Garfield Medical Center nurses protest low staffing, lack of training

Jennifer Huynh is confident in her role as an ER nurse at Garfield Medical Center.

But that confidence is stretched thin when she’s forced to provide longer-term care for patients because of chronic understaffing.

“My specialty is to treat people coming into the ER,” the 32-year-old Alhambra resident said. “But they will sometimes end up staying for several days because there aren’t enough nurses and nursing assistants. My job is not specialized in taking care of patients for that long.”

SEE MORE: Healthcare workers rally for higher pay, more staffing under Senate Bill 525

Huynh’s frustration is echoed by nurses throughout the Monterey Park facility. Many say they’re being shifted to other areas of the hospital where they may not have the familiarity and training needed to provide adequate patient care.

The situation prompted them to picket the facility early Friday, March 12 to get their message out.

Armed with whistles and picket signs, nurses chanted “What’s this about? Patient care!” as they circled back and forth in front of the building.

Representatives with Garfield Medical Center could not be reached for comment Friday.

The hospital’s 350 nurses are represented by SEIU Local 121RN. Their contract expired March 31 their next bargaining session will be held May 24.

The medical center is owned by AHMC Healthcare Inc., which operates nine California healthcare facilities, including five in the Los Angeles area.

Nurses are also calling for increased security at Garfield, and no one wants that more than Christina Smith.

“I was hit in the face with a patient’s cell phone,” said Smith, who has been a registered nurse at the facility for 35 years. “She hit me as hard as she could and knocked me to the ground. It was very traumatic, both physically and mentally.”

The situation began when the patient wanted to leave the hospital.

“She was upset and wanted to go home, but we told her she couldn’t go until someone arrived to pick her up,” Smith said. “She got all hyped up and ran to the elevator and kicked a male nurse in the leg. Then she wanted to run in front of a moving car. That’s when she turned around and hit me with her phone.”

Huynh said the hospital is having trouble keeping both experienced and new nurses because it’s assigning them to tasks they haven’t been trained to do.

“That’s stressful for nurses, and it’s outright dangerous for patients,” she said.

Smith said employees are also calling for higher wages so enough nurses can be recruited and retained.

“They bring in new nurses and train them, but they’re gone in a year because wages are so low,” she said. “I’ve been at Garfield for 35 years, and the money I’m making here would be the same as someone who worked just eight years at San Gabriel Valley Medical Center.”

Friday’s picket came on the heels of another rally that drew hospital janitors, medical assistants, resident physicians and nursing home caregivers to Pasadena on Thursday to urge passage of SB 525, which would boost staffing for California healthcare workers and raise their minimum wage to $25 an hour.

Healthcare workers at CHA Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center also staged a rally last month to protest short staffing and the impact it has on patients and employees.

That event was part of a series of statewide gatherings highlighting the dangers of not having enough employees on hand to provide adequate medical care and prevent employee burnout.