It’s a wrap. Registered Nurses at Rideout Health Group facilities in Marysville and Yuba City Tuesday voted overwhelmingly in membership meetings to approve a new four year collective bargaining contract, the California Nurses Association/National Nurses United said today.
 
The ratification ends a long effort by the 400 RNs to achieve an agreement that they say will strengthen patient care protections as well as standards for the RNs who work at the Rideout Regional Medical Center in Marysville and Women and Infant Services in Yuba City. A parallel agreement covers RNs at an outpatient cancer center in Yuba City that is a joint venture between Rideout and the University of California Davis medical center.
 
“It has been a long process but this agreement is fair and builds for the future,” Rideout RN Pat Hicks said. “The contract we negotiated advances our standards, which in turn benefits our patients.  We expect to see positive changes in the hospital as a result of it.”
 
Key provisions of the pact include new language to assure appropriate staffing coverage so that RNs are able to take meal and rest breaks, and no increase in health premium costs to the nurses through 2014. All RNs will earn a 9 percent across the board pay increase over the four years of the agreement with an additional 2 percent increase for longer term RNs.
 
The RNs say the agreement will also strengthen the voice of the Professional Performance Committee, direct care nurses elected by their colleagues who meet with management to address patient care concerns.