Nurses at University Medical Center say the dubious honor validates their concerns.

Nurses at University Medical Center New Orleans (UMCNO) are unsurprised to see that their employer, LCMC Health, has been named a 2025 Dirty Dozen employer by the National Council for Occupational Safety and Health (National COSH), a national organization dedicated to strengthening workplace health and safety.

Nurses say the inclusion of LCMC in National COSH’s annual and infamous list validates many longstanding concerns about how their hospital is run. Among the most pressing is workplace violence, the issue at the center of the nurses’ upcoming strike on May 1. Nurses remain committed to a strong first union contract that can address issues like those identified in National COSH’s Dirty Dozen report.

“Disappointed but not surprised is how I would put it,” said Mike Robertshaw, RN in the burn intensive care unit at UMCNO. “We don’t want to see LCMC on these kinds of lists, but we also unfortunately know they deserve to be there, and we see why every day as nurses. The threat of workplace violence in our hospital is something we’ve been eager to address, but management has stymied so much of what we’re trying to accomplish.”

Full text of the Dirty Dozen 2025 report from National COSH is available at NationalCOSH.org. National COSH, a nationwide network of non-profit worker safety advocates, releases the Dirty Dozen report each year as part of the observance of Workers’ Memorial Week, which takes place this year from April 23 through May 1. The event, observed in the United States and around the world, honors those who have been killed on the job, those who have become ill or injured at work, and their families.

National Nurses United is the largest and fastest-growing union and professional association of registered nurses in the United States with more than 225,000 members nationwide. NNU affiliates include California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee, DC Nurses Association, Michigan Nurses Association, Minnesota Nurses Association, and New York State Nurses Association.

The National Council for Occupational Safety and Health (National COSH) is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting safe, healthy, and just working conditions. We advocate for stronger protections, empower workers to assert their rights, and work to eliminate hazards that threaten safety. For more information, visit www.nationalcosh.org and follow us @NationalCOSH on Facebook, Bluesky, and Instagram.