OROVILLE — Over 400 registered nurses in Oroville were fed up with safety concerns while on the job. Last week they took action and ratified a new four-year contract, according to the California Nurses Association. The contract places protections for patient safety and provisions to ensure safety for hospital employees.
“These nurses have been bargaining for six months now,” said nurses association labor representative Joe Henry.
“The contract expired on March 2. This new ratified contract affects about 400 nurses in Oroville. There was a definite increase in the number of nurses working in Oroville after the Camp Fire. There were around 350 nurses working before the fire. These nurses work at Oroville Hospital and other outpatient centers in the area.”
Henry said the main drivers for these recent negotiations were protecting hospital employees’ safety, patient safety and preventing workplace violence.
“In terms of workplace violence, there was some really bad incidents with hospital employees being attacked, punched and even kicked by patients. So this new language in the contract will help us work with the hospital to enforce new (California Division of Occupational Safety and Health) standards for workplace violence protection.”
According to Henry, workplace violence remains an ongoing issue in Oroville and at other hospitals in the state.
“Really, this is something that’s been an issue in all of our hospitals,” Henry said. “Healthcare workers are one of the most vulnerable targets for workplace violence. They deal with a wide variety of patients. Some have serious drug or alcohol related issues and mental health related issues. These very well could be contributors to some of these incidents. We have a big methamphetamine problem out here in Oroville and a large homeless population too.”
Recently, Oroville Hospital has experienced a very high turnover rate among the nurses especially, Henry said. Currently, 300 out of the total 400 nurses at Oroville Hospital have only been working there for one to three years. This Henry said, has been directly related to the patient care issues.
Some highlights of the ratified contract include:
- Language supporting safe staffing for safe patient care, including staffing protocols during declared emergencies or disasters.
- Expanded workplace violence language.
- Improved language on meal and rest breaks for nurses.
- Communicable disease protections. Healthcare workers cannot protect their patients without being protected themselves, say nurses, and to that end, the new agreement includes a process advocating for the safety of all registered nurses during any outbreak of communicable diseases in the hospital.
- Economic gains include across the board pay increases of 12 percent over the term of the contract, in addition to step increases and shift differentials.
“We are committed to improving this ever-expanding rural hospital,” said registered nurse Kelley Skinner in a press release from the California Nurses Association. “We will not stand for workplace violence and want to make Oroville a safer and more secure hospital for our patients and those who care for them.”
Other nurses expressed gratitude for the results even though the process wasn’t easy.
“Safety matters. Bargaining is a process and thanks to the unity and advocacy of our nurses and the actions they took, we were able to obtain strong language on safe staffing,” said registered nurse Ea Thao in the release. “Now it’s time to ensure this language is upheld so that workplace conditions and patient care standards at Oroville Hospital improve.”
