Over 1,800 nurses at Keck Hospital of USC and USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center marched down San Pablo Street holding signs that said “We’re not asking for magic. Just enough hands to heal” and “On strike for safe patient care.” The one-day strike Thursday was in protest of the lack of staffed resource nurses, which has caused 4,631 missed meal breaks and 2,210 missed rest breaks in 2025 according to a California Nurses Association news release.

The strike was started by the California Nurses Association, which represents 1,800 nurses at Keck Hospital and Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, and has 100,000 members across California.

Nurses from both locations have been bargaining since May 2025 and authorized the strike in a vote Aug. 22. In a press release from the union, they stated that the nurses are fighting for increased rest breaks, which will in turn lead to better patient care.

Valerie Hernandez, a registered nurse at Keck Hospital and member of the bargaining team, said that the strike comes after years of mistreatment from USC.

“I’ve been here for nine years, and it’s always been an issue with trying to get enough adequate resource nurses … to help provide rest and meal breaks,” Hernandez said. “Our main reason [for being] out here today is to tell USC that we can’t keep working this way. Our nurses are being burnt out.”

In 2024, USC nurses missed over 10,000 meal breaks and 4,000 rest breaks, though Hernandez said there could be more due to many nurses not always filing their breaks on record.

Kerri Dodgens, a nurse in the intensive care unit at Keck Hospital, said USC is paying penalties for the missed meal and rest breaks rather than hiring additional staff.

“We feel undervalued. We feel like the hospital is happy to pay their top-tier people millions upon millions of dollars while we’re just asking for more break relief, and we’re not getting it,” Dogens said. “The patients are having to wait a long time to get their call lights answered, to use the bathroom … to get their needs met. It’s because there’s no one available to go help them.”

All Keck facilities remained open during the strike. In a statement to ABC7, Keck wrote that its current contract proposal includes increases in resource nursing staff.

“We remain committed to negotiating in good faith and look forward to collaborative discussions with CNA to reach agreements that are fair, provide competitive pay and benefits, and reflect our dedication and support of our staff,” the statement read.

While the strike’s primary goal was to increase resource nursing staff, Dodgens said the union is also fighting to ensure that they keep healthcare benefits and strive toward competitive wages that are in line with surrounding hospitals.

Going forward, Hernandez said she hopes that the strike will encourage USC to change its approach to bargaining with the union and allow nurses to receive adequate break time and compensation.

“I want USC to come back to the table to have those difficult conversations with their nurses,” Hernandez said. “I hope that they stop telling us no and [being] unwilling to have the conversation … and figure out what [it] means for the nurses to feel valued.”