Although we weren’t in contract negotiations this year, RNs at Riverside Community Hospital voted to authorize a S-T-R-I-K-E after hospital management made unilateral changes to already negotiated contractual agreements designed to ensure safe staffing for our patients.

Management sat up and listened after that and we won an agreement that the hospital will close to transfers from other hospitals if any unit reaches either its licensed bed capacity, or does not have adequate staff for a particular licensed bed type per Title 22.

Also, the Hospital will stop their intimidating interview tactic of asking RN candidates if they would be willing to take an assignment out of ratio during. Hospital management will also stop having meal/break relief RNs take on non-meal/break relief duties.

The other big win in this new agreement is that, absent an emergency, any request for a nurse to go out of ratio shall be made in writing on a form created jointly by the Union and management with the name of the manager making the request.

That’s Nurse Power in A-C-T-I-O-N-!