Replacement nurses check in

Replacement nurses from Palm Springs, Memphis, Tenn., and elsewhere across the country arrived in Yuba City Thursday to step in for employees who plan to strike today at Fremont-Rideout Health Group hospitals.

In preparation for the 24-hour strike, 130 replacement nurses learned protocol and procedures specific to Fremont-Rideout during an eight-hour introductory training.

"Not every hospital is the same," said Walter Stiehn, a traveling nurse from North Carolina who specializes in critical care. "The basics are the same. The biggest problem we have is knowing where everything is."

Stiehn, a traveling nurse for the last four years, said he just got off assignment in Maryland when the recruiting firm, TruStaff, notified him of the need for nurses in California.

The strike, approved by 221 nurses earlier this month, was intended to be a 24-hour protest to force hospital administration back to the negotiating table. But because of a 10-day strike at 10 Bay Area Sutter hospitals, Fremont-Rideout nurses who do not report to work Friday will not be permitted back into the hospital for 10 days.

Liesel Buchner, director of clinical care at Fremont-Rideout, said the hospital recruited nurses in specialty fields such as intensive care, cardiovascular care and labor and delivery units in order to provide patients with competent, qualified staff during the strike.

"They know what they are doing," Buchner said. "We just want them to know our way of doing things so there are no surprises."

Replacement nurses will be paid from $37 to $50 an hour to work in California, depending on their specialty and experience, according to TruStaff's Web site.

Location of the specific assignment was not specified in the advertisements.

The traveling nurse position was developed in response to a national nursing shortage. Roughly 118,000 registered nurses were needed in 2006 to fill vacancies nationwide, according to the American Hospital Association.

Fremont-Rideout hospital administrators said employees are not allowed to return to work for 10 days because of the timing with the Bay Area strikes.

"We need to be competitive," Fremont-Rideout CEO Theresa Hamilton said. "We are not going to get the best quality for (only) 24 hours if the same nurses can be guaranteed 10 days somewhere else."

Replacement nurse Stacey Turner, of Atlanta, said she is focused on patient care; the politics of the strike are not her concern.

"I try not to get involved," she said. "I'm here to take care of patients."

Heather Avalos, a RN at the Rideout Memorial Hospital ICU and a member of the nurses' union, said a majority of nurses employed by Fremont-Rideout support the union, but not all may be able to join the picket line.

"We understand that not everyone can take 10 days off without pay," she said. "I feel bad for them because they don't want to be in there, but I hope they find ways to support us from the inside."

Avalos said a number of nurses who are striking are finding temporary work at other clinics and medical facilities out of the area.

"The only bad thing is they may like it so much better there and then leave to work there," she said.

Fremont-Rideout nurses said they are striking for better patient care, though hospital officials claim what the nurses really want is mandatory union membership.

Nurses and hospital administrators have been in contract negotiations for more than a year.

Fremont-Rideout administrators made their "best and final" offer in January. Nurses voted to reject that offer three weeks later.

Union supporters said more than 200 nurses participated in a one-day August strike, and again during a two-day strike in October.

Susan Henderson, critical care education supervisor, said the hospital is trying to do the best it can in the situation.

"No one looks forward to a strike," Henderson said. "We just make sure we focus is on patient care."

Strike set today

• What: Third strike in less than one year at Fremont-Rideout Health Group facilities.

• Schedule: Picket lines 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Fremont Medical Center in Yuba City and Rideout Memorial Hospital in Marysville.

• Rally: Noon at Fremont Medical Center

Contact Appeal-Democrat reporter Andrea Koskey at 749-4709 or akoskey@appealdemocrat.com