Nurses Demand Better Staffing, Workplace Protections On National Day Of Action
GLENDALE (CBSLA) — Nurses across Southern California are taking part in a "National Day of Action" to demand more protections for patients and themselves, especially as COVID-19 infections and hospitalizations are surging again.
At Glendale Memorial Hospital, nurses put down the patient charts and picked up pickets and signs that said, "Patients First," "Patients Over Profits," and "Safe Staffing Now." Labor groups representing nurses say protests will also take place at UCLA Ronald Reagan Medical Center in West Los Angeles, and in San Bernardino at Community Hospital of San Bernardino and St. Bernardine Medical Center.
"UC nurses are committed to providing the highest standards of care to our patients," David Yamada, a registered nurse at UCLA Medical Center, said in a statement. "At the same time, we have had to continuously fight university management for the safe staffing, workplace protections, PPE, and access to testing that we deserve."
National Nurses United says its members are being forced to reuse personal protective equipment and are struggling to protect themselves and their patients.
"The COVID-19 pandemic underscored the failures of our so-called health care system and revealed more clearly than ever before that our employers put profits above patients' and nurses' health and safety," NNU president Deborah Burger said in a statement.