ST. LOUIS, Mo. (KMOV.com) – Nurses at St. Louis University Hospital are speaking out about what they are calling unsafe working conditions.

SSM Healthcare recently purchased SLU Hospital, and according to employees, is imposing unsafe working assignments and understaffing the hospital.

Dozens of registered nurses picketed outside the hospital because they want to make the public aware that they are facing burnout which affects the quality of care they can provide to patients.

“SSM bought us because they knew we were a premiere provider of care, but to provide premiere care, we need premiere staff and premiere nurses,” said one nurse.

SSM later released the following statement:

SSM Health Saint Louis University Hospital is committed to providing safe, high-quality patient care. This includes ensuring we have highly skilled and compassionate nurses and other staff caring for our patients. We follow national best practices laid out by Premier and the National Database of Nursing Quality Indicators (NDNQI) and have strict procedures in place to ensure we are staffing to patient need, which can fluctuate hourly based on the condition of each patient. That is why we reevaluate the needs of our patients on a regular and ongoing basis, and adjust our staffing as needed to ensure we are providing the best care possible.

As part of ongoing negotiations with the National Nurses Organizing Committee, some represented nurses held an informational picket today, and we respect their right to do so. We continue to negotiate in good faith and remain committed to reaching an agreement that ensures exceptional patient care and service continue at SSM Health Saint Louis University Hospital.

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Original Post: http://www.kmov.com/story/32419990/slu-hospital-nurses-picket-over-unsafe-working-conditions