Issue link: https://nnumagazine.uberflip.com/i/1520619
8 X 2023 NNU members hold a National Day of Action to demand that the hospital industry end unsafe "crisis standards of care" and increase staffing by hiring from the more than adequate pool of nurses with active RN licenses. RN actions underscore that the so-called "nursing shortage" is manufactured by the hospital industry as an excuse for their intentional short staffing. Nurses at Ascension Via Christi Saint Joseph Hospital vote to join NNOC, making this the second hospital to union- ize in Wichita, Kan., in less than four months. NNU reintroduces package of federal bills intended to improve the health and safety of nurses and patients, including the Nurse Staffing Standards for Hospital Patient Safety and Quality Care Act; Medicare for All; the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act; the Workplace Violence Prevention for Health Care and Social Service Workers Act; and the VA Employee Fairness Act. 2,000 nurses at three Ascension hospitals hold the largest nurse strikes in Texas and Kansas history to protest management's refusal to agree on contracts that invest in patient care and rectify severe understaffing at all three facilities. CNA/NNOC holds 2023 Convention in San Francisco, Calif., marking the 120th anniversary of CNA's founding and "120 Years: Our Legacy of Advocacy." Registered nurses at Ascension Saint Agnes Hospital in Baltimore, Md. make their hospital the first to have unionized nurses in city history. Registered nurses at University Medical Center (UMC) in New Orleans, La. vote by a landslide to join NNOC. The victory makes UMC the first private- sector hospital to unionize in the state of Louisiana and marks the largest National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) election in Louisiana in nearly 30 years. X 2024 NNOC and NNU release the report, "Dangerous Descent: How Ascension Betrays its Mission by Gutting Care for Pregnant Patients and Babies." Registered nurses at Northern Maine Medical Center (NMMC) in Fort Kent, Maine, vote over- whelmingly to join NNOC. Capping a hard-fought campaign, Nurses at Ascension Seton Medical Center Austin ratify their first contract. The con- tract covers 1,100 RNs and includes strong provisions to improve patient care and boost recruitment and retention.