RNs working for San Bernardino County say chronic short staffing jeopardizes patient care

Registered nurses who work for San Bernardino County will speak out during public comment at the board of supervisors meeting in San Bernardino, California, on Tuesday, August 6, to highlight their patient safety concerns, including chronic short staffing and the county’s failure to recruit and retain RNs, announced California Nurses Association/National Nurses United (CNA/NNU) today.

The RNs say that chronic short staffing is leading to moral distress, resulting in nurses leaving. There are currently more than 300 open nurse positions at Arrowhead Regional Medical Center (ARMC), the hospital operated by San Bernardino County. The union nurses, represented by CNA, are in bargaining and are demanding a strong contract to address their patient safety concerns. The RNs’ current contract expires in October 2024 and covers San Bernardino County nurses who work at ARMC, the Department of Public Health, the Department of Behavioral Health, the Sheriff’s Department, the Probation Department, and other county facilities.

“Over the past six months, nurses at ARMC have reported more than 125 incidents of unsafe patient care due to short staffing,” said Diana Lucatero, RN in the medical intensive care unit at ARMC. “This is unacceptable. We must stand behind our hospital’s mission statement and make the necessary changes to provide our community with a hospital that focuses on maintaining the highest standards in patient care. The safety of our patients needs to be the top priority.”

• Who: Registered nurses who work for San Bernardino County
• What: RNs speaking out for patient safety during public comment at San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors meeting
• When: Tuesday, August 6, 10 a.m.
• Where: San Bernardino County Government Center, 385 N. Arrowhead Avenue, San Bernardino, Covington Chambers

The RNs are calling on the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors to support nurses’ bargaining demands for the highest standards in patient safety and the recruitment and retention of nursing talent.

“Providing the resources needed to care for our patients and our community in the way they should be cared for is crucial,” said Leslie Oyes, RN in the burn unit at ARMC. “Prioritizing recruitment and retention of nurses during these negotiations is paramount to resolving the nurse staffing crisis the county has been struggling with for years. The county needs to invest in nurses to prevent short staffing by improving working conditions and providing a safe and healthy work environment that would help with recruitment and retaining of qualified nurses. We urge the board of supervisors to make safe patient care a top priority and provide RNs with the support we need to give the best patient care.”

The latest data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the National Council of State Boards of Nursing shows that, in California and across the country, there is no nurse “shortage.” In fact, in the Golden State, there are more than 166,000 RNs with active licenses who are not working as nurses in the state. Nationwide, there are more than a million registered nurses with active licenses who are choosing not to work at the bedside because of the hospital industry’s unsafe working conditions.

CNA represents more than 1,500 registered nurses at San Bernardino County.

California Nurses Association/National Nurses United is the largest and fastest-growing union and professional association of registered nurses in the nation with more than 100,000 members in more than 200 facilities throughout California and nearly 225,000 RNs nationwide.