RNs say patient care jeopardized as hospital repeatedly fails to adhere to California RN-to-patient ratio law

AHMC Seton nurses say they intend to hold a one-day strike beginning the morning of Wednesday, March 30, to demand that hospital management adheres to California’s safe staffing law which sets the number of patients a nurse can safely care for according to the unit and patient acuity, announced California Nurses Association today.

“Throughout the ongoing Covid pandemic, nurses have had to fight management for safe staffing,” said Michelle Kubota, a registered nurse at Seton Medical Center. “We know that increasing patient loads leads to poorer outcomes for our patients and causes moral injury and distress in nurses. Our patients deserve better and our communities deserve better. As union nurses and patient advocates, we will continue to hold AHMC accountable to the needs of our communities and demand they prioritize safe patient care over profits.”

Nurses say that over the last two years, they have seen more than 65 nurses leave the hospital because of the poor working conditions. Nurses note that in addition to repeatedly violating safe staffing laws, the hospital is failing to provide resources to support nurses. This includes a lack of nursing assistants, clerks, secretaries, and other personnel who can carry out non-medical functions. When nurses are left without these resources, they are forced to pick up that work, in addition to their nursing duties.

“Because we have no ancillary staff, when I am caring for Covid patients I not only have to address their medical needs but I also need to empty the garbage, clean up the rooms, deliver the food, assist my patients to the restroom, and answer calls from their family and friends,” said Kubota. “Families don’t understand why they may not hear back from me for hours after they call. It is extremely frustrating and distressing for them, and I feel horrible because I understand their distress. But we are so short-staffed that, far too often, I am caring for one patient when I may hear an alarm go off in another patient’s room — but I am not in a position to stop what I am doing and run over there to see what is happening. When we have no support staff to check on that patient, we have no idea what is happening and delays in care hurt our patients. AHMC must do better to support the nurses and the patients.”

The one-day strike is scheduled to start at 7:30 a.m. on March 30 and end 24 hours later at 7:30 a.m. March 31.

• What:   One-day strike at Seton Medical Center
• When:  March 30
               Pickets: 7:30 a.m. - 10:30 a.m.
                              2:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
               Rally:     3:00 p.m. - 3:30 p.m.
• Where: AHMC Seton Medical Center 1900 Sullivan Ave., Daly City, CA 94015

CNA represents 300 nurses at Seton Medical Center.

The California Nurses Association/National Nurses United is the largest and fastest growing union and professional association of registered nurses in the nation with 100,000 members in more than 200 facilities throughout California and more than 175,000 RNs nationwide.