National Nurses United

NewsBriefs_April 5/5/11 11:35 AM Page 9 Florida Medical Center RNs Unionize R FLORIDA egistered nurses at Florida Medical Center, located near Ft. Lauderdale, voted overwhelmingly April 19 to become the newest members of National Nurses Organizing Committee – Florida, an affiliate of National Nurses United. In an election conducted by the National Labor Relations Board, nurses at the Tenet Healthcare-owned hospital voted 158-32 to join. NNOC-Florida will represent about 250 RNs at the facility. The election at Florida Medical Center follows a wave of NNOC-Florida election wins late last year at hospitals throughout the state.  NNOC-Florida now represents more than 5,000 Florida RNs in 14 hospitals. Nationally, NNU represents more than 3,000 RNs at eight Tenet Healthcare hospitals from California to Florida. "As patient advocates, we voted yes to have a collective RN voice to enhance positive patient outcomes at our hospital," said Marlene Foster, a registered nurse who works with heart patients at the hospital. "Patient safety is our number-one priority!" "Florida Medical Center RNs want to improve nurse-to- patient staffing in our hospital which will help us retain and recruit experienced nurses," said Delia Kan, an intensive care RN at the hospital. "RNs are gaining the power to have an effective independent voice in everyday patient care decisions that will improve the quality of care that our patients and our community deserve." —Staff report UNIVERSITY RNS STAND VIGIL OVER ER ACCESS At NNU's first annual conference for RNs working at university and other academic facilities held this March in Chicago, nurses staged a candlelight vigil at the University of Chicago Medical Center to publicize the lack of emergency care for residents of the city's south side. Frequent ambulance diversions and unacceptably long ER waits are leading to patient deaths, say RNs.

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