On International Workers' Day, nurses in the acute care units at Tri-City Medical Center want the hospital to address the staffing shortage.
They said it was a safety concern.
“I know the Tri-city has been fiscally challenged and we are aware of that, but we can't let that interfere with safe patient care and safety for our nurses,” said Doris Turner, a relief charge nurse in the emergency department.
According to the latest financial audit report, Tri-City's long-term debt was more than $70 million as of June 2023.
Turner said she has seen about a 35% decrease in staffing in the emergency department.
“They've also decreased the numbers just across the board. So now our nurses don't get breaks, our techs don't get breaks," she said. "You work 12 and a half hours without getting a break, and that's not safe for patient care. That increases risk of error.”
The California Nurses Association (CNA), the union representing more than 400 Tri-City nurses, said it has attempted to resolve this concern for the past year.
The union has documented unsafe staffing levels, filed grievances to the administration and taken a vote of no confidence in the emergency department leadership.
Nurses said the shortage compromised patient care. In the emergency room, they said, patients could wait between eight to 24 hours for a bed because there weren't enough nurses to staff those beds.
Ingrid Corona, a telemetry nurse and the CNA’s chief nurse representative at Tri-City, said the hospital was trying to resolve that by overextending nurses.
“We're supposed to have one to four patients, but they will push when the patients have been there a long time and give the nurses five patients," she said. "And not always with the appropriate ancillary staff, like lift and handling team and nursing assistance, to help provide the care.”
She said Tri-City nurses do their best to provide quality patient care, but the situation is untenable.
“Unfortunately, it's been going on for far too long and nurses are tired, and so we don't have break nurses a lot of days,” Corona said.
The nurses said they care about their patients, and that’s why they’re speaking out Wednesday.
“This is not nursing shortage. This is not staff shortage," Turner said. "This is fiscal decisions. We can't allow fiscal decisions to affect patient care.”
Tri-City has yet to respond to multiple requests for comments.
