ST. LOUIS — Nurses at SSM Health ºüÀêÊÓƵ University Hospital walked off their jobs for a 24-hour strike on Monday, a measure they said was necessary after the hospital failed to address their concerns about short staffing.
“We don’t want to be out here,†said Maddi O’Leary, a nurse in the bone marrow transplant unit, who has worked at the hospital for eight years. “We want to be inside taking care of our patients. But we have not been given the resources to do so safely.â€
In a statement, SSM said the health system was “deeply disappointed†in the union’s decision to organize a strike. The hospital said workers from nurse staffing agencies would help fill in where needed.
Dozens rallied outside the hospital along South Grand Boulevard Monday, carrying signs and chanting. Nurses described feeling frustrated when they couldn’t provide patients the quality of care they wanted to give because their units are understaffed.
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And when patients have to wait longer for care, health care workers receive backlash from them and their family members, they said. Several emergency department nurses said that they’ve noticed an increase in patients after South City Hospital, about 4 miles south, closed in early August following financial troubles.
O’Leary said that while nursing shifts in her unit ideally are staffed by four nurses, lately there have been shifts with only two. That means she can’t take a break because she can’t leave the unit staffed by only one nurse.
“Enough was enough,†she said.
The strike was scheduled to begin at 7 a.m. Monday and end at 6:59 a.m. Tuesday. The nurses gave the hospital 10 days’ notice.
The union, National Nurses United, has represented nurses at the hospital since 2012. Though the nurses have held several protests to pressure SSM to increase staffing levels there, they had never before gone on strike.
The nurses’ labor agreement expired June 15. They have been in negotiations for a new contract since May and claim there has been little movement in bargaining. With the exception of the VA ºüÀêÊÓƵ Healthcare System, SLU Hospital is the only hospital in the region where nurses are unionized.
SSM accused the California-based nurses union of holding strikes that are “intended to create tension and division within hospitals,†and said the moves are counterproductive to SSM’s efforts to recruit and hire nurses.
Sarah DeWilde, a nurse in a medical-surgical unit and a member of the union’s bargaining committee, said the strike isn’t political — it’s a sign that nurses are tired of the working conditions at the hospital.
Since the onset of the pandemic, many nurses have left jobs at hospitals and sometimes left the industry altogether. In response, health systems have made efforts to increase recruitment, offering wage increases, signing bonuses, nursing school scholarships and more flexible scheduling options.
Meanwhile, nurses and the NNU have argued that health systems need to add more incentives for experienced staff to stay.
“It’s not a matter of getting nurses in, it’s holding onto them,†said Michael James Block, an emergency department nurse who has worked at the hospital for four months.
SLU Hospital nurses said the facility is still heavily reliant on short-term contract nurses, or “travel nurses.†They said that while travel nurses help fill gaps, they aren’t as familiar with the hospital.
“We appreciate them so much, but at the end of the day, they’re a short-term solution to a long-term problem,†O’Leary said. “We need to recruit and retain experienced nurses.â€