About two dozen nurses held picket signs outside the hospital’s main entrance. One of the nurses, Susan Vomund, said nurse understaffing is threatening patient care. "The nurses at UC Davis are hoping that our administrators will do the right thing and hire more nurses so we can take better care of the patients here."

But Sharon Melberg, the hospital’s assistant director for patient care services, says their nurse staffing levels are better than most other hospitals in the state. "On any given day we may fail to meet the nurse’s desires for staffing because of sick calls that we aren’t able to replace, but no there is no staffing crisis."

She says Tuesday’s picket was designed to get media attention since the nurse’s union is in contract talks with the hospital. The current contract expires in about a month.