RNs at Mission Hospital to protest unsafe staffing and working conditions

Registered nurses at Mission Hospital in Asheville, N.C., will hold a socially distanced public action on Thursday, September 2 to highlight their patient safety concerns, including short staffing and a lack of compliance with OSHA’s recent Covid-19 Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) for workplace safety, announced National Nurses Organizing Committee/National Nurses United (NNOC/NNU) today.

Some examples of the lack of compliance with the OSHA ETS include scheduling symptomatic, Covid-positive RNs to return to work; inadequate PPE; and lack of screening of patients, staff, and visitors.

“RNs have voiced our concerns about patient safety and unsafe working conditions to hospital administration for months, including last week, when a group of RNs presented our recommendations for improved standards, which Mission administration has ignored,” said Hannah Drummond, RN in the emergency department. “We have a duty to the Asheville community to provide optimal care, and we will continue our advocacy until Mission is a safe place for our patients.”

• Who: RNs at Mission Hospital
• What: Action for Patient Safety
• When: Thursday, September 2, 8:00 a.m.–9:00 a.m.
• Where: Mission Hospital at the corner of Biltmore Ave. and Hospital Dr.

To interview a registered nurse, contact press@nationalnursesunited.org.

NNOC/NNU represents more than 1,700 registered nurses at Mission Hospital.