MARLBOROUGH, Mass. – MNA nurses at Marlborough Hospital say they took to the picket line to let the community know they aren’t happy with how they are being treated by parent company UMASS Memorial Health.

It’s been almost a year of contract negations for nurses at Marlborough Hospital, and now they’re hoping the public will take notice. The MNA representative Spectrum News 1 spoke to said an informational picket line like this is a first for nurses, but it’s time to make their frustrations known.

“I've worked at the hospital for 25 years, and I'm very proud of that," registered nurse John Palmgren said. "This is the first time in my 25 years that I can recall us doing something like this.”

Palmgren and the Massachusetts Nurses Association say workplace violence, high turnover and dangerous nurse staffing conditions are plaguing Marlborough Hospital.

Their contract expired in November 2023 and since then, it’s been 14 sessions of negotiating with the hospital on what they feel they need to provide adequate care for their community.

“One of our biggest things is safety and security within the institution," Palmgren said. "That's completely lacking."

"We've just seen such an increase over the last three years, four years, in the violence in the hospital," Amy Baker said. "And it's just we have had enough nurses go out on being very hurt."

"And as you can see, there are officers here today, they employed to have police offices here because we are doing a formal picketing," Maureen O'Leary said. "But they can't get the police and the emergency department when we have asked them multiple times to do something for us."

Palmgren added things like higher wages for travel nurses and a lot of new graduates repeatedly leaving are taking a toll on the community aspect of the hospital he and many others are proud to work at. And safe working conditions are a top priority for Marlborough nurses.

“The nurses are trying to make it an even better place to be," Palmgren said. "That's our number one goal, is to make it a better place to be. And unfortunately, to make it a safer place to be. Because right now, especially in the emergency room, especially in our mental health unit, the staff doesn't feel safe based on the amount of violence we encounter on a daily basis.”

We reached out to hospital parent company UMass Memorial health for a response to the nurses concerns and they sent us a statement, which reads:

“Every day, we are grateful for the outstanding compassion, resilience, and professionalism of our nursing staff, who continue to deliver exceptional care to all our patients and their loved ones. Currently, we are engaged in contract negotiations with MNA leaders at Marlborough Hospital about ways to recognize, retain and invest in our nurses. In this spirit, we are committed to reaching an agreement that values our nurses’ contributions, wellbeing, and growth.”