County Agrees to Place Specialties on Badges

RN petition delivered, management agrees to change ID badges

A delegation of SEIU 721 nurses presented L.A. County management with a petition signed by over 1,000 nurses calling on county management to change the RN I, II, and III classifications to reflect RN specialties. Based on our presentation, management agreed to place specialty designations on badges. Our elected union RN committee will meet with management to plan implementation on Wednesday, May 21st. We will advocate for specialties to be designated on every RN badge. Altogether, our meeting with management is a great win and a solid step in restoring nursing specialties.

“I think it’s amazing that we collected all those signatures in one week. Now we need to continue getting nurses on board, united and educated about this issue. And we have to be patient. The county is a different animal. The process doesn’t move fast. If we can be patient and keep up the pressure, we will win.” - Alice Burston, Staff Nurse, Twin Towers Sheriff’s Department “The petition shows it – we want to be specialized nurses, what we went to school for. We don’t want to be grouped into a general band of nursing – RN 1, 2 or 3, which county imposed this on us. Hopefully they’ll look at making it better for all of us. We’re taking it step by step. This is our number one fight.” Yvette Holman, Staff Nurse, LAC+USC

“Now we need to continue to show management what we want to have good communication. In the past, they did not listen. Now they are and hopefully, something is going be done. I feel very positive about our meeting today – hopeful.” Carol Carroll, Senior Staff Nurse, Twin Towers, Sheriffs Department “As ER nurses, we’re the forefront of the hospital. We are the first face that a patient comes into contact with. Regardless of the services they’re going to whether it’s ICU, the burn unit or the OR, we are first nurse to stabilize that patient.” Cynthia Mitchel, LAC+USC, ER nurse “We presented the voice of our nurses today and management’s response was very positive. Getting our identification is one step. Restoring the nursing specialties is another thing. It’s not what we do at the table that makes management do what we want them to do. It’s the action in the field that speaks louder than words.” - Lupe Figueroa, RN, Case Manager, El Monte Comprehensive Health Center