Baystate Noble nurses deliver petition over staff retention, pay

WESTFIELD, MA (WGGB/WSHM) -- Baystate Noble Hospital nurses delivered a petition on Wednesday that called on Baystate Health to agree on a fair contract that addresses issues such as staffing and pay. According to the Massachusetts Nurses Association, they are in the midst of contract negotiations and we’re told key issues at hand include staffing, staff retention, and pay.

“Our hope is to be compensated. That is the key to patient safety. That way, we can retain nurses to take care of the patients on the floor, in the emergency room, in all areas of the hospital,” said Mary Martin, a registered nurse at Baystate Noble.

Martin has been at the hospital for over 30 years and she told Western Mass News that she’s seen staffing issues in the past, but nothing quite like this. Registered nurse Dennise Colson echoed that.

“Staffing was not bad back in 2001-[2002] when I started. I think, with all the competition, it’s very hard to keep any new nurses. Retention is very, very low here. They do come, they get the bonus, the experience, and move on to other hospitals,” Colson added.

Over 100 people were eligible to sign the petition. Eight people were out on leave, which brought that total down to 96 people. Out of those 96 people, 86 people signed the petition. While patient care is priority, union members said these challenges can impact patients too.

“When you’re understaffed and there’s just not enough of us to go around, at times, there’s seven patients to one nurse. It’s pretty unsafe,” Colson noted.

“We’ve even had up to an 18 hour wait, which is really unheard of in a small community hospital,” Martin explained.

We reached out to Baystate Health for comment and a spokesperson told us in an email: “We are committed to negotiating in good faith to a reach a fair agreement.”

The nurses are hoping for the same thing.

“We’re hoping that we can have a professional discussion about this and hopefully agree to a fair compensation package,” Martin said.

dennise colson, registered nurse, baystate noble

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verbally they acknowledge that they do appreciate us we work hard we’re the team but you know the cost of living g has gone up drastically since I started here a long time ago and just we are not matched at all

After entering the building, the union and hospital entered negotiations again. Wednesday marked their seventh negotiation session and more sessions are scheduled for the coming weeks.