california nurses association

TX nurses file charges against Tenet and CA nurse group

Anne Zieger — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 11:09:14 -0400

A pair of nurses, working with a national right-to-work group, have filed unfair labor practices against Tenet Healthcare and the California Nurses Association with the National Labor Relations Board. The charges were filed by the nurses and the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation. The nurses and the right-to-work group argue that the election-procedures agreement between Tenet and the CNA isn't fair. They contend that it gives the CNA too much of an advantage in organizing nurses at Tenet's hospitals, and squeezes out nurses who are against unionization.

Under the current agreement, CNA has access to the names and addresses of nurses, as well as meeting space in Tenet hospitals, according to the charges filed with the NLRB. Nurses who aren't in favor of unionization, meanwhile, had their meeting space taken away when the CNA complained, the right-to-work group contends. Meanwhile, the union says that its agreement only puts protections in place to make sure that employees aren't threatened or harassed during legally-allowed organizing.

To learn more about the dispute:
- read this Modern Healthcare piece (reg. req.)
- read the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation's press release

Related Articles:
RN unions vow to battle NLRB ruling
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Union targets Boston teaching hospital
Nurses at 13 Sutter hospitals plan two-day strike

ALSO NOTED: Provider groups ask CMS to delay NPI enforcement, again; Zyrtec marketers try something new; and much more...

Wed, 23 Apr 2008 06:59:50 -0400

> Several groups have asked CMS to delay the implementation of the National Provider Identification number, arguing that no one involved is really ready to move ahead. FierceHealthFinance

> To market over-the-counter Zyrtec, drug marketers have turned to a very old ad medium--fliers posted on telephone poles. FiercePharma

> Researchers at Johns Hopkins have come up with a cheaper, easier-to-deliver vaccine for NPV, strains of which are responsible for most cervical cancer cases. FierceVaccines

> Dallas nurses are mulling over whether they should join a labor union, the California Nurses Association. If they do it would be the first nurses union in the state since the 1970s. Article

And Finally... This sounds like something out of a cheap horror flick, but it really happened. Article

Sutter nurses plan 10-day strike

Wed, 05 Mar 2008 06:59:57 -0500

Labor troubles are continuing within the Sutter Health system hospitals, where Bay Area nurses are now planning a 10-day strike. Nurses at Atla Bates Summit Medical Center campuses in Berkeley and Oakland, Calif., as well as at San Leandro Hospital, voted this week to prepare for a strike. The union, the California Nurses Association, previously got permission from Nurses at California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco and Sutter Solano Medical Center in Vallejo. Nurses at Sutter are striking for the third time in less than a year, but this is the longest strike they've yet attempted.

Union leaders say that the key issue sparking the strike is Sutter's unwillingness to schedule RNs to care for patients when nurses are on meal, rest or bathroom breaks. Sutter, for its part, is saying that the group is striking because its contracts with CNA don't offer the same systemwide organizing terms the group has with other hospital systems.

To learn more about the planned strike:
- read this Sacramento Business Journal piece

Related Articles:
Nurses at 13 Sutter hospitals plan two-day strike. Report
Sutter nurses threaten to strike. Report
5,000 CA nurses set plans for strike. Report
After battle with SEIU, Sutter officials must pay staff for lockout. Report
Hundreds of Appalachian nurses go on strike. Report
Beth Israel, union fight war of words. Report
SEIU plans to form healthcare unit. Report

California lags in drug-resistant infection reporting

Mon, 25 Feb 2008 06:59:56 -0500

Earlier this month, California public health officials announced they'd begin tracking community-based MRSA infections, e.g. those contracted in schools, gyms and other community settings. At the time they argued, in essence, that while community-based MRSA is less common than healthcare-acquired MRSA, it's not as well understood. Now, these officials are taking a drubbing. State health experts and consumer advocates are saying that this measure is woefully inadequate, given that the vast majority of MRSA infections occur in healthcare facilities. Epidemiologists say that in focusing on community-based forms of MRSA, California is behind at least 15 other states which are currently tracking MRSA within provider settings. In fact, several of those states not only are collecting facility-based data, but are making it available to the public or setting plans to do so.

The California Nurses Association is pushing to see infection-rate reporting made public for all of the state's 6,000-odd healthcare facilities. Meanwhile, hospitals continue to resist such disclosures, saying that such reporting would impose serious staffing costs and lots of taxing paperwork.

To learn more about California's infection-reporting plans:
- read this Los Angeles Times piece

Related Articles:
Report: MRSA moving out of healthcare settings. Article
Hospitals screen incoming patients for MRSA. Article

ALSO NOTED: Hospital sued over newborn death; FL groups sue state over preventive care for poor; and much more...

Fri, 11 Jan 2008 06:59:50 -0500

> A Pennsylvania family has sued a Geisinger Health System hospital over a medication error which apparently killed one of its twin newborns. Article

> State pediatric associations in Florida are continuing to pursue a lawsuit charging that state agencies are depriving poor children of preventive health services. Article

> About 5,100 Philadelphia nurses have decided to affiliate with an aggressive national group, the California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee. Article

> Stanford University has gotten a $20 million gift to finance research and kick-start a planned $1 billion building project. Article

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Nurses at 13 Sutter hospitals plan two-day strike

Thu, 13 Dec 2007 06:59:56 -0500

Roughly 5,000 nurses should walk off the job today and tomorrow at Sutter Health-affiliated hospitals in California. This follows a previous two-day walkout by the nurses in October. Affected hospitals include California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco, Alta Bates Summit Medical Center in Berkeley and Oakland, and Burlingame's Peninsula Medical Center.

