Who: Registered nurses and technicians at Downeast Community Hospital
What: Two rallies for patient safety and a fair contract
When: Friday, Jan. 26, 3:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. at Saturday, Jan. 27, 11 a.m. to 12 p.m
Where: 97 Main St. on Friday, Jan. 26; Bad Little Falls Bridge on Saturday, Jan. 27
Nurses and technicians with the Maine State Nurses Association at Down East Community Hospital (DECH) in Machias are rallying for a fair contract on Friday and Saturday, January 26 and 27, in Machias and they would love your support!
DEHC registered nurses and techs have been negotiating since September 2023 for a new contract and the hospital has yet to address patient safety by providing safe staffing.
“Nurses signed up to provide top care to our patients,” said Kirsti Simmons, an RN in the emergency room and DECH negotiator, “When you have too many patients to provide optimal care, there is a real moral injury that drives nurses away from the hospital setting and hurts the morale of nurses who remain. We’ve all seen so many fellow nurses leave because of the unsafe working environment.”
Simmons said there is no nursing shortage, but there is a shortage of nurses who are willing to work under current conditions.
"The same environment that allows nurses to provide optimal patient care is also the environment that nurses want to come to work in,” she said.
According to data from the National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN) and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), more than 12,000 nurses with active licenses in Maine were NOT working as RNs in 2022. More data and information debunking the nurse “shortage” myth can be found here.
“We’ve had numerous vacancies go unfilled, causing us to work short through the pandemic while at the same time treating sicker patients,” said Berta Alley, an RN in the infusion clinic and DECH chief nurse representative and negotiator. “This has left us scrambling to provide basic care and created safety issues for patients and staff.”
As a result of understaffing, Alley said the hospital is relying on travel nurses who don't know the patients and aren't committed to the community.
"The hospital should invest in permanent staff instead of draining resources to pay for temporary staff,” she added.