Unionized nurses at Kapi‘olani Medical Center for Women and Children went on a one-day strike Friday as they continue to negotiate a new contract. In response, the hospital has said the nurses will not be allowed to work.
Patient caseloads are at the center of the contract talks. The nurses want to limit how many patients they're assigned at a time.
Nurses said they have filed “Unsafe Staffing” reports for months when they felt there weren’t enough nurses to provide proper care. The nurses said the reports documented the problem and would hopefully lead to a solution.
However, they alleged that their supervisors ignored the issue.
“ They're saying there's nothing wrong and they don't want to make a change. Sometimes they don't follow our recommendations. If a nurse says, 'This is unsafe, or I can't do it, or these responsibilities shouldn't be mine,' often the response is the idea that if you are a good nurse, you should be able to do it all. And sometimes we simply can't do it all,” said Marcella Kopa, who has been a nurse at the medical center for 18 years.
Nurses said the unsafe staffing conditions compromise their well-being — and the well-being of their patients.
“Safe staffing is worth fighting for," read one of the signs flashed to passing drivers Friday.
The nurses also alleged that they can be “intimidated” and “bullied” for filing the staffing reports. “Zero tolerance for retaliation goes both ways," read another sign.
On Thursday, the Hawaiʻi Nurses' Association — the union representing about 600 Kapiʻolani nurses — and the medical center failed to come to an agreement on the new contract, paving the way for Friday's strike.
Part of the issue is that the two sides can’t compromise on a “matrix” to guide how many patients can be assigned to a nurse at any one time.
"If we have too many patients, we can't give good quality care. That puts patients’ lives at risk. That's when bad things happen to patients in the hospital," said registered nurse Meredith Evenson.
HNA President Rosalee Agas-Yuu said having the matrix at all is a good thing, despite the lack of agreement over it.
“ We're happy we have some sort of matrix to work on, but now it's just trying to make sure that the numbers that we talk about are numbers that we could live with over the next three years. I think the sticking point right now (revolves around) a committee that's going to follow it. How are we going to make sure that whatever numbers we decide on are followed?” Agas-Yuu said.
Kapiʻolani, which is part of the Hawaiʻi Pacific Health system, said it’s “disappointed” in the strike — the second one at Kapiʻolani this year.
The medical center said it’s offered raises to all registered nurses, and that by the third year of the contract, nurses will earn a base salary between $133,000 and $160,000.
“Repeated strikes lead to uncertainty and disrupt our ability to provide continuous high-quality care for our patients. In Hawai‘i, much of the specialized care we provide is only available at our hospital,” said Kapi‘olani Chief Operating Officer Gidget Ruscetta. “This was a difficult decision and not what we wanted. But the union’s decision to strike for the second time in eight months directly impacts our patients."
Kapiʻolani workers are now "locked out" in response to the strike. That means union nurses won’t be able to return to work until they agree to the hospital’s contract offer.
Lockouts are rare in the health care industry, but Ruscetta said itʻs meant to expedite a contract agreement.
“The purpose of the lockout is to get an agreement. We, like I said, did not want it to come to this, but we've exhausted (our options) and have worked for a year to get this agreement to the place where our nurses would be able to benefit,” she said.
The previous contract expired in November 2023.
