OAK RIDGE, Tenn. (WATE) — Hospital staff at the Methodist Medical Center rallied outside their workplace asking for better pay and staffing Saturday while the local chapter of the Service Employees International Union negotiated over working conditions with the hospital.
“Watching someone die is a hard process. It can take a lot out on you, It can be a high stress situation being in the hospital,” said Sarah Englehardt, a registered nurse.
Englehardt said by rallying for change at the hospital, she is fighting for the wellbeing of her patients.
“To make sure I get safe staffing for those patients that I come in here every day for, I get up and go to work for them,” she said.
Englehardt said being short-staffed makes her job much more difficult to handle, and harder to give patients and their families the attention they need in stressful situations. Since August, the SEIU Local 205 has been negotiating this among a handful of changes in employee contracts.
“The theme of our rally today is respect, and that takes a lot of different ways. It can mean having the hospital recognize that people have lives outside of work, that they may have to miss, work to take care of a sick child or parent or themselves,” said SEIU staff representative Brad Rayson.