(FOX40.COM) \u2014 California nurses plan to push back against new state staffing standards in a march set for Wednesday in Sacramento.<\/p>\n
The California Nurses Association, which represents more than 100,000 registered nurses across the state, will protest Jan. 21 near the Capitol. Beginning at noon, CNA members will march from Cesar Chavez Plaza to the California Health & Human Services Agency.<\/p>\n
The march is a response to new rules<\/a> proposed last month by the California Department of Public Health.<\/p>\n The proposal is an attempt to fulfill requirements of the state\u2019s landmark 1999 law, which made California the first state to adopt staffing ratios in acute-care hospitals \u2014 an effort the union backed. But CNA said the new regulations are \u201criddled with major problems and loopholes that make the recommended ratios essentially worthless.\u201d<\/p>\n In general hospitals, only registered nurses count toward staffing ratios. But the public health department\u2019s new regulations would set a lower bar in acute psychiatric hospitals, the union said, allowing for licensed vocational nurses or psychiatric technicians to count toward those ratios.<\/p>\n \u201cThe new ratios for acute psychiatric hospitals can, should and must extend the standards from existing ratios for general acute care hospitals,\u201d Sandy Reding, president of the California Nurses Association, said in a news release. \u201cWe fully support [registered nurse] ratios for acute psychiatric hospitals, and we want the nurses in those hospitals to have the same strong standards the rest of us do.\u201d<\/p>\n The nurses union\u2019s concerns also include what they describe as \u201cworkarounds\u201d to the minimum staffing ratios, such as a new \u201cRN on duty\u201d role that could be responsible for as many as 24 patients at a time.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s no reason for this besides creating loopholes for employers to evade safe staffing,\u201d the union said in a news release<\/a>.<\/p>\n The public health department\u2019s push for new rules came in the wake of a San Francisco Chronicle report<\/a> that showed the harms of understaffing in psychiatric hospitals.<\/p>\n The California Department of Public Health did not immediately respond to FOX40\u2019s request for comment.<\/p>\n Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.<\/p>\n