Emergency Room RNs at HCA Hospital to Protest Unsafe Patient Conditions

Good Samaritan Hospital RNs Stage Rally Over ER Staffing Concerns

Registered nurses at HCA's Good Samaritan Hospital in San Jose, California, are organizing a rally to draw attention to pressing patient safety issues. The event, led by nurses represented by the California Nurses Association/National Nurses United (CNA/NNU), is scheduled for Monday, March 24, at 4 p.m. outside the hospital's emergency room entrance.

Maria Luisa Diaz, a veteran RN in Good Samaritan's emergency room since 2005, expressed concerns over the high volume of patients, attributing this to HCA's decision to cut critical services at nearby Regional Medical Center. "We lack resources to handle HCA's self-inflicted problem, which causes massive safety issues for patients. The ER is overcrowded, but management refuses to provide adequate staffing, even though there are nurses available and willing to work," Diaz stated.

The nurses argue that HCA's management prioritizes financial gain over patient care. "As usual, HCA is putting profits over patients, and nurses are ringing alarm bells," Diaz commented. "When we are forced to provide care to patients in a waiting room, it is extremely dangerous and unfair to those seeking help. HCA can and should do better for our community."

Event Details:

• Who: RNs at HCA Good Samaritan Hospital
• What: Rally for patient safety
• When: Monday, March 24, at 4 p.m.
• Where: 2425 Samaritan Dr., San Jose, Calif.; on the sidewalk by the emergency room entrance

Kylie Garcia, another RN in the emergency department and a third-generation nurse at the hospital, shared her family’s long-standing history with Good Samaritan. "Sadly, I've watched our hospitals deteriorate under HCA's management to a new low. As nurses, we do everything we can for our patients. But HCA just refuses to work with us to guarantee safe patient care," she noted.

Garcia further added, "Working for HCA, I witnessed the hospital management constantly doing things to jeopardize patient safety in order to make more profit. This culture is disheartening and deeply upsetting, and it weighs heavily on my heart and mental state to walk into ER every shift when I don't know what to expect and what kind of dangerous situations I will be forced to deal with, which could have been avoided if HCA put patients first."

The California Nurses Association represents over 900 registered nurses at Good Samaritan Hospital, advocating for improved conditions and patient care.

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.