Nurses

The nurses' union said hundreds participated in the strike Wednesday to protest staffing levels and equipment shortages at the hospital.

The nurses union will engage in its second strike this year as contract negotiations with the hospital inch past the one-year mark.

Jose Francesco "Frank" Escobar began working as a registered nurse last month amid a staffing crisis throughout the industry. He expects it to be hard — but he says he's ready.

One nurse reported wound dressing going unchanged, lab work being overlooked and discharges being delayed while the hospital's regular nursing staff was kept from working.

Hospital management says the nurses will be allowed back for their shifts on July 1, after the hospital has fulfilled its contract with temporary staff replacements.

Hundreds of nurses stopped work Tuesday to demand a contract that includes safe staffing ratios and other provisions aimed at nurse retention.

The nurses' union announced it had served the hospital with a required 10-day notice of the day-long strike.

The union and hospital management have been negotiating for months, but reached a stalemate over key provisions including guaranteed nurse-to-patient staffing ratios.

Nurses hope the union will mean more power in negotiating pay and lead to better working conditions amid pandemic-era turnover.

The pandemic pay for traveling nurses was too good to pass up for many RNs. But some are ready to settle down at home, and they're finding full-time jobs aren't keeping up with salary increases.