Registered nurses at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago will vote May 14-16 on unionization after filing a petition April 8 with the National Labor Relations Board for a union election.
Three things to know:
1. It is the largest filing on record for a union election in the healthcare sector in Chicago and one of the largest in any industry in the city, according to an April 17 news release from National Nurses Organizing Committee/National Nurses United.
2. Chicago-based Rush University System for Health is aware the union filed a petition requesting an election to represent the nurses, a health system spokesperson said in an April 8 statement shared with Becker’s. The system will discuss the topic with its nursing team over the next several weeks.
“At Rush, one of our greatest strengths is the way nurses, leaders and care teams work together as colleagues — raising concerns, addressing challenges and making improvements — directly and transparently,” the spokesperson said. “The most successful models for the delivery of health care empower individuals to raise issues in real time and to have them addressed at the departmental level. It is why Rush has earned the highest honors for safety, quality and nursing.”
3. Rush nurses said they are proud to work at the system and pointed to patient care, staffing and retention as top priorities.
“As union members with a seat at the table, we will be even stronger advocates for our patients,” Olivia Bouchard, RN, said in the release “… Safe staffing ratios help improve nurse retention, fostering a more supportive and responsive environment for patients.”
National Nurses Organizing Committee is an affiliate of National Nurses United, the largest professional association of registered nurses in the U.S., with more than 225,000 members.
Editor’s note: This story was updated at 4:07 p.m. Central time on April 20.
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