Santa Clara County nurses rally over pay, working conditions

Santa Clara County nurses are rallying at Valley Medical Center in an effort to bring renewed attention to familiar concerns including pay, working conditions and patient care standards. The Wednesday rally comes more than three months after a contract with the county expired for nearly 4,000 nurses working in hospitals, clinics, jails and other facilities across the the Santa Clara County Health and Hospital System. The workers are represented by the Registered Nurses Professional Association. The group has voted to authorize a strike in the coming weeks as frustrations are mounting in negotiations, including impasses around nurse-to-patient staffing ratios, patient…