Registered nurses at Kindred Hospital in Westminster, Calif. have reached a tentative contract agreement with the hospital, featuring improvements and protections for both patients and nurses, the California Nurses Association (CNA) announced today.

If approved in voting taking place today, Friday, May 17, the two-and-a-half year contract, which covers 140 RNs, would run through December 31, 2021.

“Kindred nurses stood strong, and we proved that nurses united for our patients can accomplish great things. With this new tentative agreement, we won critical protections for our patients and for our colleagues, including educational opportunities to help us stay up to date in our training, and protections against workplace violence. This is a big day for the Westminster community,” said Clarissa Cruz, RN.

Contract highlights include:

Workplace violence protections. If nurses aren’t safe, patients aren’t safe. Given that healthcare workers experience extremely high rates of workplace violence, nurses pressed for and achieved a contractual provision requiring the hospital to have a comprehensive workplace violence prevention plan. This is in line with California’s nation-leading workplace violence law.

Educational opportunities for nurses. To help ensure patients have access to highly trained nurses, the tentative contract features an increase in paid education leave.

Support for licensed vocational nurses (LVNs) who want to become registered nurses (RNs). For LVNs at Kindred who decide to become RNs, the new agreement states that time worked as an LVN would count as service credit toward one’s new position. This new feature encourages Kindred LVNs to become RNs at the hospital, carrying with them the valuable experience they already have working in the facility.

Economic gains to help retain experienced nurses To help with the recruitment and retention of experienced nurses for the community, the contract features wage increases of 4% the first year and 3% each of the following years.

“We are so proud of our nurses, who stood up for our patients and for each other during this bargaining process. This contract will strengthen patient care conditions in the coming years, which is a huge victory for the whole community,” said Christian Macaraeg, RN.

The California Nurses Association has 100,000 members statewide and is affiliated with National Nurses United, the largest and fastest growing union of RNs in the nation. CNA/NNU has won landmark health and safety protections for nurses and patients in the areas of staffing, safe patient handling, infectious disease and workplace violence protection.