Nurses say short staffing is putting patients at risk

Registered nurses at Mission Hospital in Asheville, N.C., will hold a rally on Thursday, March 6, to highlight patient safety concerns and expose the life-threatening conditions patients face due to extreme short-staffing, announced National Nurses Organizing Committee/National Nurses United (NNOC/NNU) today. Nurses note that a patient recently died in the emergency room during a shift when nurses say the unit was down at least six nurses at the start of the shift.

“We are witnessing an ongoing crisis where patient safety is being compromised,” said Gabby Taylor, RN in the cardiovascular intensive care unit. “Hospital administrators have refused to take meaningful action to fix the staffing crisis, leaving nurses overburdened and putting patients at risk. We cannot stand by while our patients suffer due to HCA’s refusal to address this crisis.”

Who: RNs at Mission Hospital
What: Rally for Patient Safety
When: Thursday, March 6, 8:00 a.m. - 9:00 a.m.
Where: Mission Hospital, 509 Biltmore Ave., on the corner of Hospital Dr. and Biltmore Ave.

Nurses are documenting and reporting unsafe conditions to hospital administrators daily, only to have their concerns largely ignored. Recently, nurses reported that a patient with a newly transplanted heart, who should have had one nurse assigned solely to them, was instead placed in an assignment with two other critical patients, jeopardizing the care of all three patients.

This, however, is not an isolated incident. Registered nurses at Mission Hospital in the Heart Tower have turned in dozens of assignments despite objection forms detailing troubling and risky patient assignments since the start of the year. HCA is aware of the staffing crisis patients face, but continue to put profits ahead of the community’s well-being and health.

“Staffing levels at Mission Hospital affect patients who are paying the price,” said Kerri Wilson, a registered nurse who works in a step-down unit. “Nurses are being forced to take unsafe patient loads, and the hospital is ignoring our calls for action. We need real solutions now.”

Despite ongoing reports of unsafe staffing, Mission Hospital is currently seeking seeking redesignation for Magnet status, a designation meant to recognize excellence in nursing. Nurses argue that a hospital with 10 immediate jeopardy situations in a single year, the most severe federal safety violations, should be denied redesignation for Magnet recognition.

“A hospital that repeatedly places patients in harm’s way does not deserve an award for nursing excellence,” said Hannah Drummond, a registered nurse in the catheterization lab recovery unit. “Nurses are doing everything they can to advocate for patient safety, but hospital leadership refuses to listen. Instead of fixing the crisis, they are chasing awards that they should not earn because of their unsafe patient safety practices.”  

National Nurses United is the largest and fastest-growing union and professional association of registered nurses in the United States with nearly 225,000 members nationwide. NNU affiliates include California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee, DC Nurses Association, Michigan Nurses Association, Minnesota Nurses Association, and New York State Nurses Association.