CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) - Registered nurses at the University of Chicago Medical Center took part Thursday morning in what they called a “protest for patient safety."
A handful of the U of C’s 2,700 nurses stood across the street from the medical center complex holding a sign reading “safe staffing now” scrawled on taped-together forms listing official complaints or objections, mostly about staffing.
Lea Sargent King works nights.
“Since this day last year, 620 nurses have left our hospital,” she said.
John Hieronymus suggested they could strike, which they did 3 years ago.
“We need them to safely staff our hospital. Meditation and spa days are not a solution to unsafe staffing," Hieronymus said. "Aromatherapy and pizza parties are not substitutes for safe staffing. (If) they don’t listen to us, they’ll hear all of us on the picket line.
"We want the University of Chicago Medical Center to provide a safe work environment so nurses do not leave at the end of their shift and find themselves crying in the car on the way home and deciding to quit their jobs," Hieronymus added.
A statement from the medical center said the protest is not about facts. It said nationally, the RN vacancy rate is 17%, while at U of C the rate is less than 4.7%.
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