Nurses at Tacoma’s St. Joseph hospital picket over unsafe conditions

TACOMA, Wash. — Nurses at St. Joseph Medical Center in Tacoma are picketing Friday to demand better security and higher staffing levels.

There have been several negotiation meetings already, but the hospital and the nurses’ union have not reached a compromise.

As many as 1,200 nurses are expected to picket to get management to listen to their demands.

In a letter, the nurses said they have been having staffing and safety issues since the pandemic, including several incidents in which patients brought a weapon to the hospital. There have also been general staffing issues, which they say leads to less time spent with patients.

The letter says hospital management has increased their trauma intake by 100% and cut certified nursing assistant positions, which has put a strain on nurses.

They tell us there are several open positions after people were fired or quit.

The letter states that recently, a nurse had to persuade a patient to put down a knife as he threatened to stab people in the emergency room. Nurses say they regularly find weapons on patients in the ER, and a gun was fired at the hospital last December.

They also said that employees’ cars have been burglarized, though the lot is supposed to be secure.

Nurses at the hospital have picketed at least four times over the past four years.

We reached out to the hospital, which is part of Virginia Mason Franciscan Health, but have not heard back yet.

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