Nurses say that, as Ascension management builds a new tower for women’s services, the company is failing to safely staff the existing labor and delivery unit and neonatal intensive care unit.

Registered nurses at SSM Health Saint Louis University Hospital in St. Louis, Mo., will hold a strike for 24 hours from Sept. 25 to Sept. 26 to protest the administration’s refusal to address RNs’ deep concerns about patient care, safe staffing, and workplace violence.

RNs at the University of California, San Francisco Medical Center (UCSF) will hold a public rally on Tuesday, Sept. 26 to demand that UCSF address critical and persistent patient care and workplace safety issues.

Registered nurses at Hazel Hawkins Memorial Hospital in Hollister, Calif., will hold a town hall on Thursday, Sept. 21, to discuss the future of San Benito County’s only acute-care hospital following the approval of a $10 million state loan and a bid from a private potential buyer, American Advanced Management Group.

Registered nurses at Dameron Hospital in Stockton, Calif., voted 97.6 percent in favor of ratifying a new two-year contract on Sept. 15, winning protections to improve patient safety and nurse retention.

Nurses at SSM Health Saint Louis University Hospital (SLU) in St. Louis, Mo., gave notice today to their employer that they will hold their first-ever strike to protest the administration’s refusal to address RNs’ deep concerns about patient care, safe staffing, and workplace violence.

The nurses, who work with veterans in Atlanta’s VA system, say VA executive management has created tragic conditions in their facilities through disrespecting the nursing staff, stretching nurses to the limit, and endangering patient safety with on-going short-staffing.

A panel of nurses including elected union leadership and actively striking nurses will discuss safe nurse-to-patient ratios, how ratios improve patient care and working conditions, and why ratios are proven as the best solution to the national nurse staffing crisis.

With negotiations for their new contract set to begin Thursday, September 14, University of Chicago Medical Center nurses are urgently calling on management to reverse the endemic short-staffing at the hospital. The 2,800 registered nurses are highlighting the impact of unsustainable working conditions on nurse turnover and patient care.