The demonstrations were part of a coordinated national day of action by the National Nurses Organizing Committee/National Nurses United.
TAMPA, Fla. — Nurses across the Tampa Bay area took to the streets Thursday, demanding safer staffing levels and protections against the increasing use of artificial intelligence in healthcare.
Outside James A. Haley Veterans’ Hospital in Tampa, dozens of nurses gathered with signs, their voices rising in unison: “What do we want? Safe staffing! When do we want it? Now!”
Justin Wooden, a nurse at the VA hospital, described their primary concerns, including “staffing, not having enough nurses to do the job, having safe working conditions, making sure the veterans are taken care of.”
For VA nurse Joanne Jackson, the protest centered on protecting those who served.
“I think we can agree we are all here to serve veterans and love veterans, which is why we chose VA,” Jackson said. “We just want to do 72 for …