RENO, April 10, 2008 - SEIU Nevada nurses at Renown Regional Medical Center
will hold a rally calling on their community to support them in their
efforts to improve nurse staffing standards on the floors of their hospital.
The nurses have been in negotiations with the hospital for several months,
but the hospital has yet to respond seriously to any of the nurses'
proposals. 

NEW LOCATION - Join SEIU Nevada Nurses at their Rally!

WHAT:  Rally for Higher Quality Care at Renown!

WHEN:  Thursday, April 10 at 1 PM

WHERE: Veteran's Park at Virginia Street and Court Street, in
downtown Reno

The rally location was changed to the heart of the Reno community after the
nurses decided they would not allow their hospital to silence their voices
as advocates for improved hospital working conditions, and as advocates for
better healthcare in their hospital and community.

First and foremost, the nurses at Renown are seeking a voice in how patient
care is provided at their hospital.  As frontline healthcare providers in
the hospitals, nurses know best what is needed to improve care.  Nurses are
looking to improve staffing levels in the hospital through the creation of
nurse to patient ratios that would ensure no nurse has to take on more
patients than they can safely care for. 

Improving staffing will also help achieve another goal of the nurses, which
is improving the retention of experienced nurses at the bedside.  While Reno
has more nurses per capita than most parts of the country, our community,
like many across the country, faces a shortage of nurses willing to work in
the frantic, stressful conditions caused by understaffing on the floors of
their hospitals.  Nurses believe that understaffing at Renown is a major
factor in the hospital's 18 percent turnover rate.

The nurses at Renown are proud to be standing up as advocates for their
patients by educating their community about the challenges they face at
their hospital.

 My Story, by Fred Petig, RN, Telemetry
"I became a nurse later than most, when I was in my early 40s.  For me,
nursing isn't a career, it is an avocation.  I was called to nursing because
I wanted to spend everyday helping people and making their lives easier when
they're having a hard time because they're sick.  So, it pains me when one
of my patients asks me a question by beginning - 'I'm sorry to bother you,
because it looks like you're so busy.'

"Doctor's breeze in and out of a patient's room.  It is our role as nurses
to provide the one on one our patients need to heal.

"My fellow nurses and I work very hard to ensure our patients receive all
the care they need to heal.  What I don't have time to do is sit down with
my patients and educate them about their disease, how they can help care for
themselves, and what to expect with their condition down the road. 

"If we had more nurses on the floors of our hospitals, we would have more
time to spend with our patients.  The ability to do our jobs fully safely
and well is why we are at the bargaining table, and it's why we are reaching
out as patient advocates to the community - to our patients and their
families and friends.  Renown is our community hospital.  We are calling on
our hospital to work with us to make it even better."

SEIU Nevada nurses are asking Renown - help us spend more time helping
patients by fully staffing our hospital!

This is the 10th story in a 10-day countdown to the SEIU nurses at Renown's
rally today for patient care.  For more information about SEIU contract
negotiations at Renown, to interview a nurse or to talk to an academic
expert about why we need enforceable staffing ratios in our hospitals,
contact Hilary Haycock at 745-1532 or hhaycock@seiunv.org.  Or visit our
website at http://www.seiunv.org/healthcare/renonurses/Default.aspx.