Nurses Picket: Protests Over Staffing, Patient Care At Desert Regional Medical Center

PALM SPRINGS, CA — Nurses at Desert Regional Medical Center in Palm Springs will hold an informational picket Thursday to raise concerns about patient care and nurse retention.

The event is scheduled from 5:30 to 8:30 a.m. outside the hospital at 1150 N. Indian Canyon Drive, according to the California Nurses Association/National Nurses United.

The picket is part of a coordinated effort involving nurses from five other Tenet Health hospitals, where union members say management has failed to ensure safe staffing levels and adequate training for nurses.

"Tenet's multi-billion dollar profits are made on the backs of nurses who give tirelessly day-in and day-out and the patients who they are short changing," said Sandy Reding, nurse and president of CNA, in a statement. "Tenet can afford to provide its nurses the necessary resources to improve both the retention of experienced nurses and the quality of care at its hospitals."

Tenet Health officials could not be reached for comment.

Organizers said the union notified Tenet last Monday about the planned action and is calling for safer working conditions, including:

• Lift support to help nurses move patients easier;
• Rapid response nurse scheduled on each shift to respond to emergencies;
• Rest and meal breaks during 12-hour shifts; and
• Adequate orientation standards for new graduates and experienced hires.

"Despite Desert Regional being a level-one trauma center and comprehensive stroke center, Tenet has shamelessly told nurses at the bargaining table that they do not want to staff for `what ifs,"' said Rachel Garcia, an ICU nurse at the hospital.

"Nurses need a dedicated rapid response RN to help patients who are in immediate danger of death, not just in some units but in every single unit. Tenet is trying to squeeze compassion out of nursing but union nurses are untied to stop this decline in patient care."