RENO — Unions representing registered nurses said Friday they have reached "groundbreaking" tentative contract agreements with Reno's two largest hospitals that offer pay raises to nurses and mandate minimum nurse-to-patient ratios.

The Service Employees International Union reached a tentative agreement with Renown Regional Medical Center, said union spokeswoman Karen Backus. More than 800 Renown nurses voted to unionize last September.

And the California Nurses Association-National Nurses Organizing Committee reached a tentative settlement with Saint Mary's Regional Medical Center, said union spokeswoman Jill Furillo. About 500 Saint Mary's nurses voted to unionize last December.

Nurses at both hospitals are scheduled to vote on the separate proposals next week.

Both unions hailed the tentative agreements as groundbreaking because of provisions that they say set a higher standard for patient care.

Nurse-to-patient staffing ratios at Saint Mary's would be identical to ones under a precedent-setting 1999 California law, Furillo said.

The ratio, which varies by hospital area, ranges from one nurse for every two patients in critical care to one nurse for every six patients on general medical or post-surgical floors.

"We are so proud to be the first state outside of California to have achieved the California ratios in our contract," said Marylea Hall, a nurse at Saint Mary's.

Limits on the number of patients in a nurse's care at one time also was a top priority for Renown nurses, said Ruth Flack, a Renown RN.

"This contract will make Renown a better place not just for nurses, but for our patients, too," she said.

The proposals would give Saint Mary's nurses average pay increases of 29.5 percent over four years and Renown nurses pay raises of at least 30.1 percent over five years.