TAMPA, Fla. — Dozens of nurses from around the country gathered in front of HCA Healthcare’s West Florida Division Office to call on the organization to make changes ahead of contract negotiations next year.

What You Need To Know

  • Dozens of nurses from around the country gathered in front of HCA Healthcare’s West Florida Division Office to call on the organization to make changes ahead of contract negotiations next year

  • The rally was organized by National Nurses Organizing Committee/National Nurses United

  • The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projected an additional 275,000 nurses will be needed nationwide between 2020 and 2030

  • According to the Florida Hospital Association, the Sunshine State could see a shortage of 59,000 nurses by 2035

When asked what the group’s top three concerns are, Valerie Jean, a nurse at HCA Florida Fawcett Hospital in Port Charlotte, said, “Top three is: unsafe staffing, unsafe staffing, unsafe staffing.”

Lisa Cornelius, a registered nurse at Mountain View Hospital in Las Vegas, said she’s sometimes tasked with caring for up to twice as many patients as would normally be standard.

“There’s more work expected from us on a regular basis,” Cornelius said. “They increase the charting, they increase the acuity of care of the patients, and they want them in the same unit the whole entire time.”

The rally was organized by National Nurses Organizing Committee/National Nurses United.

“We go into contract negotiations next year, and we want to be on the offensive side to make sure that we show that we’re a united front who’s going to put our patients first,” said Hannah Drummond, chief nurse representative at her hospital in Asheville, N.C.

Staffing shortages are not unique to HCA and are being experienced by hospitals nationwide. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projected an additional 275,000 nurses will be needed nationwide between 2020 and 2030. According to the Florida Hospital Association, the Sunshine State could see a shortage of 59,000 nurses by 2035.

“There’s not really a staffing shortage,” said Cornelius. “There’s a shortage of nurses who are willing to work under the conditions the way that they are in the hospitals today.”

“In the ER, we’re cleaning our own room. I’m my own phlebotomist, I’m my own CNA or patient care tech,” said Drummond.

Nurses said that means less time given to individual patients.

“We’re all patients. Management’s patients, too. So, they need to be aware that if they were in a hospital bed, they would want the best care possible. The best care possible is not making us work unsafely short staffed,” said Jean.

Debra McKell, director of media relations for HCA Healthcare’s West Florida Division, said in a statement, “Today’s small protest by NNU is no different than their protests against countless health systems across the country. We expect that NNU will continue protesting and making unfounded claims about our hospitals and the quality care that we are proud to provide, especially as we enter negotiations for a new contract, as we will with this labor union next year. We are proud of the excellent care we provide to our patients, which includes earning 338 quality achievements for best in specialty for 2024 from Healthgrades, placing our facilities among the top of all short-term acute care hospitals evaluated.”