Registered nurses have called a two-day strike July 13 and 14 at Eastern Maine Medical Center to press hospital officials to finally address nurses’ concerns over unsafe staffing at the hospital.

Negotiations have been on going since April with little movement over the key issue of safe staffing. Thursday morning, the RNs delivered a 10-day notice to hospital officials of their intent to strike, while noting that the RN negotiating team will continue to be available to bargain up to that deadline. 

The RNS—represented by the Maine State Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee (MSNA/NNOC)—have been working under an extended contract since May 30.

Nurses maintain that a contract settlement must address critical issues impacting patient safety, including improved staffing to reduce injuries such as falls, infections and bedsores that patients acquire while being treated at EMMC.

Nurses want the certainty that every patient will receive their medications on time, receive baths, be assisted with walking and getting to the bathroom on time, and have the ability to work with the patients and their families for safe and effective care.

“Our patients continue to be sicker than before and require more frequent and complex medical and nursing interventions. Studies show that patients fare better when their nurse has fewer people to care for each shift,” said EMMC Cardiac Care RN Cindy Kekacs.

Studies have shown time and again that safe nurse-to-patient staffing improves outcomes and saves lives.

One such recent study, by the Center for Health Outcomes and Policy Research at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing, showed that for each additional patient per nurse on medical–surgical units beyond the baseline number, there was a 4 percent decrease in the odds of survival. 

Nurses at EMMC, backed by studies such as these, maintain that if staffing were improved, patient injuries could be avoided—and along with them, the suffering of patients and their families subject to longer hospital stays and increased costs.

“We want time at the bedside to care for our patients as if they were our own family members or loved-ones.  That’s why having enough nurses is so important to us.  This fight is for our patients and for the public health of our community,” said Cokie Giles, an EMMC RN and national co-president of NNOC.

MSNA/NNOC is an affiliate of National Nurses United, the largest U.S. organization of nurses. In Maine, MSNA represents over 2000 nurses who work in facilities and agencies throughout the state.