RNs Urge Management to Invest in RN Staff and Patient Care

Registered nurses at Tenet hospitals, Florida Medical Center in Lauderdale Lakes, and Palmetto General Hospital in Hialeah, will hold one-day strikes Sept. 20. These are the first hospital strike actions ever held by registered nurses in the state of Florida. Nurses at two Tenet hospitals in Tucson, Arizona also plan that state’s first RN strikes, Sept. 20, along with nurses at eight other Tenet-affiliated hospitals throughout the state of California.

Nurses at all 12 Tenet facilities are urging management to invest in nursing staff. This will improve the recruitment and retention of experienced RNs, and ensure optimal patient care, say nurses.

Over 136,000 people who hold active RN licenses in Florida do not work as nurses, according to the National Nursing Database and the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Some of these are retired or unemployed while many others are choosing not to work in the field.

“We believe more nurses would choose to work at the bedside if there were staffing and other working conditions that supported their providing optimal care to patients,” said Janice Ames, one of over 6500 RNs who work at the Tenet hospitals going out on strike in Florida, Arizona and throughout California.

What: Registered nurses hold one-day strike and rally.
When: Friday, Sept. 20, 7:00 a.m. – Sat., Sept. 21, 6:59 a.m. Rally Sept. 20, 12 noon.
Where: Florida Medical Center, 5000 West Oakland Park Blvd, Lauderdale Lakes.

What: Registered nurses hold one-day strike and rally.
When: Friday, Sept. 20, 7:00 a.m. – Sat., Sept. 21, 6:59 a.m. Rally Sept. 20, 12 noon.
Where: Palmetto General Hospital, 2001 W. 68th Street, Hialeah.

“As nurses we are committed to providing our patients with the best care possible,” said Ja Anna Rose, an RN in the ER at Florida Medical Center. “We are better able to fulfill this commitment when staffing is in alignment with what research shows is optimal for patient care.”

There is a clear link between RN staffing levels and good patient outcomes according to well-established research For example, research shows that every patient over four assigned to one nurse in a medical/surgical unit, could increase mortality by seven percent per patient. The staffing grid at both Florida Medical Center and Palmetto General Hospital allows for up to eight patients per nurse in the medical/surgical units.

Research also recommends a patient load of between three to five patients per nurse in a telemetry unit depending on how ill the patients are. At both Palmetto General Hospital and Florida Medical Center the staffing grid allows for up to seven patients per nurse in telemetry. The staffing grid at the Florida Medical Center also assigns up to 14 patients per RN in the psychiatric unit when research recommends a ratio of six patients per RN in these units to optimize patient outcomes and reduce staff burnout and turnover.

The 900 RNs that work at both hospitals are members of National Nurses Organizing Committee/Florida (NNOC/FL). NNOC/FL is affiliated with National Nurses United, the largest and fastest growing union of registered nurses in the United States with 150,000 members. 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.