CBS 5 News reported that nursing union officials will direct strike participants at the Bay Area hospitals affiliated with the Sutter Health network.
It was learned that nurses union claims that wage increases were a second concern for their strikes as they emphasized that staffing patterns were a primary issues as some nurses were regularly working 12-hour shifts without breaks.
Jim Ryer, collective bargaining director for the Northern California chapter said that about 30 nurses were picketing this morning at Alta Bates Medical Center in Berkeley as a low-key protest.
The report added that cars passing by the picket line on Ashby Avenue sounded their horns as a sign of support for the nurses. Alta Bates, along with the Summit campus in Oakland, is the largest hospital in the strike.
Ryer told the San Francisco Chronicle that health practitioners have also joined the protest.
It was learned that in insurance companies have been pushing for shorter stays in the hospital and outpatient treatment.
Union added that nurses now are being left with the most critically ill and seriously injured patients to treat.
Thesepatients require round-the-clock treatment that current nurse to patient ratios will not be able to handle. According to Nurses United, a study in Scotland indicates that treatment in overworked intensive care units can double the odds of patients dying.
California Nurses Association told CBS 5 News, that nurses have been negotiating for new contracts since April.
Meanwhile, hospitals hired temporary nurses to replace the on-strike health practitioners and vowed that patient care would not be interrupted.
The strike is expected to end by 7 a.m. Friday. Striking nurses may be back to their respective work places on Monday, as the officials at Alta Bates signed a five-day contract with a company providing replacement nurses.
