public opinion,” the hospital’s management said in a statement this week.
The hospital’s retention rate for registered nurses is down over the last two years, according to Shamezo Lumukanda, the SEIU branch’s communication specialist. He said that the hospital turned over 17.3% of its nursing staff in 2021 and that between January and June of this year it lost 92 of its 911 nurses.
Nationally, nurses are leaving their positions in increasing numbers. A recent study by NSI Nursing Solutions showed that over 60% of hospitals had RN vacancy rates greater than 15% in 2021. “Essentially, every five years, these departments will turn over their entire RN staff,” the report states.
This problem is serious, said Joyce Powell, a 23-year RN who works in Providence’s emergency department: “We’re taking on more patient loads, going out of ratios, covering nurses on other floors when it’s not our specialty. We just want to be staffed appropriately to take care of our patients,” she said.
Nurses have contended that retention issues are worsening because Providence has been unsuccessful in maintaining competitive compensation and benefits. New RNs are hired but too often leave to work at other hospitals after one or two years after gaining experience, the nurses have said.
The union is looking to retain nurses –– specifically, nurses with five to 10 years of experience who the SEIU said are most likely to leave –– by asking for retention bonuses and negotiating additional steps in their contract including benefits and tuition reimbursement.
Meanwhile, the hospital said in its statement that the institution “provides excellent nursing care from a staff dedicated to the care of our patients and their loved ones. Nurses are included in efforts to continually raise the bar on quality, compassion and innovative care.”
In addition to retention issues, safety is also up for negotiation.
Several weapons have made it through the hospital’s security, the union said. In one instance, a man allegedly barricaded himself inside of a room at the hospital and police were needed to defuse the situation. Powell, who is also the president of the SEIU 121RN chapter, told the Leader that several guns and a knife had made it through hospital security.
“We fought very hard to get a metal detector,” said Powell. “Unfortunately, it did not catch the couple of guns, a knife. Those came through the back door of the emergency room, meaning the ambulance bay door. And so we’ve asked to have security stepped up to try to stop this cycle.”
Nurses are asking for increased patrols in the hospital facilities, parking lots, and for other measures to be put in place to ensure future incidents don’t occur. “We don’t want a knee-jerk reaction. We want to be proactive,” Powell said.
Said the hospital: “Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center is nationally recognized for our quality care, and we work tirelessly to ensure the safety of our patients and staff. This includes making sure our hospital is properly staffed, no matter the circumstances.”
The long negotiation process has ramped up, and 14 bargaining sessions have taken place. But the ball is now in the Providence management’s court, Powell says. “In all the years that I’ve been here, this particular management team is the most willing. I feel like this is our time …we have good leaders in this hospital. I guess now we have to hope that Providence corporation will listen to them,” she said.
The nurses have received support from city and state officials like state Sen. Anthony Portantino, Assemblywoman Laura Friedman, Burbank City Councilman Nick Schultz and Vice Mayor Konstantine Anthony and Congressman Adam Schiff.
Anthony attended the event and expressed his support for the nurses in a statement: “Our nurses here at St. Joe’s in Burbank weathered the dangerous pandemic and faced security threats from science-deniers and anti-vaxxers, all while under a contract that predated COVID-19. It’s time for their new contract to reflect the new reality of health care service in Burbank. I urge Providence to negotiate in good faith and to provide better-paid leave and stronger protections for their workers, in addition to much needed raises.…
“Let’s take care of the people who took care of us.”
