Houlton nurses strike for safe staffing

Submitted by ADonahue on
Nurses picketing outisde

By Chuleenan Svetvilas

National Nurse magazine - Oct | Nov | Dec 2025 Issue

Registered nurses at Houlton Regional Hospital (HRH) in Houlton, Maine, held a two-day strike on Nov. 18 and 19 to protest management’s refusal to address their deep concerns about staffing and patient care. HRH nurses have been negotiating for over a year for a new contract. The previous contract expired on Nov. 30, 2024. Maine State Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee (MSNA/NNOC) represents 55 nurses at the hospital.

Short staffing in the emergency department (ED) has been an ongoing issue, particularly during the night shift. Nurses say patients are often housed in hallway beds due to the lack of available inpatient beds and the severity of their conditions. 

Nurses also say the closure of the hospital’s maternal services is putting patient safety at risk. Since July, the hospital no longer provides labor and delivery or postpartum services, so ED nurses have to stabilize pregnant patients for transport elsewhere and to deliver babies in the emergency room.

“This is a close community; our patients are our neighbors,” said Tenille Nason, RN in the emergency department. “We have seen over the last five years the emergency department consistently filled with sicker patients. To provide optimal, timely care, sicker patients require additional staffing, but staffing has not changed. We need to do better for our community.”

Despite noting that HRH nurses are among the lowest paid in the county, HRH’s CEO has refused to address the impact on retention and patient care. Studies show that when RNs are forced to care for too many patients at one time, patients are at higher risk of preventable medical errors, avoidable complications, falls and injuries, pressure sores, increased length of hospital stay, higher numbers of hospital readmissions, and death.

“For the past several years, hospital management has consistently relied on travel nurses to help staff the hospital,” said Michael MacArthur, RN in the emergency department. “We need to retain our experienced nurses who live in the area. We get plenty of nurses to come, but they leave. We need a strong contract that protects us and our patients and attracts and retains excellent nurses.”