Strikes, yikes!

September 18, 2011 -- In three days (on the 22nd) thousands of Sutter Health nurses will go on strike and in sympathy with them will go thousands more Kaiser nurses. These are two of the largest hospital chains in Northern California. The nurses are defending hard-won employment contract terms (some health care benefits, some sick and parental leave benefits, etc.)

Especially pertinent in California, the only state with mandated nurse:patient staffing ratios (e.g. 1:5 in med-surg units) is participation in the staffing decisions, which, too, Sutter hopes to take away. This is important; it is one of the ways that nurses advocate for patients. Numerous studies have made clear the impact of staffing ratios on health care outcomes.

Of course, there are two sides to every story. The business of hospitals is a tough one (though Sutter is having record profits this year). Medicare reimbursements are being reduced, making it harder to "make the numbers". My friends in hospital management are stressed out (though not top management whose pay has seen handsome raises). Particularly problematic from the hospitals' point of view is the EMTALA Act that requires hospitals to provide care to anyone needing emergency treatment regardless of ability to pay. This means that the hospitals provide care for the medically indigent for free -- a tough way to run a business.

Nonetheless, I guess it's obvious where my sympathies lie. My CNA dues are paid up and I'll be out there on the picket line.

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