Nurses from Asheville, N.C.-based Mission Hospital raised staffing concerns with Buncombe County commissioners, ABC affiliate WLOS reported Aug. 17.
Mission Hospital nurse Lori Hedrick, BSN, told commissioners some assignments are unsafe due to inadequate staffing. Overall, Ms. Hedrick said the hospital has 400 fewer core nurses than this time last year.
Ms. Hedrick added that the union is encouraging nurses to share more of their concerns directly with hospital leadership, and Mission Hospital nurses make recommendations to the chief nursing officer every month. However, Ms. Hedrick said even with those recommendations, nurses need more support when it comes to pay and retention bonuses.
"When HCA continuously denies increasing employees' pay in order to benefit their stakeholders' profits, it sends a clear message. This had led to hundreds of nurses leaving Mission Hospital," Ms. Hedrick said.
Nancy Lindell, director of media relations for Mission Health, sent WLOS a statement in response to the nurses' concerns, stating the numbers and information provided by the union are inaccurate.
"Patient care is our top priority, and to continue to support the best possible care, we are working diligently to ensure nursing and other roles are filled as quickly as possible by continuing to heavily recruit and offer robust sign-on bonuses," the statement said