Nurses to Picket Outside NSMC on Wednesday

Salem, MA - Registered nurses at North Shore Medical Center in Salem will be holding an informational picket on contract negotiations outside the Salem hospital on Wednesday.

The approximately 600 registered nurses at NSMC, members of the Massachusetts Nurses Association/National Nurses United (MNA/NNU), are negotiating a new contract with Partners Healthcare.

The picket will take place outside the hospital at 81 Highland Avenue on Wednesday from 2 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.

The member of the nurses' union state they are looking for improved patient care, better working conditions and a reasonable wage increase.

“Throughout the hospital, nurses have expressed frustration that Partners continues to place its desire for profits ahead of its concern for patients and those who care for them,” said Kathy Schevis, a registered nurse at NSMC and co-chair of the MNA/NNU Local Bargaining Unit at the hospital.

“The public rightfully wants nurses at the bedside 24 hours a day, caring for people at their most vulnerable,” Schevis said. “Yet hospital management disregards the nurses’ proposals that will ensure safe and consistent patient care.”