If you’re not a nurse – only if you’re not a nurse – you might be wondering, “Why do nurses go on strike?” It’s really quite simple: nurses go on strike because healthcare facilities are generally understaffed, which means that nurses are generally overworked, as well as underpaid and undervalued – in addition to experiencing burn-out due to the high-stress, high-demand environment that they work in. Typically, nurses’ strikes revolve around the very reasonable issues of fair pay and safe nurse-staffing practices.
Current Nurse Strikes in California and Washington D.C.
The contracts between the Committee for Recognition of Nursing Achievements (CRONA) union and Stanford Health Care and Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital expired on March 31, opening the door for new contract negotiations. Stanford nurses, numbering approximately 5,000, are asking for a pay raise, mental health support, and changes to their time-off policy.
Although Stanford Health Care claims to be offering “market-leading wages”, they are offering only a four percent pay increase for the first year and a three percent increase in subsequent years of the three-year contract even though inflation alone ran as high as 7.9% in February. Considering current inflation, Stanford nurses are asking for an eight percent increase the first year of the new contract and a seven percent increase the following years – a more-than-reasonable demand.
In addition, hundreds of workers at Howard University Hospital in Washington, D.C. are also planning a strike. The District of Columbia Nurses Association (DCNA) claims that the hospital has been understaffed throughout the pandemic and that staff members have been underpaid. All workers are asking for is a fair contract and safe staffing for the wellbeing of patients. Is this too much to ask?
Are Healthcare Facilities Truly Understaffed?
We would like to answer this question about nurse staffing in U.S. healthcare facilities through other recent nursing news. We are referring to the case of the indictment of Christann Gainey, a 34-year-old licensed practical nurse (LPN) who was initially charged with felony neglect and involuntary manslaughter in the case of the 2018 death of Herbert R. McMaster Sr. – the father of former Trump national security advisor H.R. McMaster Jr.
In April 2018, McMaster Sr. fell and hit his head in the lobby of the Cathedral Village senior living facility in Philadelphia's Upper Roxborough neighborhood. Hours later, he died of subdural hematoma. Gainey was responsible for McMaster that night – as well as for 38 other patients. She was supposed to perform neurological and vital sign checks on McMaster after his fall, but she didn’t; in fact, this was not the only time that Gainey documented having carried out neurological checks without actually performing them. However, it must be noted that camera footage both proves that she did not perform a neurological check on McMaster after the fall and that instead she was attending other patients. In other words, the senior living facility was understaffed and when something went wrong, the blame fell on the nurse. Did Gainey make a mistake? Yes, she made many, but perhaps the biggest mistake she made was accepting a job that put her in such a vulnerable position. It is impossible for one nurse to be responsible for 39 patients without something going haywire. The facility should have known this; it should not have put Gainey in such a position; it should not have let her take all the blame.
Thankfully, Gainey was able to plead down and was charged with misdemeanor neglect of a care-dependent person and tampering with records. She was sentenced to six months under house arrest and an additional four years of probation. Furthermore, she will be barred from reinstating her license or working in a care facility during that time.
Do Nurse Strikes Make More Sense Now?
Nurses strike to avoid Christann Gainey’s fate. They strike to demand safe nurse-to-patient ratios, which prevent tragic, avoidable deaths, such as McMaster’s demise, as well as the loss of nurses’ jobs or entire careers – not to mention the criminal charges.
Nurses also strike to obtain fair compensation for their work – emphasis on fair. In the case of the Stanford nurses, they are simply asking for a raise based on current inflation. The raise would not even improve their lifestyle; it would simply maintain it.
What Happens if Healthcare Facilities Don’t Heed Nurses’ Demands? If the Stanford nurses or the Howard nurses don’t get what they deserve from their respective healthcare facilities, they’ll be faced with a choice: yield to the hospitals’ wishes, continue to strike – or leave. Deciding to leave a job is often a difficult and scary decision, but it doesn’t have to be that way; nurses who are considering quitting should look into PRN work as a new career path or at least as a way to transition to a new permanent position. Don’t forget: you have choices.
