The union, which represents the RNs, said the emergency department and other hospital units are experiencing “systemic levels of unsafe nurse-to-patient staffing ratios.”
“We often have to close critical departments because of a lack of RN staff. We are asking that TCMC administration invest in recruiting and retaining registered nurses,” Brenda Tavares Ham, an RN with TCMC for 30 years, said in a news release.
Tri-City Medical Center did not immediately return a phone message seeking comment.
The hospital’s nurses are public sector employees who work for the Tri-City Healthcare District and have been in protracted contract negotiations since summer 2016, the union said.
More than 300 demonstrators attended the picket. While the majority of the group was composed of nurses from TCMC, local firefighters, clergy and a few nurses from surrounding facilities attended in solidarity.
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