Nurses at The Aroostook Medical Center (TAMC) will hold a strike on Friday, July 22 and Saturday, July 23—with a rally and press conference at noon on the 22nd—to highlight management’s refusal to address key issues throughout the facility, including safe patient handling and the recruitment and retention of experienced nurses.

What: Nurses strike for safe patient care

Where: TAMC, 140 Academy in Presque Isle, Maine

When: July 22 and 23, (strike begins 6:45 a.m. July 22, ends 6:45 a.m. July 24, with nurses returning to work on the 24th.) RALLY at noon Friday, July 22.

“We have done everything possible to avoid this situation, but the needs of our patients cannot wait,” said Bargaining Team member Lori McPherson, RN. “Safe patient staffing and nurse retention are top priorities for the nurses in contract negotiations with TAMC.”

“If this was just about putting a little more money in our pockets, we could have signed our new contract already.  We want to know that TAMC will recruit and retain the committed nurses our community needs,” said Bargaining Team member Liane Koch, RN.

Numerous studies have shown that strong nurse-to-patient staffing ratios improve patient outcomes, protect hospital staff and reduce nurse burnout. A 2014 study published by Nursing Standard, for example, revealed that seven additional lives would be saved for every 100 Intensive Care Unit patients with improved nurse-to-patient ratios. Another study by Aiken and colleagues, in the Journal of American Medicine, found statistically significant relationships between lower nurses-to-patient ratios and higher levels of RN dissatisfaction and burnout.

“TAMC nurses have always placed our patients first and will continue to do so, even as we strike,” said Chelsea Holmes, RN. “We thank the community for their support and understanding.”

TAMC nurses have been working without a contract since it expired on July 7.