The nurses, who are represented by the California Nurses Association, have been in negotiations with the hospitals since October, but talks have reached an impasse. The nursing union and Sutter are still arguing over health insurance and retirement benefits for nurses, work schedule and nurse-to-patient ratios. Meanwhile, Sutter officials say that there won't be any operational problems during the strike; hospital administrators have hired replacement nurses who will take up the slack during the walkout. (Of course, replacing experienced staff nurses with outsiders unfamiliar with a hospital's set-up poses risks of its own, but that's not something the execs are likely to brag about.)

To find out more about the issues:
- read this Associated Press item

Related Articles:
Sutter nurses threaten to strike. Report
5,000 CA nurses set plans for strike. Report
After battle with SEIU, Sutter officials must pay staff for lockout. Report
Hundreds of Appalachian nurses go on strike. Report
Beth Israel, union fight war of words. Report
SEIU plans to form healthcare unit. Report

ALSO NOTED: Metro Boston practices, hospitals form new system; Officials dispute PA cancer link; and much more...

Mon, 10 Dec 2007 06:59:50 -0500

> A group of suburban Boston medical centers and physician practices have come together to form a new health system. Article

> It's government versus researchers in Pennsylvania, where officials dispute that conditions in two counties have led to a rise in rare blood cancers. Article

> The California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee has convinced hospitals at a Nevada hospital to come on board. Article

> Longs Drug Stores is opening retail clinics in two Hawaii locations, the first such clinics to open in the state. Article

And Finally... Even Bill Gates would think twice before serving this scotch to dinner guests. Article

Sutter nurses threaten to strike

Mon, 03 Dec 2007 06:59:58 -0500

After several weeks of fruitless discussion, the California Nurses Association has warned Sutter Health that it nurses plan to stage a two-day walkout in mid-December. Hospitals affected include California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco, Alta Bates Summit Medical Center in Berkeley and Oakland and Burlingame's Peninsula Medical Center. The walkout reprises an earlier two-day strike in October, under which 5,000 Sutter nurses at 13 hospitals left their jobs. The two parties have been in talks since then, but the two sides are still pretty far apart. To date, the nurses still cite issues of patient safety, nurse staffing ratios, medical benefits, pension improvements and questions over ongoing operations of community hospitals as reasons for the conflict.

To find out more about the proposed strike:
- read this San Francisco Business Times piece

Related Articles:
Sutter union votes to authorize strike. Report
Appalachian nursing strike continues. Report
5,000 CA nurses set plans for strike. Report
Hundreds of Appalachian nurses go on strike. Report
Beth Israel, union fight war of words. Report
SUI plans to form healthcare unit. Report
After battle with SEIU, Sutter officials must pay staff for lockout. Report

Some striking Sutter nurses face lockout

Fri, 12 Oct 2007 06:59:56 -0400

Over the past two days, thousands of nurses at hospitals affiliated with Sutter Health staged a two-day walkout. While the majority of nurses plan to return to their jobs today, nurses at three of the 13 hospitals affected won't have that option right away. At Alta Bates Summit, Eden and Sutter Solano medical centers, contracts with replacement nurses extend beyond today, so some staff nurses won't return to the job until next week.

The nurse strike, which also affected two non-Sutter facilities, was called by the California Nurses Association, which contends that the Sutter facilities aren't hiring enough nurses to provide safe care.

To learn more about the lockout:
- read this San Francisco Chronicle piece

Related Articles:
Hundreds of Appalachian nurses go on strike. Report
Beth Israel, union fight war of words. Report
SEIU plans to form healthcare unit. Report
After battle with SEIU, Sutter officials must pay staff for lockout. Report

5,000 CA nurses set plans for strike

Wed, 10 Oct 2007 06:59:58 -0400

After months of unsuccessful talks, nurses at 15 hospitals in northern California are set to begin a 48-hour strike today. The strike, which involves about 5,000 RNs, mostly impacts Sutter Health, which operates 13 of the facilities. Working with the California Nurses Association, Sutter has been hoping to negotiate individual labor contracts, but this approach hasn't worked. The hospitals have temporary replacements on board to work during the duration of the walkout.

Among other concerns, the CNA and individual hospital organizers contend that Sutter hospital affiliates aren't providing safe levels of staffing and that they're not providing a safe workplace. Sutter, for its part, contends that the union is grandstanding, and is largely working to recruit new members and ultimately, get a master contract into place with the Sutter affiliates.

To learn more about the strike:
- read this San Francisco Chronicle piece

Related Articles:
Hundreds of Appalachian nurses go on strike. Report
Beth Israel, union fight war of words. Report
SEIU plans to form healthcare unit. Report
After battle with SEIU, Sutter officials must pay staff for lockout. Report