WORCESTER, Mass. - A post made by a Saint Vincent Hospital nurse in a private strike group on Facebook caught the attention of administration at the hospital.
"It was nurses putting humor into a very tense situation," said Dominque Muldoon, a Massachusetts Nurses Association (MNA) co-chair and nurse at Saint Vincent Hospital.
The post detailed a list of events planned on the picket line until Christmas. For example, it said a costume contest would be held on Oct. 31 and and an ugly sweater contest and Yankee swap on Dec. 25.
The MNA said the post was nothing more than a joke to help lift the mood of the hundreds of nurses still on strike over staffing concerns at the hospital.
"To process all of that, very often we use humor," said Muldoon. "That is all that that was. Nurses want to get back to work."
In the same press release where the hospital highlighted the post, Tenet Healthcare announced it’s moving forward and posting the remaining permanent positions to fill the roles of the nurses on strike.
In a statement, the hospital said "Saint Vincent must take responsible action and hire as many nurses as possible to maintain access to ensure core services, as Covid numbers increase and the cooler weather approaches."
The hospital said the post shows the nurses aren't serious about ending the strike. However, The MNA said they want to reach an agreement and get back to work.
"We are very disappointed they used a below the belt cynical approach to undermine," said Muldoon. "We want to talk about staffing and conditions at our hospital and they have turned it into some sort of blame game."
The hospital made what they are calling their final offer to nurses last week, but the MNA said it still didn't address the lack of staffing in the hospital.
Saint Vincent said more than 100 permanent replacement nurse have been hired and most of them have already started working.