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Chicago Nurses Vote to Join National Nurses United
Some 1,300 registered nurses at the University of Chicago Medical Center (UCMC) are the newest members of the National Nurses United (NNU). The UCMC nurses voted last night to join the nation’s largest RN union.
The nurses say their top priorities are critical patient safety changes at the medical center, including improved patient staffing and an end to scheduling practices that undermine patient care conditions.
NNU Co-President Jean Ross says the UCMC nurses “have worked very hard to enhance patient care conditions and secure better standards for patients and nurses,” but faced management resistance. Now,
they will be right at home with RNs very much like them across the country, and will have the collective power of nurses from coast to coast behind them.
One intensive care unit RN at the hospital, says the nurses are concerned about “the future of patient care” at UCMC and a long history of hospital management
ignoring the nurses’ contract and our efforts to promote improved care conditions and professional standards that are necessary to protect our patients and promote the retention of experienced RNs and recruitment of new nurses.
The two key areas on which the RNs will focus are enhanced safe staffing with minimum nurse-to-patient ratios and an end mandatory shift rotation in which nurses are forced to alternate working days and nights. Studies have documented rotating schedules lead to performance deficits from fatigue, sleeplessness, and reduced alertness.
Another RN, says the hospital’s practice of shift rotation has “serious consequences”
for patient safety and can result in medical errors. It is disgraceful that the hospital continues to put patients and nurses at risk. With NNU representation, we are going to bring this practice to an end.
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6 Comments
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This is good news, but not as good a n ews as it appears. These nurses were previously unionized and had a contract through the Illinois Nurses Assoc. Listing changes in union representaion as if it were new organizing or unredpresented workers does the labor movement no favor. Also, I thought that INA was part of United Amedrican Nurses, which was one of the founding groups of NNU. This all gets very confusing.
Let me see if I can add a bit of understanding here, Joe…
This is good news. The INA was once part of the UAN, but did not join the new RN union, National Nurses United.
The INA unfortunately decided to stay affiliated with the American Nurses Assocation which is not a union and is dominated by Nurse Executives and management.
The staff-RN’s at UCMC voted by over a 2:1 margin to join the NNU/AFL-CIO, to improve their working conditions and protect patient care.
Congratulations to the 1,300 registered nurses at the University of Chicago Medical Center into the ranks of membership of the National Nurses United. Michael Zullo, Upper Eastside, Manhattan.
Joining a union gives more hope and security to the working people
Congratulations to the Chicago nurses. With inadequate staffing at hospitals, health care employees often work 12 hour shifts with little or no help. Families feel compelled to stay with their sick family members overnight in case of emergencies. Too few nurses are covering too many patients for too many hours.
What the media often ignores. especially with public service jobs, is that while these workers want to improve thier working conditions, they often try to get conditions improved for their “clients”. For example teachers try to encourage changes that will help their students, or mental health care workers trying to improve treatment for their patients. I really dont see other trade groups assoc. with management as interested because profits come first.