Antelope Valley RNs Hold Vigil for Safe Patient Care Wednesday

Registered nurses from Antelope Valley Hospital, located in Lancaster, will hold a candlelight vigil Wednesday to protest a pattern of patient safety risks caused by management’s refusal to schedule RNs to care for patients when nurses are on legally-mandated meal or rest breaks. Such scheduling gaps leave patients unattended and at risk.  

Patient care protections are central to contract talks between the nurses and AVH, which began in June and have made little progress. Nurses have proposed hiring designated meal and break relief nurses, which is standard practice in most California Nurses Association represented hospitals throughout the state.

“Nurses are being asked by the AVH administration to violate the state mandated nurse-to-patient staffing ratios every time we try and take a lunch or rest break,” said Colleen Sichley, an RN who works in the behavioral health unit at the hospital. “We are told to have another nurse who already has a full patient load cover our patients. This is double the number of patients an RN is supposed to be assigned and, more importantly, is not in the best interest of patient safety.”

WHEN:      December 15, 2009
TIME:        5:00 p.m.to 6:30 p.m.
PLACE:     Antelope Valley Hospital, Main Wntrance (15th Street West)
              1600 West Avenue J Lancaster, California 93534

“We cannot expect nurses to sit idly by and watch the ongoing problems with patient care and patient safety at our hospitals,” said Geri Jenkins, an RN and CNA co-president of CNA. “When there are not enough nurses, patients are put at risk, period.  As RNs, our ethical obligation as patient advocates demands that we take action to ensure that our patients are receiving safe care, and that is what the AVH RNs are doing.”

Other issues in bargaining include:

• Trained lift teams available 24 hours to protect patients from falls and nurses from back injuries. 
• Competitive wage increases to improve retention and recruitment of experienced RNs 
• Health and safety concerns including violence in the workplace protections
• Limits on call offs, resulting in  bare bones staffing

The contract expired on July 8, 2009. The 700 AVH RNs are currently working without a contract.