Jersey Shore Medical Center Nurses: 'We Don't Feel Safe' Working Here

NEPTUNE TOWNSHIP, NJ — The unionized nurses at Jersey Shore University Medical Center just released this poll that show a majority of nurses at the hospital lack trust in management from Hackensack Meridian, which owns and operates the hospital.

The poll was released by the nurses' union HPAE Local 5058, which is currently in collective bargaining negotiations with Hackensack Meridian.

There are more than 1,400 unionized healthcare workers at Jersey Shore University Medical Center, and 649 nurses filled out the survey.

The poll discussed working conditions, staffing levels and patient safety, with nurses saying they do not feel respected or protected in the workplace.

According to the poll, 54 percent of nurses who responded said they would not feel safe being treated at Jersey Shore, even though they work in the hospital.

58 percent of respondents said they don’t feel safe working in the hospital, and 79 percent of them said hospital management does not take adequate steps to keep them safe.

The nurses also said staffing shortages at Jersey Shore have now grown into a full-blown crisis. They report seeing an "ongoing mass exodus of colleagues."

Said one nurse in the survey, who did not want to give her name:

“Over the past three months (at Jersey Shore), we have lost many experienced RNs due to the lack of organization and support the department needs. Morale is beyond poor; it is in the toilet. Then, with this last wave of COVID and over 50 staff members out sick. The nurses went from a four-patient assignment to a six-patient assignment. Some nurses having multiple ICU (intensive care unit) patients and COVID patients, this has been beyond unsafe."

“It is heartbreaking that these nurses have not only been put through these experiences (in the pandemic),” said union President Debbie White, RN, who does not work at Jersey Shore. “Hackensack Meridian is not just causing nurses to leave their hospital, they are debating whether they will leave their profession, putting our entire healthcare system at risk.”

A media spokesman for Hackensack Meridian called the survey "a self-serving propaganda piece timed to coincide with their current contract negotiations."

"The truth is that Hackensack Meridian Health has invested millions of dollars into our team members and opened negotiations early to get that money to the union members,"said the Hackensack spokesman. "HPAE's survey is devoid of facts and should be scrutinized closely for their motives and timing."

The union said it sent out the survey before contract negotiations began. The nurses' union sent out the survey to all its members on December 31, 2021 and the poll closed on July 19 of this year, said the union.

Jersey Shore Medical Center's nurses' contract expires Jan. 30, 2023. Union spokesman Michael Allen said he was not at liberty to discuss what the nurses are asking for, or the specific issues being discussed at the bargaining table.

But the Hackensack Meridian spokesman did say that Jersey Shore Medical Center, like many hospitals, is dealing with severe staffing shortages.

"Attracting and retaining nursing talent is at a critical juncture," he said. "Pandemic fatigue, early retirements and burnout have only exacerbated nursing shortages across the country, and New Jersey is no exception."

Due to the nursing staffing crisis, Hackensack Meridian is now giving an across-the-board three percent compensation increase for all team members, increased salaries and added retention bonuses for jobs in the hospital determined to be "a critical need."