UCSF nurses and resident physicians to protest at UC Regents meeting over ED boarding

Registered nurses and resident physicians at the University of California San Francisco plan to protest a UC Regents meeting on July 15 to draw attention to patient safety concerns tied to boarding in the emergency department at UCSF Parnassus.

According to the announcement, boarding in the ED has combined with already unsafe staffing levels to create conditions that are unsafe for patients and staff. The source says care is being delivered in waiting rooms and hallways, which nurses and physicians say makes it harder to provide appropriate treatment and bedside communication.

The protest is scheduled for 7:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. at the UC Regents meeting at the UCSF Rutter Center, 1675 Owens St., in San Francisco. The release identifies the participants as registered nurses, resident physicians, and coalition partners at UCSF.

Nurses at UCSF are represented by California Nurses Association/National Nurses United, known as CNA/NNU. Resident physicians have joined the effort through the Committee of Interns and Residents, or CIR/SEIU. The source says the two groups are working together to raise concerns about emergency department conditions and to press for changes that would improve patient care.

In a statement included in the release, Nurse Deya Williamson, RN in the emergency department, said the union is calling on UCSF management to put patients and the community ahead of profit. Williamson said the concern is about packing emergency departments with high-acuity patients without enough space, staff, or resources to care for them. She added that nurses and resident physicians are using their collective union power to advocate for patient safety.

Another statement in the release came from Dr. SatKartar Khalsa, an emergency medicine resident physician and CIR/SEIU regional vice president. Khalsa said that both at the bargaining table and in front of the Board of Regents, quality patient care at UCSF remains a top priority. He said the group’s demand is for more staffing so that residents and nurses can do their jobs. Khalsa said residents will continue pushing for a fair contract that provides the support they need to be effective physicians for their patients.

The release says patient care in waiting rooms and hallways undermines the quality of care and the bedside communication patients should receive. It also says nurses are unable to adequately assess patients’ needs and deliver appropriate care when working in these makeshift conditions.

The announcement does not provide details about the number of patients being boarded, how long the situation has been ongoing, or any specific response from UCSF management or the UC Regents. It also does not report whether any changes are planned as a result of the protest.

CNA/NNU says it represents more than 6,000 registered nurses at UCSF, as well as 100,000 members in more than 200 facilities throughout California and more than 225,000 registered nurses nationwide. The release also describes CIR as the largest house staff union in the United States and a local of the Service Employees International Union, representing more than 40,000 resident physicians and fellows nationwide.

The source says CIR-SEIU members focus on improving residency training and education, advancing patient care, and expanding healthcare access for communities. It also describes California Nurses Association/National Nurses United as the largest and fastest-growing union and professional association of registered nurses in the nation.

The planned protest is the latest step in a wider campaign by nurses and resident physicians at UCSF to raise alarms about emergency department boarding and staffing conditions. Their message, as presented in the release, is that patient safety and the ability of clinical staff to provide care are being compromised when people are treated in waiting rooms and hallways instead of in appropriate clinical settings.