WORCESTER, Mass. - Nurses gathered outside Saint Vincent Hospital on Thursday to speak out against a plan to eliminate the hospital's IV therapy team and instead train nurses to administer them.

Following their remarks, the group delivered a petition signed by more than 80% of Saint Vincent nurses to the office of CEO Carolyn Jackson.

Dominique Muldoon, co-chair of the Massachusetts Nursing Association's local bargaining unit at Saint Vincent Hospital, said the plan places too much of a burden on nurses. She believes their current workload is overwhelming as is, and keeping up with IV's on top of it would be bad for patients.

"Studies have shown that not having an IV department results in more infections, phlebitis and a lot of complications," Muldoon said. "It's just wrong, it's wrong not to take good care of people when they are at their most vulnerable."

A spokesperson for Dallas-based Tenet Healthcare, the company that oversees Saint Vincent Hospital, released the following statement:

"Saint Vincent Hospital is committed to providing high-quality, safe patient care. To improve the flow of patient care, the Hospital is training all nurses on IV administration, which is a best practice. 

The IV therapy team will remain in place until all other nurses are trained to administer IV’s. The Hospital will support all IV therapy team members to transfer to another clinical nursing role at Saint Vincent Hospital. The Massachusetts Nurses Association was appropriately notified."

The IV therapy team provides 24/7 service, and is operated by 5 nurses who specialize in IV placement. According to the MNA, between 80 and 90% of hospital patients require some form of IV therapy.

"I am just so upset now by all of this because our administration seems to have no idea how we can impact the lives and satisfaction of our patients during their stay with us," Deb Berberian, an IV team nurse with more than 30 years of experience, said.

Upon arriving at Jackson's office, the group of nurses was told she was unable to speak with them. A staff member accepted the petition, saying "We've offered to meet, but thank you so much, we'll give her the letter."

Marlena Pellegrino, also a co-chair of the MNA's local bargaining unit, called the hospital's plan a "profit driven decision."

"We cannot and will not remain silent about this or any decision by Tenet that threatens the safety of our patients and our community," Pellegrino said.

This latest point of tension comes after a six month period in which nurses say they were contractually prevented from speaking out publicly against hospital operations. This January marked the end of a record 301-day strike by Saint Vincent nurses over staffing levels.