In packed membership meetings at five San Francisco Bay Area hospitals, registered nurses and techs voted overwhelmingly Wednesday and Thursday to ratify a new collective bargaining agreement, ending a two-year fight by defeating a long list of concession demands by one of the nation’s wealthiest hospital chains. The battle – which centered over Sutter’s insistence on implementing sweeping reductions in patient care, workplace protections, and nursing standards – finally concluded after nine strikes over two years when Sutter agreed to withdraw over 200 concession demands.

Registered Nurses at John Muir Mount Diablo Hospital in Concord voted Tuesday night to ratify a new three-year contract that they say strengthens patient care standards as well as securing nurses’ health coverage. Concurrently, RNs at Sutter hospitals began voting on their tentative agreement at Sutter facilities in Berkeley, Oakland, Castro Valley, Antioch and Vallejo. Membership meetings on the agreement will continue through Thursday. Results will be announced Friday.

KALAMAZOO – After standing firm in their demands for new protections for their patients, the nearly 600 registered nurses at Borgess Medical Center have ratified a new contract with the hospital that runs through 2016.

Registered nurses from District of Columbia hospitals, joined by community allies, will picket a fundraiser for DC Councilwoman Yvette Alexander hosted by a hospital industry powerbroker tonight to step up the call for the District Council to move forward on a critical patient safety bill.

As the Affordable Care Act’s insurance market exchanges open for business Tuesday, Kaiser Permanente RNs today launched a campaign to advise enrollees to ask tough questions and be wary of enrolling in insurance plans that limit your access to a hospital and to safe nursing care.

It’s over – with a resounding triumph for thousands of registered nurses at five San Francisco Bay Area hospitals operated by the large Sutter Health system who have managed to defend patient care protections and nursing standards from an employer insistent on sweeping concessions in a long running dispute. After nine strikes over two years, with multiple days added on by company lockouts, the RNs have won tentative agreements for new collective bargaining agreements premised on elimination of nearly 200 concession demands by Sutter that were the main issue in the confrontation.

On the eve of the opening of insurance signups under the Affordable Care Act, registered nurses will rally outside three Kaiser Permanente hospitals in Northern California Monday with a message for consumers – be wary of enrolling in insurance plans that limit your access to a hospital and to safe nursing care. Kaiser, say RNs, has been making it harder for patients to be admitted for hospital care when sick or injured and sending patients home or to other settings when they should still be in the hospital. As part of that shift away from hospital care, Kaiser has been reducing RN staffing in its hospitals.

SAN DIEGO—The California Nurses Association/National Nurses United, California’s largest and leading organization of nurses, has endorsed San Diego City Council member David Alvarez for mayor and will join a Thursday press conference with other leading community leaders to support his candidacy.