Registered nurses at Salinas Valley Memorial Hospital (SVMH) authorized a strike, if necessary, to protest management's refusal to address issues that are fundamental to quality patient care at the facility and answer basic questions regarding their proposed restructuring plan.

The RNs voted to authorize their nurse bargaining team to call a strike, the California Nurses Association/National Nurses United (CNA/NNU) announced today. No strike date has been set at this time.

"It is absolutely imperative to us as nurses to advocate for and win quality care for our patients at SVHM," said Sandra Martinez, RN, ICU. "We will not back down until we know we have accomplished that. That's what our patients expect from us and of course that's what they deserve."

“My first interaction with the Hospital CEO, Pete Delgado, resulted in retaliation and silencing of our voice," said Linda Sarratt, RN, Telemetry/Step Down Unit. "My nursing license requires that I speak up about patient care conditions in the hospital.  When management tries to stifle RNs voices, dangerous conditions can persist in the workplace. That’s why this vote is absolutely necessary for our patients,” said Sarratt.

RNs have been sounding the alarm on eroding patient care conditions at SVMH and seeking improvements at the negotiating table for the past year. In August management stopped accepting "ADO's" or Assignment Despite Objection forms. RNs use "ADO's" to formally document unsafe patient care conditions and bring them to the attention of management for resolution. Despite management's refusal to review and address ADO's, nurses continue to fill them out to document incidents such as:

• Delays in care due to management's refusal to have a live person on the unit viewing patient heart rates.
• A lack of staff leading to numerous unsafe care conditions including patient's not being moved sufficiently risking bedsores and other problems and delays in answering call bells which can contribute to the risk of falls and patient's not receiving timely pain medication.
• Delays in providing necessary physical therapy to recovering patients.
• Problems that arise due to the hospitals refusal to hire interpreters and reliance on faulty electronic translation systems.
• Nurse fatigue caused by extended work shifts and no time off for breaks and lunch.