Long before the COVID-19 outbreak, Sharp and other hospitals were warned about nurse shortages. As COVID cases climb, Sharp nurses are again rising to heroic levels—even as management downplays and ignores the current crisis.
At bargaining on Thursday, July 21, hundreds of SPNN members donned PPE and showed up in unity to hear management’s response to our common sense proposals to improve care at Sharp in the face of an unending pandemic.
The recurring COVID-19 increases have exacerbated nurse exhaustion at a time when patients need more care. Nurses have recounted their stories in the media and at the bargaining table.
Many of us are suffering from lasting complications of contracting COVID, while others have burned out from trying to make up for low staffing levels.
Our proposals would:
Improve staffing and patient care
Protect us
Keep our colleagues from seeking other job opportunities that provide more respect and more control over where and when they work
We are talking about respect. Nurses must see how they talk behind the billboards. Behind closed doors, they don’t want to treat us like the best in the universe. We will not allow Sharp to turn their backs and ignore us.
Daniel Quinones, RN SPNN Chair (Mesa Vista)
Proposals on the table
UNION | MANAGEMENT |
Proposals on Articles 2,4,6,22, and the printing of the contract | Responded to union proposals on Articles 7,8,9,10, 13, 22, 26, and 28; and made new proposals on temporary nurses and the printing of the contract |