UPHS nurses prepare to strike

MARQUETTE — Nurses at UPHS-Marquette hosted a sign making party this afternoon in preparation for their scheduled 48-hour strike on October 5th and 6th. The nurses are calling on Duke LifePoint to ensure safe RN staffing levels in every department and on every shift.

Nurses say patient care is suffering from the chronic understaffing and overworking of UPHS Marquette nurses. Nurses have agreed to move forward with the strike as a result of the hospital administration’s refusal to ensure patient safety through minimum nurse staffing levels.

“This is about patient safety, it’s always been about patient safety and we’re very concerned,” said registered nurse Tammy Sustarich. “We need to be able to speak out about this and notify the public that changes really need to be made.”

At this time, a federal mediator has been brought in to direct conversation between the hospital and the nurses association.