Nurses at AHMC Seton Medical Center in Daly City are planning a one-day strike to demand that hospital management follows the state’s safe staffing law, according to a spokesperson for the California Nurses Association.
California’s safe staffing law calls for the total number of patients a nurse can safely care for according to the unit and patient acuity, said Julie Tran, a spokesperson for the nurses association, which represents 300 nurses at the hospital.
Nurses say that since 2020, they have seen more than 65 nurses leave the Daly City hospital because of poor working conditions. Nurses note that in addition to repeatedly violating safe staffing laws, the hospital is failing to provide resources to support nurses. This includes a lack of nursing assistants, clerks, secretaries, and other personnel who can carry out non-medical functions. When nurses are left without these resources, they are forced to pick up that work, in addition to their nursing duties.
“Throughout the ongoing COVID pandemic, nurses have had to fight management for safe staffing,” said Michelle Kubota, a registered nurse at AHMC Seton Medical Center. “We know that increasing patient loads leads to poorer outcomes for our patients and causes moral injury and distress in nurses. Our patients deserve better and our communities deserve better. As union nurses and patient advocates, we will continue to hold AHMC accountable to the needs of our communities and demand they prioritize safe patient care over profits.”
The hospital was contacted for comment.
The nurses will strike between 7:30 and 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, March 30, then again from 2 to 5 p.m. They have scheduled a rally between 3 and 3:30 p.m. in front of the hospital, 1900 Sullivan Ave., Daly City.