On January 3rd, the nurses and healthcare professionals at Kaiser Permanente in Oregon and Southwest Washington filed a notice of an intent to hold a picket at Sunnyside Medical Center on the afternoon of January 13th. These healthcare workers, who are members of the Oregon Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals (OFNHP), AFT Local 5017, are picketing over what they say are critically low staffing levels that have created a harmful situation for healthcare professionals and, if they continue, will spell disaster for patient care.

“As hospital admissions rise, healthcare workers are so

After the December 7th State of Emergency declaration issued by Oregon Governor Kate Brown’s office, nurses and healthcare professionals are raising concerns about how this could further exacerbate the staffing crisis. Issued with concern for how Oregon hospitals will handle the recent increase in seasonal flu and COVID-19 infections, this order allows hospitals to ration care, work with reduced staff, and make changes that they believe will assist with adequate triage. Across hospitals like Kaiser Permanente Sunnyside Medical Center and Westside Medical Center, two essential hubs of emergency

Yesterday, Governor Kate Brown issued a State of Emergency regarding the healthcare situation across Oregon. Given the dramatic rise of flu cases at the same time as the most recent COVID-19 spikes, they anticipated healthcare facilities and hospitals to be stretched beyond our previous limits. While we have been calling on employers to improve staffing at our hospitals and clinics long before COVID and now RSV. Now, we are in a massive staffing crisis all across the country, and this new order allows for our Oregon employers to disregard many of the staffing standards that we know are

Our deepest sympathies go out to the family of Douglas Brant, and everyone who was touched by the tragedy that took place on December 1st. RNs and healthcare professionals are on the frontlines of patient care, saving lives every day. Brant’s murder is a frightening and devastating example of violence that healthcare workers often face, something that haunts so many of us as we continue the work of keeping our communities safe.

Workplace safety and prevention is a central piece of what we are fighting for as healthcare unions and it is time our employers take this issue as seriously as we do

Join us for a foundational training session that will give you the tools to have one-on-one union conversations with your coworkers and fellow union members that is focused on reaching organizing goals and engaging our membership. One-on-one "structured conversations" are the bedrock of the union organizing model, intended to highlight a person's workplace issues and move them from frustration to a place of empowerment and action.

On the evening of December 7th, we will be going through how to have these conversations, how to break down their component parts, and how to approach your coworkers

WASHINGTON—A groundbreaking new report bringing together data and testimony from frontline healthcare workers details crippling shortages across the healthcare industry, revealing dangerous conditions for patients and healthcare professionals alike, exacerbated by profit-driven corporate leadership in the healthcare field.

According to the report, nurses and other healthcare workers are exhausted, burnt out, anxious and leaving the profession in droves, a trend that began long before the COVID-19 pandemic and can be addressed with a series of key interventions and policy recommendations