Louisville RNs, National Nurses Head to Hazard to Show Support For Striking Appalachian Nurses

A delegation of registered nurses from Louisville and California will arrive in Hazard Thursday to support the 800 striking nurses at nine Appalachian Regional Healthcare (ARH) hospitals who are seeking stronger patient care protections.

The group includes RNs from Norton Audubon Hospital in Louisville who are members of the Nurses Professional Organization of Louisville which is affiliated with the National Nurses Organizing Committee, the national arm of the California Nurses Association. Los Angeles and Chicago representatives of NNOC/CNA will also be on hand for the visit.

What:      Nurse Delegation to Support Striking RNs
When:     Thursday, October 25, 12:30 p.m.
Where:    Picket Line, at Hazard ARH Regional Medical Center
                100 Medical Center Dr., Hazard, KY
 
ARH nurses, members of the United American Nurses, have been on strike at the system’s hospitals in eastern Kentucky and West Virginia for four weeks. The visit coincides with a national caravan sponsored by the AFL-CIO which is also headed to the region Thursday in support of the RNs. Both the NNOC/CNA and UAN are AFL-CIO affiliates.

“Nurses across the U.S. stand behind the ARH nurses and their courageous fight for their patients,” said Jill Furillo, RN, NNOC/CNA’s Southern California Director who is part of the delegation. “The central issues of inadequate staffing and forcing nurses to work overtime are critical patient safety problems. It is disgraceful that this hospital system has forced these nurses to strike rather than working with the RNs to resolve these critical problems.”

The National Nurses Organizing Committee, founded by the California Nurses Association, is a national movement for registered nurses, advance practice nurses, and RN organizations throughout the country with 75,000 members in all 50 states.