Thousands of nurses at Swedish Medical Centers are on strike for the first time in history. A three day strike by majority of the nurses in the First Hill, Cherry Hill, and other campuses. Some Swedish emergency rooms were shut down, very few still stayed open.
More than 15000 nurses from hospitals such as Swedish Medical Center voted to approve the strike happening on January 29th due to various unfair labor practices, insufficient staffing and much more.
“We want equity wages and health care benefits, and we want more than ever to do this through a racial justice lens,” Swedish Cherry Hill charge nurse Delores Prescott said. “We want equity and inclusion for all — that’s for patients as well as ourselves.”
There were many problems occuring with the system at Swedish which left the nurses no other option but to strike when management would not negotiate with them.
“At one time, Swedish was a place where it was comfortable and safe to work — the bosses seemed like they cared.” said Prescott. “We’re feeling today that patient safety, staff retention, and recruitment are not the bosses’ interests.”
The hospital recently eliminated a team of nurses specifically trained to apply IVs to patients. Without those nurses, the process to administer IVs takes as many as three to four tries from overworked, understaffed nurses.
News from the union states that the nurses have been terminated due to participation in union activity and that “the best quality care is no longer Swedish-Providence’s top priority.”
