Nurses at the University of California, San Francisco Medical Center at Mission Bay have staged a rally in front of the medical center on Fourth Street to air frustrations over what they say is understaffing and resulting consequences such as workplace violence.
In a press release, the National Nurses United raised concerns over “alarming increases” of violent incidents occurring at every UCSF medical center due to a hiring freeze put in place by UCSF in May of this year that ended Aug. 31.
“Workplace violence happens more often when units are understaffed,” said Phillip Santos, a registered nurse in the pediatric acute medical-surgical unit.
These include 30 reported incidents of violence since May at the Parnassus campus location, one of three UCSF medical centers across the Bay Area.
“There is an epidemic of workplace violence against nurses, health care workers,” the press release further stated.
The release also cited the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data that showed in 2020 the injury rate for registered nurses was over than four times higher than violence-related injuries for workers overall that same year.
“UCSF Health has taken steps to control expenses and work more efficiently to support our long-term financial sustainability, like health care organizations around the country facing fiscal challenges,” said UCSF spokesperson Elizabeth Fernandez in an email.
“Workplace violence happens more often when units are understaffed.” Phillip Santos, registered nurse
Fernandez said the hiring freeze was a short-term tactic implemented from May to Aug. 31 that excluded roles “critical to delivering safe, high-quality care in compliance with staff-to-patient ratios.”
The union said this was untrue during their rally, alleging that UCSF management was not meeting these requirements.
“We’ve been talking about staffing predating COVID. This is years we’ve been talking about this,” said Bridget Parr, a nurse who has worked at UCSF since 2013.
Parr further stated the biggest concerns were “the lack of staffing that we have and the implications of that from everything from patients waiting so long in the waiting room and not being seen … to workplace violence.”
The Tuesday rally ended with chants of “What do we want? Staffing! When do we want it? Now!”