SAINT LOUIS, MO (KMOX) - The nurses' union at St. Louis University Hospital is warning that patient care could suffer unless the hospital hires more nurses.
Union Steward and patient safety chairman Sarah DeWilde says SLU hospital is 150 nurses short, and sometimes one nurse is covering six patients. "So if you're a patient that is in the hospital, just had surgery, say you need help getting up to a chair, it's not happening. There's no time for that."
DeWilde says in years past, one nurse covered three or four patients. "If nurses are having to do frequent checks, like your blood sugar is really low, those can be delayed. It's not on the nurses, the nurses are having to do so much more, with so much less." She says nurses are doing without lunch breaks and working extra hours, but the pace is not sustainable. She says the hospital hasn't hired a new nurse in three weeks.
KMOX left messages with a spokesperson for SLU hospital and we're awaiting their response.
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