News 12 First at Five / September 8, 2010

AUGUSTA, Ga.---They've been complaining of being overworked for weeks, and today the nurses at the Augusta VA took to the streets to protest.

The informational protest along 15th Street was all to highlight what some nurses call staffing concerns that endanger patients.

More than one hundred nurses took turns marching and chanting for hours. They believe it was enough to get their voices heard.

"Ain't no power like the power of the nurses, 'cause the power of the nurses don't stop," yelled the group.

"I am a registered nurse, and I'm concerned about safe patient care," VA nurse Lorraine Jackson told News 12.

"This is a good VA, the patients deserve good care and we want to do that for them," added local union president Irma Westmoreland.

"Unsafe staffing's got to go, hey hey, ho ho," chanted the crowd.

Some nurses say a shortage of trained RN's just means more work on the already overworked staffers.

"We have nurses who are being told by their managers they have to stay because there's no one to relieve them when their tour of duty is complete," said nurse and military veteran Linda Carter.

"The nurses are tired," said Westmoreland. "The VA motto here is to do everything we can for our veterans, and that's the nurses' motto too. We want to take care of our veterans to the best of our ability, and we don't have enough nurses to take care of them."

Nurses like Ron Schnebelt say the patients, the veterans, are the ones losing. "Patient care, I think for everybody, is a number one priority," he said.

"Anytime you work more than 12 and half hours, errors increase, mortality and morbidity increase," Westmoreland said. "Over and over again it's been shown."

"Bottom line is, the best quality of care is not going to be achieved if you're working your nurses to the point of exhaustion," said Carter.

Some of the nurses feel that until more nurses are hired, and in a timely manner, they should take in less patients.

"We feel that maybe they need to cut beds until we get enough staff in to safely take care of the patients," said Westmoreland.

"We're not going to stand quietly and let this happen," Carter said. "We're going to be advocates for our veterans and for our fellow nurses."

"Wiley says cut back, we say fight back," shouted the group.

"We have to stand together," added Jackson.

The nurses' union tells News 12 five new nursing positions have been posted in the last week. They were calling it a small victory, but management says it wasn't because of the picket.

Rebecca Wiley, The Director of the Charlie Norwood VA Center issued News 12 this statement:

"Patient safety and quality care is our number one priority here at the Charlie Norwood VA Medical Center. We value our nurses and their dedication to our nation's Veterans. Currently we are meeting with the union to address their concerns; and we are also in the process of examining in detail work schedules in an effort to appropriately assess and align nurses in the most effective areas where their services and expertise are required. Going through these steps is critical to ensure safety, efficiency and the best outcomes for our patients and staff."