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Nurses in Templeton and SLO allege understaffing, poor conditions

April 28, 2022

By KAREN VELIE

Nurses at nine Tenet hospitals, including Sierra Vista Regional Medical Center in San Luis Obispo and Twin Cities Community Hospital in Templeton, conducted public actions and informational pickets on Wednesday over alleged understaffing and poor working conditions.

The California Nurses Association accuses hospital administrators of failing to prepare for the pandemic and for prioritizing profits over safe patient care. The union is demanding the hospitals take action to retain and recruit nurses.

Approximately 50 nurses and supporters gathered outside both SLO County Tenet hospitals, where they held signs stating “One strong union” and “Patients over profits.”

Since the pandemic started, Twin Cities Community Hospital has lost 40 percent of its nurses, according to the union.

“Like many hospitals across the country, we have been facing staffing challenges exacerbated by the pandemic, and we remain committed to doing everything possible to stay well-staffed,” Tenet said in a written statement. “To support our care teams, we have been exercising all options available to us. We are working with our staffing agency to bring traveler nurses onboard and we are continuously working to recruit additional nurses.”


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11 Comments
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You have no concept of what our healthcare workers are going thru.

Im married to one and see all the sacrifices and BS they put up with from all sides.

Better pray you dont need there services ,they may be busy picking flowers and enjoying the sunshine….

Reality check, thats a joke…


-1

Nurses are not alone. Employers are having an extremely difficult time staffing in most areas.

Restaurants have closed due to lack of employees, lines are long at most retail locations, the list goes on and on.


7

Most nurses are women. Try telling anyone, especially a woman, that she needs to work overtime and spend more time away from her children than she has planned for and see how that works out for you.


14

if they have a cure for burn out and the stress caused by COVID to keep healthcare workers from quitting, then bring it on. not sure there’s any hospital that came through unscathed.


7

Understaffed?!? Poor working conditions?!?! Wow, unbelievable. Every job I have ever had is staffed to perfection and everything is always flowers and sunshine….oh, wait. Yall need a reality check.


-18

For profit health care companies treat their employees shabbily. Very shocking. Of course, not surprising. Tenet has plenty of stockholders who expect that dividend check every month.


5

Most private health care companies treat their employees well. Also, Tenet does not pay a dividend to shareholders.


5

Whatever they earn I don’t know if I could do their job? Caring for the sick and failing has to be a great risk and emotional drain.


36

Good thing this is a free country and no one is forcing anyone else to work anywhere they don’t want to. :)


-13

You mean nurses got tired of being vilified for treating Covid as an actual life-threatening disease? They got tired of being yelled at in parking lots by conspiracy theorists? It’s almost like it’s a thankless job.


-3

People vilified nurses? I don’t remember that. I do remember being told that these staff shortages were due to unvaccinated covid patients though…clearly that is probably not a sound argument anymore?


9