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California and Nevada RNs Plan Strike Over H1N1 Precautions
Saying that hospitals are not providing workers with adequate protection against the H1N1 virus, the California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee (CNA/NNOC) has announced plans for a major strike involving as many as 16,000 nurses at 39 hospitals in California and Nevada, the Wall Street Journal reports. The groups decided to strike after "an onslaught" of H1N1 patients were admitted to hospitals, making precautions more urgent, according to the head of the unions bargaining with Catholic medical facilities. A CNA release states that the organizations want hospitals to formally adopt all Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and California Occupational Safety and Health Administration guidelines to ensure that "the highest safety measures are met, are uniform, and consistently applied throughout the systems." Such precautions include requiring hospitals to provide and mandate the use of fit-tested N95 respirators for workers treating H1N1 patients. The CDC recently reiterated that N95 respirators should be used by hospital workers in close contact with H1N1 patients. The Wall Street Journal reports that the CNA/NNOC is also seeking other concessions by facilities, including the creation of a position to monitor compliance with state-mandated staffing ratios and a requirement that facilities halt the practice of assigning nurses to areas outside of their expertise. Commenting on the strike announcement, a spokesman for St. Joseph Health System in Orange, Calif., said its hospitals have made adequate preparations, including providing N95 respirators and offering H1N1 vaccinations, as available, to protect employees from illness. Meanwhile, officials from Glendale Memorial Hospital and Health Center in Glendale, Calif., have reassured patients that that hospital has adequate backup staff to remain open should nurses strike (Maher, Wall Street Journal, 10/20/09 [subscription required]; Hennessy-Fiske, Los Angeles Times, 10/19/09 [registration required]; CQ HealthBeat, 10/19/09 [subscription required]; CNA release, 10/19/09).