UCSF nurses to hold rally for safe patient care at Birth Center at Mission Bay

RNs say chronic understaffing and poor management jeopardizes patients

Registered nurses at UCSF Mission Bay in San Francisco, Calif., will hold a rally on Friday, May 1, to highlight patient safety concerns in the UCSF Birth Center. Nurses say they are deeply concerned about patient safety due to a revolving door of management, coupled with chronic and severe understaffing. Nurses at UCSF are represented by the California Nurses Association (CNA).

"Many of our patients come in with complex issues, but they are suffering due to management's understaffing," said Jen Airhart, RN at the UCSF Birth Center at Mission Bay. "Staffing is so low, we constantly need to transfer patients elsewhere. Patients are delivering in hospitals that they've never set foot in before. As a 18-year veteran nurse at UCSF, I believe the Birth Center is failing the San Francisco community."

Who: Registered nurses at UCSF Mission Bay
What: Rally for patient safety at UCSF Mission Bay Birth Center
When: Friday, May 1, 2 p.m.
Where: UCSF Mission Bay, 1855 4th St., San Francisco, Calif.; in front of the adult hospital

Nurses say due to short-staffing on the day shift, night-shift nurses are often having to work overtime after their shifts to help provide care for patients. Not only are nurses working overtime, they are also working 12-hour shifts without breaks. Nurses know that tired and overworked nurses are more apt to make errors in care or overlook important signs that put patient safety in jeopardy.

In addition, nurses are demanding that UCSF address the need for continuing education on sickle cell disease. This education needs to be tailored to nurses and conducted in-person and not distributed to nurses via video after the fact.

Following a vote of no confidence, the Birth Center's nursing director was removed from her position in January of this year. Despite this change, the issues persist and nurses are now bringing their concerns directly to the community.

Nurses are asking the public to send letters of support to hospital management and have provided a sample letter and link.

The California Nurses Association represents more than 26,000 registered nurses at the University of California.

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.