As Providence nurses strike, replacements cross the picket line

EVERETT — Before the sun rose Tuesday, hundreds of nurses picketed outside Providence Regional Medical Center Everett. They chanted, cheered and used handwarmers to help brave the 30-degree weather.

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About 1,300 nurses and their supporters are expected to picket the hospital’s two campuses at all hours until Sunday morning, with rotating shifts. Nurses walked off the job around 6 a.m., just as buses of replacement hires arrived. Security guards stood watch.

“It’s a slap in the face to the nursing profession,” Cora Howell, a nurse who walked off her shift in the surgical intensive care unit, said of the incoming travel nurses.

Providence has hired temporary nurses from a staffing agency to care for patients during the five-day strike, ensuring a “seamless transition” in patient care. The hospital declined to share the number of nurses hired or their pay.

https://www.heraldnet.com/news/as-providence-nurses-strike-replacements-cross-the-picket-line/