Nurses at Albany Medical Center rallied outside the hospital Tuesday, sounding an alarm over what they say are unsafe staffing levels that put patients at risk.

The "speak-out" was held after nurses at the hospital filed dozens of complaints about understaffing with the state Department of Health, the New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA) said.

Nurses allege that despite filing complaints about staffing in all units, the hospital's management has failed to follow state staffing laws and uphold its own safety standards. In two complaints filed in December, nurses said the hospital routinely operates critical care units with insufficient staffing, the NYSNA said.

Nurses say the staffing levels at the hospital lead to nurse burnout and high turnover.  NICU nurse Jennifer Kiehle said nurses are berated by management when they raise concerns about unsafe staffing by filling out protests of assignment.

The union says the state's Department of Health is now looking into the issue.

The demonstration comes amid contract negotiations with the hospital, with the current union contract set to expire at the end of July.

Spectrum News 1 reached out to Albany Medical Center for comment.

In response, a hospital spokesperson released a statement, saying, "We—and all hospitals—are subject to planned and unplanned visits from the Department of Health. This was no different. Due to the wide amount of specialties we offer, those visits occur regularly. We have yet to hear the findings from this one."