Women and Infants nurses picket over ER staffing shortages

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WLNE) — Nurses at Women and Infants Hospital said this is the first time many of them are serving men and children due to a staffing shortage in the Emergency Room.

The union that represents nurses at Women and Infants said, if this change is going to happen, the hospital needs to provide more training and staff and to include nurses in the discussion of how the change is put into place.

“Because of the higher volume of patients and the lack of staffing in the ER, they now want nurses to start helping out in the ER and floating down there,” said Adrianna Chartier, RN. “It’s a place we’re unfamiliar with and a unit we’re not used to working in.”

Staff at the hospital are also asking to meet with management regarding staffing concerns as summer rolls around, where they see a rise in patients.

“We just want a proper orientation to the unit,” Chartier said. “To make sure we can give the community what they deserve.”

ABC 6 reached out to the team at Women and Infants for comment, and a spokesperson clarified that there is no change to their care:

Labor and delivery nurses at Women & Infants Hospital are not being asked to take on full emergency department (ED) nursing responsibilities, and they are not being asked to care for men and children. They are being asked to float to the ED to take care of the types of patients they normally care for on their unit. Any nurses floating to the ED have the appropriate orientation/training for the patients they will care for.