Issue link: https://nnumagazine.uberflip.com/i/593727
NATIONAL A s a testament to the growing power of nurses who work at HCA-affiliated hospitals within NNU as well as the entire hospital chain, registered nurses voted overwhelm- ingly in late September to ratify new collec- tive bargaining agreements covering nearly 8,000 RNs at 17 HCA-affiliated hospitals in five states. The pacts affect RNs at 10 HCA-affiliated hospitals in Florida, four in Texas, and one each in Missouri, Kansas, and Nevada. HCA is the largest for-profit hospital chain in the United States. Through the RNs' coordinated bargaining and a series of informational pickets and pro - tests, the agreements not only make sub stantial strides for working conditions for RNs, patient care standards, and the quality of care at the 17 facilities, but also include noteworthy economic gains. All the RNs are represented by the National Nurses Organizing Committee (NNOC) /National Nurses United (NNU). "The nurses are thrilled that our collec- tive effort, spanning five states, yielded contracts that support quality patient care," said Brandie Stewart, an RN in the emer- gency department at Blake Medical Center in Bradenton, Fla. "As patient advocates, we are very pleased with the results." 4 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 S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 5 NEWS BRIEFS Florida Blake Medical Center, Bradenton Central Florida Research Hospital, Sanford Doctors Hospital of Sarasota, Sarasota Fawcett Memorial Hospital, Port Charlotte Largo Medical Center, Largo Medical Center of Trinity, Trinity Northside Hospital, St. Petersburg Oak Hill Hospital, Brooksville Osceola Medical Center, Kissimmee St. Petersburg General Hospital, St. Petersburg Kansas Menorah Medical Center, Overland Park Missouri Research Medical Center, Kansas City Nevada Mountain View Hospital, Las Vegas Texas Corpus Christi Medical Center, Corpus Christi Del Sol Medical Center, El Paso Las Palmas Medical Center, El Paso Valley Regional Medical Center, Brownsville HCA-affiliated hospitals covered by the new contracts RNs approve major new contracts with 17 HCA-affiliated hospitals