NEW BEDFORD — According to nurses, the quality of their workplace is largely based on a trickle-down effect of sorts, as described on many of the signs St. Luke's Hospital nurses held as they picketed out on Page Street Wednesday afternoon: "Competitive RN wages = recruitment/retention = safe patient care."

"We're the lowest paid hospital in the area," said longtime St. Luke's nurse Kim Beaulieu, co-chair of the St. Luke's Mass. Nurses Association (MNA) Bargaining Committee, alongside fellow co-chair Terri DeMedeiros, noting it's also the largest in the region. Furthermore, St. Luke's designation as the only Level 2 Trauma Center in region, and closures of maternity centers in the area boost demand even more, the two agreed.

"We go back to the table on Sept. 30 and we're very hopeful w

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