Salinas Valley Health Nurses to Picket Over Patient Safety, CEO Compensation

Salinas Valley Health Nurses to Hold Informational Picket on Patient Safety

Registered nurses at Salinas Valley Health in Salinas, California, are set to stage an informational picket on Thursday, October 3. This action aims to highlight the administration’s lack of response to patient safety issues, juxtaposed with significant increases in the CEO’s compensation, as reported by the California Nurses Association (CNA).

According to public records from the State of California, the CEO of Salinas Valley Health saw a 142 percent increase in compensation from 2015 to 2023, reaching $1,642,941. This salary hike happened as management made changes in the emergency department that resulted in high turnover and the departure of seasoned nurses, raising concerns for patient care.

“Instead of actually addressing nurses’ serious concerns about retention and recruitment, patient care, and staffing, C-suite executives chose to give the CEO exorbitant raises and push proposals that will undermine safe patient care and surely lead to the loss of experienced nurses who are vital to providing the highest quality of patient care,” stated Tracy Chavez, a registered nurse in the intensive care unit at Salinas Valley Health. “Upper management needs to quit pushing cuts and takeaways on patients and reinvest in nurses and safe patient care.”

Event Details:

Who: Registered nurses at Salinas Valley Health

What: Informational picket for patient safety and a strong contract

When: Thursday, October 3, 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.

Where: Salinas Valley Health, 450 East Romie Lane, Salinas at the corner of Wilgart Way

Nurses in the emergency room argue that management’s decisions, including the removal of a charge nurse position and assigning patient duties to the resource nurse, have deprived them of essential support. These changes have triggered a significant loss of experienced nurses and a reliance on travel nurses.

The nurses are also advocating for dedicated staff to cover meal and rest breaks, ensuring safe staffing levels at all times. They report that break-relief nurses are often overextended, forcing them to skip breaks and potentially putting patient safety at risk.

“Currently, management is asking charge nurses, the nurses who are overseeing the unit, to take on relief duties, but this is simply not safe for our patients,” said Anna Gonzalez, a registered nurse in the telemetry unit at Salinas Valley Health. “Charge nurses have their own set of duties, including responding to emergencies, mentoring newer nurses, and overseeing the flow of patients and nurses in the unit. When they are taken away from these duties, patient care suffers. There are times when there is simply no one to break a nurse and they may feel obligated to miss a break, because they don’t want to see another nurse take on a double load and their patients suffer from lack of care during that time.”

Most nurses at Salinas Valley Health work 12-hour shifts, making breaks essential for maintaining high standards of patient care. Studies indicate that fatigued nurses are more prone to errors and may overlook critical patient information.

In addition, nurses are outraged by management’s proposal to reduce health care benefits, which are crucial for attracting and retaining skilled nurses.

“We know that experienced nurses are critical to providing mentorship and leadership in our hospital that directly correlates to a higher quality of care,” said Britnee Sandoval, a registered nurse in the medical-surgical unit at Salinas Valley Health. “We need to be doing all we can to keep nurses in our hospital who can help mentor the next generation of nurses and whose years of experience are so important to ensure optimal nursing care at the bedside.”

CNA represents more than 700 registered nurses at Salinas Valley Health.

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 nearly 225,000 RNs nationwide.