Welcome

Before we share an update from Thursday’s bargaining session, we are heartbroken to learn of the passing of our colleague, Michael Odell, a skilled and compassionate traveling nurse who many Stanford Health Care RNs had the honor and privilege to work with at SHC. Our sincere condolences go out to Michael’s family and friends.

Negotiation Update

We met with CRONA on Thursday for extensive dialogue on two issues we all care deeply about: addressing violence in the workplace and mental health benefits. Both are top priorities and working through this pandemic has sharpened our focus and strengthened our resolve to ensure a safe workplace and provide mental health and wellness programs for you.

Workplace Violence Prevention

We provided CRONA with an overview of the robust workplace safety programs and protocols in place in our hospitals. We have put an extraordinary focus on these programs in recent years as incidents of violence against health care workers have accelerated across the country.

Our workplace safety program is designed to reduce risks through:

• Expanded training and de-escalation efforts
• New and improved technologies, including security cameras, panic buttons and alarms
• Intensive assessment and monitoring protocols to assess and manage aggression in patients, their families and visitors
• New signage establishing our no-tolerance policy regarding verbal abuse, harassment or violence against staff, patients and visitors
• Advanced monitoring and investigations of incidents
• The implementation of a Distress Activation Response Team (DART) at SHC and Strengthening Alliances with Families Team (SAFTeam) at LPCH.

We are also proud of the collaborative work of our workplace safety committees, which meet monthly and include two RNs appointed by CRONA as well as other bedside care providers.

We not only look forward to continued collaboration with our workplace safety committees, but also to further discussions with CRONA to help identify additional ways we can improve these programs and do everything we can to provide a safe workplace for RNs.

Mental Health and Wellness

We also provided CRONA with an overview of our full complement of benefits in place for nursing staff to promote mental health and wellness. We offer comprehensive health and wellness services free of charge through our Employee Assistance Program (EAP). Early in the pandemic we started offering a new program, Meru, which focuses specifically on mental health. There are also additional mental health services for staff who receive coverage through Aetna and Kaiser Permanente health plans. Our Healthy Steps to Wellness program also provides additional wellness resources, and we encourage all of you to review and take advantage of these benefits in support of your health.

CRONA shared with us some concerns about services provided through our EAP program, which we will be looking into further as we continue to assess the benefits and accessibility of this program.

We return to contract discussions with CRONA next week and look forward to making additional progress on addressing issues most important to our nurses. As always, you can find all our updates on this website, where you can also submit any questions.

Thank you, as always, for your interest and your dedication to our patients.

We returned to the bargaining table with CRONA on Tuesday, Jan.18, continuing a regular schedule of sessions at least twice weekly to build momentum toward reaching agreements on new contracts.

Throughout the session, we met and listened to each other’s positions and priorities on various issues. We also made further progress on identifying our shared concerns and initially focused on finding solutions to increase nurse satisfaction and reduce stress in the workplace.

In alignment with our current hospital protocols, the bargaining teams are at this point meeting by video and will return to our virtual bargaining table on Thursday, Jan. 20. We remain committed to reaching agreements with CRONA as quickly and as safely as possible. Given the rapid spread of the Omicron variant, we have advocated that it is important to hold our negotiations virtually at this time as infections within the CRONA, SHC and LPCH bargaining teams could lead to unnecessary delays in the bargaining process that we hope to avoid.

Remember that you can find our negotiations updates and other information on this website.  We’re committed to keeping you informed throughout this process.

Thank you as always for your interest and your dedication to our patients.

On January 13 we began formal contract talks with CRONA – the first step toward the goal of reaching agreements on new contracts for the nurses of SHC and LPCH that support quality patient care and nursing professionalism.

We had a productive day at the bargaining table, where the parties exchanged initial proposals on non-economic contract topics. While we may not always agree on the approach, we both have similar goals and our nurses’ best interests at heart, so we know we can work together to find solutions that better support you.

There is a great deal of work ahead, and we’re meeting the challenge with an ambitious bargaining schedule that includes negotiations two to three times weekly over the next three months. Remember to revisit this website, as it will be regularly updated as a one-stop resource for updates and related information.

Thanks for your interest and stay tuned!