Scores of Ascension Seton Medical Center nurses marched in front of the hospital June 27, marking what their union calls the largest nurses strike in Texas history.
How we got here
The strike comes after months of contract negotiations between the hospital and National Nurses United, the union that represents 900 Ascension Seton Medical Center nurses.
Nurses have demanded safer staffing policies and improved recruitment and retention at the hospital since at least November, according to the NNU.
Diving in deeper
“We’re looking to have our voice heard,” said Lindsay Spinney, a registered nurse at Ascension Seton and a member of the bargaining team. “There are not enough nurses at the bedside right now in this hospital because they’ve chosen to cut staffing to save money. It’s a bottom-line business decision.”
Spinney works in the neonatal intensive care unit at Ascension Seton Medical Center, or in her words, she cares for the “tiniest babies in Austin.”
NICU nurses should care for a maximum of two babies at a time; however, Ascension Seton nurses are regularly caring for three to four babies, Spinney said.
Medical-surgical nurses should typically handle five patients maximum, according to the NNU; however, those nurses are regularly handling up to eight patients, Spinney said.
“When I go to lunch, my colleagues will have six to eight babies. When these medical-surgical nurses go to lunch, their colleagues will have up to 16 patients,” Spinney said.
Put in perspective
“There’s no nursing shortage; there’s a shortage of nurses who want to work under these conditions,” said Sandy Reding, a registered nurse and vice president of the NNU.
There are over 120,000 registered nurses in Texas who aren’t working in the field, according to the NNU.
Sorting out details
Ascension Seton hired a “full complement of highly skilled and credentialed registered nurses” to avoid a gap in patient care while regularly scheduled nurses strike, according to a statement.
Ascension Seton Medical Center said in a statement it’s contractually required to hire the temporary nurses for at least four days, meaning regular nurses who chose to strike June 27 will not be able to return to work until July 1.
“They flew a bunch of people from all over the country and are paying them astronomical wages,” Spinney said. “I can assure you they are staffed better inside today than they were yesterday.”
What’s next
Ascension Seton Medical Center said in a statement it will continue to negotiate a mutually beneficial agreement with the NNU.
Community Impact will update this story if Ascension Seton Medical Center responds to questions regarding hospital staffing levels.
