By Jesse Russell

Nurses protesting staffing levels is a growing fight across the country, and Mercy Medical Center in Springfield, Mass. is the newest battlefield. Nurses at the center took to the picket lines on Tuesday protesting staffing levels that they say endanger the health of patients. Representatives of the Massachusetts Nurses Association said nurses are often faced with assisting 10 patients during a shift, while medical research shows an increase in death and injury when nurses care for more than four patients during a shift. The union says the disagreement over staffing levels have stalled contract negotiations.