Registered nurses at Salinas Valley Memorial Hospital (SVMH) have reached a tentative contract agreement with hospital officials, protecting the vital clinical role of the charge nurse, a key issue in the contract fight that will strengthen quality of care at the hospital, the California Nurses Association/National Nurses United announced today.

As a result of the tentative pact, which must still be ratified by Salinas Valley RNs, a strike scheduled for May 27 has been cancelled. The agreement was announced following contract talks today.

“We are thrilled to know that the process of fighting for our patients has resulted in this agreement,” says Tracy Chavez, RN. “This contract, with the retained charge nurse position, will uphold our ability to provide the kind of care our community deserves. We wouldn’t be here without the community’s help; our nurses want to express how grateful we are to the over 600 people around Salinas who put our signs of support. This fight has shown how strong the bond is between nurses and those we care for.”

The charge nurse plays a key role in a hospital unit, as a kind of air-traffic controller, making clinical assignments of RNs to patients, assisting in emergencies and being available to assist bedside RNs with hands-on care as needed  After more than a year of negotiations with administration, who wanted to replace the charge nurse with a management tier that would provide no hands-on direct patient care and not have an independent voice in advocating for patients—nurses reached a breakthrough today, with an agreement that retains this critical RN position.

“Our nurses stood together, on behalf of patients, and we are so pleased that management finally listened,” says Molly McCarty, RN. “We didn’t give up, and our spirit was bolstered by all those fighting along with us, including Assemblymember Luis Alejo and City Councilmember Tony Barrera, to whom we are grateful. This has really been a testament to what can happen when we rally as one community, to protect our patients—who are our family members, our neighbors, our friends. SVMH nurses will always fight for their health and safety.”

The RNs will hold membership meetings to review and vote on the proposal Wednesday 27. It would run through March 2019.