TAMPA, Fla. — More than a dozen nurses rallied outside of Tampa’s VA Hospital on Thursday morning to push for more nurses and safe staffing levels.

These nurses are members of National Nurses United and the rally was one of many around the country as part of the union’s National Day of Action.

Similar rallies also took place in Largo and Brooksville on Thursday morning.

Justin Wooden, who works as a critical care nurse in the Intensive Care Unit at the Tampa VA hospital, says a new tower opened up just over a year ago providing additional and more private beds for patients.

While there were new patient beds added, Wooden says the number of staff members assigned to care for the patients remained the same.

“Just imagine if your loved one was in the hospital and they hit the call bell for the nurse but the nurse is tied up,” he said, “We don’t have the staff to come help,  so the other patients could be waiting longer for the urgent care that they may need.”

Wooden says safe staffing levels are 2-to-1 for critical care and 4-to-1 for patients located on other floors. In some extreme cases, a patient can require 1-to-1 care.

“The federal government is on a hiring freeze but they’re not calling it a hiring freeze, they’re just not hiring new nurses,” he said. “So when nurses retire or leave there’s no new nurses coming in to fill those positions, so it leaves us with a hiring shortage.”

Rod Cunningham, Chief of Communications for the James A. Haley Veterans' Hospital issued this statement in response:

“We recognize our nurses' critical role in providing high-quality care to our nation's heroes and value their commitment and expertise. We are happy to see that all employees received a Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) increase in Fiscal Year 2025. Additionally, the Tampa VA leadership showed further appreciation for the invaluable contributions of our nurses by approving an additional raise last month. Our commitment to fair compensation remains unwavering, and we will continue to assess salary data to ensure our nurses are paid appropriately, and routinely meet with our NNU partners to provide updates and address concerns.

Safety for Veterans and staff continues to be our highest priority. We want to reassure our community that we are dedicated to maintaining a safe and supportive environment for all who work and receive their care at the Tampa VA.”