Press Conference - 9 a.m. Tuesday, Dec. 19

San Bernardino County registered nurses from Arrowhead Regional Medical Center (ARMC), the county detention centers, juvenile halls, outpatient clinics, and public health programs will hold a press conference on Tuesday, December 19 outside the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors meeting to call attention to the lack of response from county officials on key issues of patient safety in over nine months of negotiation.

What: Press Conference: San Bernardino County RNs
When: Tuesday, Dec. 19, 2017 - 9 a.m.
Where: San Bernardino County Government Center, 385 N Arrowhead Avenue in San Bernardino.

"A growing percentage of RNs at ARMC are hired on a temporary basis only, ranging from as short a time frame as one shift, to three to six months. In some units, in the ER for example, there are shifts where 75% of the staff are temporary, " said Amy Chitlik Scott, Labor and Delivery. "This is no way to run a hospital. It is time for the county to prioritize safe, quality patient care by investing in permanent staff rather than wasting money on costly quick fixes that jeopardize the quality of care.”

“For many years Arrowhead Regional Medical Center and the county health system in general excelled in training multiple health disciplines in providing quality patient care. Over the past few years, we've become a revolving door with many of our nurses leaving to work in other hospitals in the region with better working conditions," said RN Hector Sanchez, OR. "Each year, the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors has opted to allocate more and more money to hiring temporary registry nurses rather than investing in the future and continued success of the county system through the recruitment and retention of permanent nursing staff."

The turnover rate in staff at ARMC is reflected in the number of newly hired RNs versus the number of RNs leaving over the past three years. In 2015, 237 RNs were hired and 220 RNs left. In 2016, 243 RNs were hired and 252 RNs left. In 2017, 193 RNs were hired and 160 RNs left.

Since 2015 the county's spending on temporary nursing staff hired on a short-term basis, often from outside the county and/or the state via private for-profit "registry" companies, has ballooned from $1.9 million in 2015 and $7.9 million in 2017 to $39.6 million in the current fiscal year budget. The county should be focused on staffing solutions that assure that county funds remain in the county, rather than spending huge sums on temporary staff that for the most part, reside and spend their money outside the county and the state, say nurses. In addition, under current short-term staffing arrangements, permanent registered nurses on staff are required to spend a growing percentage of their time providing orientation and training to the ever-changing roster of temporary hires. This is time that reduces the care they can provide to their patients, nurses say.

“I have been a nurse at Arrowhead Regional Medical Center for 11 years. At ARMC our mission is 'to provide quality healthcare to the community,' however, how can we be expected to provide quality care when we don’t even have consistency of care?" said Michelle Perry, RN, MedSurg/Telemetry. "The county admits to a 33% turnover rate and the rate is really much higher than that. We are calling on the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors to take the necessary steps to bring the hospital and health system back into alignment with the quality care standards we worked so hard to achieve here over the years."

The California Nurses Association represents approximately 1,300 RNs in San Bernardino County and has 100,000 members throughout the state. CNA is affiliated with National Nurses United, the largest and fastest growing union of registered nurses in the US with more than 150,000 members nationwide. CNA/NNU plays a leadership role in safeguarding the health and safety of RNs and their patients and has won landmark legislation in the areas of staffing, safe patient handling, infectious disease and workplace violence prevention.