Nurses at Long Beach Medical Center to Picket for Safe Staffing

Nurses at Long Beach Medical Center Call for Action on Staffing and Safety

On March 18, registered nurses at MemorialCare Long Beach Medical Center in Long Beach, California, are set to stage an informational picket. The protest, organized by the California Nurses Association/National Nurses United (CNA/NNU), aims to draw attention to the administration's lack of response to ongoing concerns about safe staffing and working conditions.

Nurses at the medical center have been negotiating a new contract since February 2025. However, progress on crucial issues remains stalled. The picket is part of an effort to shed light on how current staffing and working conditions affect the quality of patient care.

"Our proposals are intended to correct the medical center’s gaps in workplace violence prevention and safe staffing," said Singrid Steinmetz, RN, who works in the Long Beach intensive care unit and serves as the chief nurse representative. "We want to have a proactive approach to the protections we deserve. We need MemorialCare to back up their statements with agreements to our proposals at the bargaining table."

Event Details

Who: Registered nurses at Long Beach Medical Center

What: Informational Picket

When: Tuesday, March 18, 6–9 a.m.

Where: Long Beach Medical Center, 2801 Atlantic Ave., Long Beach, Calif.

The nurses are calling on management to prioritize investment in nursing staff and to agree to a contract that ensures:

• Safe staffing levels that enable nurses to deliver safe and therapeutic care.
• Protections against workplace violence, including plans to prevent and mitigate incidents, in compliance with state laws on workplace violence prevention.

CNA represents nearly 2,200 nurses at MemorialCare Long Beach Medical Center and MemorialCare Miller Children’s & Women’s Hospital.

California Nurses Association/National Nurses United is the largest and fastest-growing union and professional association of registered nurses in the nation with more than 100,000 members in more than 200 facilities throughout California and more than 225,000 RNs nationwide.