National Nurses United

8 N A T I O N A L N U R S E W W W . N A T I O N A L N U R S E S U N I T E D . O R G J A N U A R Y | F E B R U A R Y | M A R C H 2 0 2 1 ILLINOIS R egistered nurses at UChicago Medicine Ingalls in Harvey, Ill., a south suburb of Chicago, have voted overwhelmingly in late February to ratify their historic first contract, represented by National Nurses Organizing Committee. "We are clear that this four-year contract will lead to improvements in patient care at Ingalls as the nurses will now have a real say in the decision-making process," said Lisa Vaughns, a registered nurse who works in the intensive care unit. Nurses also note that this contract includes an important and historic commit- ment from management to hire associate degree nurses. "We are very proud we were able to secure these opportunities for associate degree nurses, who are too often shut out of acute-care hospital settings although they prove themselves to be fully competent as they must pass the same board exam as nurses with bachelor's degrees," said Donna Dubois, RN. "This important commitment will go a long way toward providing oppor- tunities for nurses who are graduating from the surrounding community colleges." Highlights of the contract include: • Safe staffing provisions, including the creation of a new resource nurse role to pro- vide an "extra set of hands" to help with patient care 24/7 throughout the hospital. • The establishment of a professional practice committee (PPC) that is recognized by management to address issues nurses have with staffing and patient care. The agreement will also create a Workplace Vio- lence Committee, an Infectious Disease Committee, and an Acuity Committee to better address issues that affect nurse and patient safety. • Economic gains to help with nurse recruitment and retention, including the establishment of a fair and transparent wage grid that sets salary based on years of experience, rather than market fluctua- tions or management whim. Average across-the-board increase over the life of the contract is 12.6 percent, with some nurses seeing increases as much as 48.5 percent. Six weeks of paid family leave for birth or adoption of a child, regardless of gender of parent. NNOC/NNU represents 450 nurses at UChicago Medicine Ingalls. The Ingalls nurses voted to join the union in October 2019. —Rachel Berger Chicago Ingalls nurses ratify historic first contract NEWS BRIEFS NATIONAL R egistered nurses have already topped Gallup's annual poll of the public as the most honest and ethi- cal profession for nearly 20 years, so it was unsurprising during a pandemic year that nurses would once again rank in the number one spot for 2020. Nurses earned a record 89 percent very high/high score for their honesty and ethics this year, four percentage points greater than their prior high, last recorded in 2019. The latest results are based on a Dec. 1-17 Gallup poll in which people in the United States were asked to rate the honesty and ethics of 15 different occupational groups as very high, high, average, low or very low. Gallup first conducted its Honesty and Ethics poll in 1976 and has updated it annu- ally since 1990. A handful of professions have been on the list every year, while Gallup asks about others periodically. Physi- cians and pharmacists also score among the highest, though not nearly as high as nurses. Nurses have taken the number one spot on Gallup's Honesty and Ethics list in all but one year since they were added in 1999. The exception is 2001, when firefighters were measured on a one-time basis shortly after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, and earned the highest score to date for any profession, 90 percent. Nurses fell one point shy of that mark this year. "Every year, we nurses are honored and humbled to be ranked as the most honest and ethical profession in the United States," said Zenei Triunfo-Cortez, RN and National Nurses United president. "We know we share a sacred bond of trust with our patients, to always act as their advocates, and we all strive every shift to live up to those duties. But what this pandemic year has shown us is that our money-driven employers and often our gov- ernment agencies will not value our lives and our labor without a collective fight from us nurses." —Staff report In pandemic year, registered nurses are ranked most trusted and ethical by public RNs hold top spot for almost 20 years

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