Nurses Organize Nationwide To Rally For Safe Staffing

National Nurses United (NNU) members will hold a National Day of Action for safe staffing on Thursday, January 26, 2023, at multiple locations across the country. According to the NNU, thousands of RNs from the organization are demanding that the hospital industry work towards ending the ongoing nursing staffing crisis and provide safe patient-nurse ratios. 

The NNU dubbed the crisis an ongoing “quad-demic” of RSV, the flu, and COVID-19 infections and accused the hospital industry of prioritizing money over patient care. According to the NNU, much of the staffing crisis and conditions in hospitals right now are the results of decades of actions by hospitals to decrease beds in units seen as less profitable—such as pediatric units—as well as get rid of staff specifically to maximize profits. 

“On our national day of action, NNU members will stand up for staffing models that adequately protect patients, nurses, and our communities against public health crises,” NNU Executive Director Bonnie Castillo, RN, said on their website. 

Why is Action Day Necessary?

The NNU’s press release makes their reason for supporting a National Day of Action clear: nurses and patients both need and deserve safe staffing ratios. On a Facebook post, they described how 56.8% of hospital nurses in their recent survey have reported that staffing has gotten worse recently. “We know what is to blame... the hospital industry's bottom line!” the NNU wrote. “They deliberately refuse to staff our nation’s hospitals with enough nurses to care for patients — and it’s only gotten worse during recent surges in RSV, flu, and Covid-19.”

Source: Instagram/@NationalNurses

The NNU also cited recent efforts the organization has had to support nurses in gaining better staffing ratios, including the recent and widely covered New York State Nurses Association (an affiliate of NNU) strike in January which successfully helped over 7,000 nurses gain safe staffing standards at their respective hospitals. Additionally, in the fall of 2022, the Minnesota Nurses Association, also an affiliate of NNU, participated in the largest private-sector strike in nursing history, which again helped nurses secure safe staffing. 

The NNU also pointed to the fact that research backs up the validity and efficacy of safe nurse-patient ratios: a 2021 study by Dr. Linda Aiken stated that if New York had California’s mandated staffing mandates, at least 4,370 lives could have been saved that same year. 

How to Join Action Day

Some hospitals have released their planned actions, including informational meetings, rallies, and demonstrations. Past actions on the NNU’s Action Day have included candlelight vigils and social media campaigns. 

You can join the NNU’s Action Day by checking for updated times and locations on their website. As of January 25, they have released the following times and locations:

Arizona

• Carondelet St. Mary's, 1601 W. St. Mary's Road, Tucson, AZ 85745 (on sidewalk in front of the hospital)

  • When: 8:30 a.m. to 10:00 a.m.

California

• Children's Hospital Oakland, 747 52nd St., Oakland, CA 94609

  • When: 1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.

 

• Community Hospital of San Bernardino Informational Picket, 1805 Medical Center Drive, San Bernardino, CA 92411

  • When: 6:30 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.

• Desert Regional Medical Center, 1150 N Indian Canyon Drive, Palm Springs, CA 92262

  • When: 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.

• Doctors Hospital Manteca, 1205 E. North Street, Manteca, CA 95336

  • When: 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.

• Emanate Health Queen of the Valley Hospital, 1115 S. Sunset Ave., Sunset and Main Entrance, West Covina, CA 91790

  • When: 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m.

• Hazel Hawkins Memorial Hospital, 911 Sunset Drive, Airline Highway intersection, Hollister, CA 95023

  • When: 4:30 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.

• Kaiser Los Angeles Medical Center, 4867 Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90027

  • When: 8:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m.

• Kaiser Oakland Medical Center, 3600 Broadway, Corner of Broadway and W. MacArthur, Oakland, CA 94611

  • When: 7:45 a.m. to 9:00 a.m.

• Kaiser San Francisco Medical Center, 2238 Geary Blvd, San Francisco, CA 94115

  • When: 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m.

• MarinHealth Medical Center, 250 Bon Air Road, Greenbrae, CA 94904

  • When: 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.

• PIH Health Good Samaritan Hospital, 1225 Wilshire Blvd., Corner of Witmer and Shatto, Los Angeles, CA 90017

  • When: 7:45 a.m. to 8:30 a.m.

• Providence Little Company of Mary Medical Center Torrance, 4101 Torrance Blvd, on Torrance Blvd public sidewalk, intersection with Plaza Lane, Torrance, CA 90503

  • When: 12:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m.

• St. Mary’s Medical Center, 450 Stanyan St., San Francisco, CA 94117

  • When: 12:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.

Florida

• HCA Florida Largo Hospital, 201 14th Street SW, Largo, FL 33770

  • When: 8:00 a.m. to 9:30 a.m.

• HCA Florida Trinity Hospital, 9330 FL-54, Trinity, FL 34655

  • When: 3:30 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Georgia

• Atlanta VA Medical Center, 1670 Clairmont Road, Clairmont Road-Front entrance, Decatur, GA 30033

  • When: 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

• Charlie Norwood VA Medical Center, 950 15th St, Augusta, GA 30901, Augusta, GA 30901

  • When: 7:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m.

Kansas

• Ascension Via Christi St. Francis, 929 St Francis, sidewalk on Murdock Avenue, Wichita, KS 67214

  • When: 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m.

Missouri

• Research Medical Center, 2316 East Meyer Blvd., Kansas City, MO 64132

  • When: 5:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.

North Carolina

• Mission Hospital, 509 Biltmore Avenue, at the intersection of Biltmore Ave. and Hospital Dr., Asheville, NC 28801

  • When: 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m.

New York

• VA NY Harbor Healthcare Manhattan Campus, 423 East 23rd St., New York, NY 10010

  • When: 12:15 p.m. to 1:00 p.m.

Texas

• Ascension Seton Medical Center Austin (at admin offices), 1345 Philomena St., Austin, TX 78723

  • When: 5:15 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.

• Corpus Christi Medical Center, 7101 S Padre Island Drive, Corpus Christi, TX 78412

  • When: 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

• The Hospitals of Providence Memorial Campus, 2001 North Oregon Street, El Paso, Texas 79902

  • When: 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m.