Jennifer Huynh is positive in her function as an ER nurse at Garfield Medical Center.

That confidence is stretched thin when she's required to offer longer-term care for patients due to the fact that of chronic understaffing.

" My specialty is to deal with people coming into the ER," the 32-year-old Alhambra resident stated. "But they will in some cases end up remaining for a number of days due to the fact that there aren't sufficient nurses and nursing assistants. My task is not concentrated on taking care of clients for that long."

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

Huynh's frustration is echoed by nurses throughout the Monterey Park facility. Many state they're being moved to other areas of the hospital where they may not have the familiarity and training needed to supply sufficient patient care.

< img decoding =" async" loading =" lazy" class =" lazyautosizes lazyload" src="/ wp-content/uploads/2023/ 05/SGT-L-NURSES -2 -0513 - rotated-1. jpeg?fit = 620 % 2C9999px & ssl = 1 "alt="" width =" 706" height =" 941" data-sizes =" vehicle "data-src ="/ wp-content/uploads/2023/ 05/SGT-L-NURSES -2 -0513 - rotated-1. jpeg?fit = 620 % 2C9999px & ssl = 1" data-srcset ="/ wp-content/uploads/2023/ 05/SGT-L-NURSES -2 -0513 - rotated-1. jpeg?fit = 620 % 2C9999px & ssl = 1 620w,/ wp-content/uploads/2023/ 05/SGT-L-NURSES -2 -0513 - rotated-1. jpeg?fit = 780 % 2C9999px & ssl = 1 780w,/ wp-content/uploads/2023/ 05/SGT-L-NURSES -2 -0513 - rotated-1. jpeg?fit = 810 % 2C9999px & ssl = 1 810w,/ wp-content/uploads/2023/ 05/SGT-L-NURSES -2 -0513 - rotated-1. jpeg?fit = 1280 % 2C9999px & ssl = 1 1280w,/ wp-content/uploads/2023/ 05/SGT-L-NURSES -2 -0513 - rotated-1. jpeg?fit = 1860 % 2C9999px & ssl = 1 1860w "> Nurses are likewise calling for increased security at the medical center. One nurse stated a client hit her in the face with a cellular phone, knocking her to the ground.
(Photo thanks to SEIU Local 121RN). The scenario prompted them to picket the facility early Friday, March 12 to get their message out.

Equipped with whistles and picket signs, nurses shouted "What's this about? Patient care!" as they circled around back and forth in front of the building.

Representatives with Garfield Medical Center could not be reached for remark 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 runs 9 California healthcare centers, including 5 in the Los Angeles area.

Nurses are also requiring increased security at Garfield, and no one desires that more than Christina Smith.

" I was struck in the face with a client's cellular phone," said Smith, who has been a signed up nurse at the center for 35 years. "She struck me as tough as she could and knocked me to the ground. It was very terrible, both physically and psychologically.".

When the patient wanted to leave the healthcare facility, the situation started.

" She was upset and wished to go home, however we told her she could not go until somebody got here to pick her up," Smith stated. "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 reversed and hit me with her phone.".

Since it's assigning them to jobs they have not been trained to do, Huynh stated the healthcare facility is having difficulty keeping both new and skilled nurses.

" That's demanding for nurses, and it's straight-out harmful for clients," she stated.

Smith stated employees are also requiring greater earnings so enough nurses can be recruited and kept.

" They generate brand-new nurses and train them, however they're gone in a year since salaries 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 simply eight years at San Gabriel Valley Medical Center.".

Friday's picket came on the heels of another rally that drew health center janitors, medical assistants, resident physicians and retirement home caregivers to Pasadena on Thursday to urge passage of SB 525, which would enhance staffing for California health care workers and raise their minimum wage to $25 an hour.

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

That event belonged to a series of statewide events highlighting the risks of not having enough workers on hand to provide appropriate medical care and prevent employee burnout.