Nurses at Tri-City Medical Center in Oceanside voiced their concerns about what they say are ongoing staffing and health and safety concerns during a demonstration outside the hospital Wednesday.
About two-dozen Tri-City nurses held signs reading, “Save Lives. Safe Staffing Now,” while several spoke up about the issues they said are affecting not only them, but their patients.
Doris Turner, the relief charge nurse in the emergency department, said those issues include, “greater wait times for our emergency room patients and decreased care as far as the timeliness of care.”
Turner said the staffing in her department has been reduced by about 35% and it is putting a strain on those who remain.
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“They’re going home after 12-and-a-half hours of work with no break,” Turner said. “So, that’s increasing our injuries, it’s increasing our sickness and absenteeism, so it’s having a great impact on our nurses and our ancillary staff, and our patients.”
California Nurses Association/National Nurses United (CAN/NNU) said for the last year, nurses have tried to address their concerns by circulating petitions, filing grievances and documenting issues.
Turner said they also issued a vote of “no confidence” in emergency department leadership, but have seen very few results.
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She said their next step is to try to meet with Tri-City leadership again, and if that fails, they will explore other options.
“Our nurses are never going to let care not be excellent here,” Turner said.
NBC 7 reached out to Tri-City Medical Center for a statement but have not heard back.
However, in response to similar concerns in the past, the hospital said in part, “Tri-City Medical Center is committed to providing the highest quality patient care and values the contributions of every team member."