Nurses from Saint Mary’s Regional Medical Center to strike over unsafe staffing, patient safety concerns

Nurses at Saint Mary’s Regional Medical Center in Reno, Nev., have given notice to their employer, Prime Healthcare, that they will hold a strike for one day. Reno nurses will strike on Feb. 18, amidst a week of strikes at Prime facilities in Nevada and California. Nurses at Saint Mary’s are represented by National Nurses Organizing Committee/National Nurses United (NNOC/NNU), the country’s largest nurses union.

Nurses have been in negotiations since last summer for a new contract with little to no movement on key issues. The RNs urge management to invest in nursing staff and agree to a contract that provides safe staffing and a commitment to practices that recruit and retain nurses amid high nurse turnover. 

Who: Registered nurses 
What: One-day strike for safe staffing and patient safety
When: Wednesday, Feb. 18, 6:45 a.m. to Thursday, Feb. 19, 6:44 a.m.; rally at 1 p.m. Wednesday
Where: Saint Mary’s Regional Medical Center, 235 W. 6th street, Reno, Nev.

“We are fighting to improve our contract to ensure nurses have the resources and support they need to provide the highest level of care to each and every patient,” said Lena Tran, RN in the Saint Mary’s medical-surgical unit. “We are advocating not only for our nursing colleagues, but for our patients, by demanding a fair and reasonable contract that puts patient care over profits. Prime isn’t interested in being held accountable to these standards.”

The same week, nurses and health care workers will strike at multiple other Prime facilities: Centinela Hospital in Los Angeles, Calif.; Shasta Regional Medical Center in Redding, Calif.; and West Anaheim Medical Center in Anaheim, Calif.

This ten-days’ notice of their strike follows a nearly unanimous strike authorization vote on Jan. 14. Nurses give at least ten days of advance notice for strikes to hospital employers to allow for alternative plans to be made for patient care.

NNOC/NNU represents 350 nurses at Saint Mary’s.

National Nurses United is the largest and fastest-growing union and professional association of registered nurses in the United States with more than 225,000 members nationwide. NNU affiliates include California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee, DC Nurses Association, Michigan Nurses Association, Minnesota Nurses Association, and New York State Nurses Association.