Mission nurses rally for staffing solutions, calling current staff levels 'unsafe'

Members of the National Nurses United Union at Mission Hospital marched outside the building Thursday morning, asking for a solution to a staff shortage across departments. Dozens of nurses gathered including a person dressed in a death costume with a sign reading "Unsafe staffing is good for business." Others were dressed in scrubs, coats and masks. Elizabeth Binzel is a nurse from the cardiac unit. She says she worked two 15 hours shifts last week - both without a break. "That is in no way safe for our patients to have nurses that exhausted," said Binzel. She's been with Mission since March 2017 and says conditions have gotten worse at the hospital since HCA purchased Mission Health System in 2019. "Staffing has continued to plummet. We also do not have the supplies that we need," said Binzel, adding that part of the reason for her long shifts were to make sure her patients were bathed, cleaned and fed. "We're just being expected to wear all of the hats on top of our own short