Registered nurses at Prime Healthcare’s Alvarado Hospital Medical Center in San Diego, Calif. will hold a socially distanced informational picket on Wednesday, March 2 to protest the hospital administration’s refusal to address RNs’ ongoing patient safety concerns and to demand safe patient staffing, announced the California Nurses Association/National Nurses United (CNA/NNU).

Nurses say the hospital’s failure to address the persistent short staffing across units throughout the hospital makes it difficult to recruit and retain experienced nurses.

“In just the last 15 months, we have seen the RN turnover rate hit more than 60 percent in our ICU,” said Maricela Mauricio, a registered nurse in the intensive care unit. “We know that every time a nurse leaves our hospital, they take with them expertise, experience, and an understanding of our hospital that benefits our patients. We need to prioritize RN recruitment and retention for the safety of both nurses and patients.”

• Who: Registered Nurses at Alvarado Hospital Medical Center
• What: Informational picket to demand safe staffing
• When: Wednesday, March 2, 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
• Where: Alvarado Hospital Medical Center, 6655 Alvarado Rd, San Diego, CA 92120, at the corner of Alvarado and Reservoir (corner nearest the Emergency Dept.)

“This pandemic has made us all more aware of the lack of respect shown for our profession,” said Nicole Edwards, an emergency department RN. “Management cares more about profits than their patients and staff. We went from heroes to zeroes. Their lack of respect has resulted in high turnover, jeopardizing patient care. Nurses are leaving because of unsafe staffing. They do not want to work in these conditions and risk their nursing license. It is critical to retain experienced nurses so our patients get the best care.

CNA represents more than 200 nurses at Alvarado Hospital. Nurses and hospital administration have been in contract negotiations for since September 2021. The RNs’ contract expired on Dec. 31, 2021.

The California Nurses Association/National Nurses United is the largest and fastest growing union and professional association of registered nurses in the nation with 100,000 members in more than 200 facilities throughout California and more than 175,000 RNs nationwide.