Nurses Reach Significant Tentative Agreements with Hospitals Affiliated with
HCA, the Largest For-profit Hospital Chain in the US
Agreements Cover Nearly 8000 RNs at 17 Hospitals in 5 States
 

Registered nurses and hospital administrators have reached significant tentative agreement on new collective bargaining agreements covering nearly 8,000 RNs at 17 HCA-affiliated hospitals in five states, National Nurses United announced today.
 
Nurses will hold membership meetings to vote on whether to ratify the proposed agreements through Monday. The pacts affect RNs at ten HCA hospitals in Florida, four in Texas, and one each in Missouri, Kansas, and Nevada.
 
The agreements make substantial strides for working conditions for RNs, patient care standards and the quality of care at the 17 facilities as well as noteworthy economic gains.   All the RNs are represented by the National Nurses Organizing Committee (NNOC) /National Nurses United (NNU) -- the largest organization of registered nurses in the country, with 185,000 members.
 
"We raised our collective voice as patient advocates and together, across five states, we reached agreements that support quality patient care. I'm very proud of what we accomplished for our patients," said Marissa Lee, Labor and Delivery Unit, Osceola Regional MC, Kissimmee, Fla.
 
"During this process we made it clear how important it is to patient care for the hospitals to comply with their staffing plans. These agreements set the stage for this and all the good outcomes that will flow from that," said Brandie Stewart, RN, Emergency Department at Blake Medical Center in Bradenton, Fla.
 
Highlights of the agreements include:
 
•    Increased enforcement of staffing grids (matrices) that define staffing for safe patient care, including a requirement that RNs scheduled to work cannot be cancelled if it causes the hospital to be out of compliance with their staffing standards.
•    Pilot program to create break relief RNs enabling nurses to take meal and rest breaks.
•    Eight hours of rest for any RN after working a call shift before she can be called back to work to reduce nurse fatigue that can put nurses and patients at risk.
•    Improved health and safety language to strengthen protection for nurses and patients from workplace violence, the spread of infectious diseases, as well as patient handling procedures to reduce the risk of nurse injuries and patient falls and accidents.
•    Improved union and workplace rights for nurses, including a strengthened grievance procedure for disputes, rights to return to work after a leave of absence, and access to union representatives during orientation for new hires
 
"As nurses we know that quality patient care takes strong coordinated teamwork and that is what these historic agreements represent - nurses pooling their expertise and working together to advocate for our patients," said Carolyn Lusby, RN, Medical/ Telemetry/PCU, Menorah Medical Center in Overland Park, Kan.
 
"We came from across the country, from many different hospitals and different units and we united to support a shared vision for quality patient care and these agreements reflect that," said Cheryl Rodarmel, RN, Rehabilitation Unit, Research Medical Center, in Kansas City, Mo.
 
All the nurses covered by the agreements will be honored for their service with significant economic improvements that include increases that vary by location, of up to 15 percent over the life of the agreement, with additional increases at some facilities based on years of experience as an RN.
 
In the Southern States, where the wages are well below the national average for RN wages, the increases will bring wages closer to the national average, promoting retention of experienced nurses, and assisting with recruitment of new nurses for the hospitals.  For the Texas nurses, a new wage system will provide increased equity and more transparency, a major goal for the RNs.
 
"With these agreements we've finally won a wage scale that acknowledges and rewards nurses' years of experience. The agreements will curb turnover and keep our experienced RNs at the bedside," said Maria Navarro, RN Labor and Delivery Unit, Del Sol Medical Center in El Paso, Tex.
 
"I look forward to seeing the difference that our agreement will make in the day-to-day care that our patients receive, including staffing levels that enable us to provide timely, responsive care in the ED and throughout the hospital," Fred Flores, RN Emergency Department, Corpus Christi Medical Center in Corpus Christi, Texas.
 
"The agreement we've reached will really help in the recruitment and retention of experienced RNs at Mountain View and that will assure that our patients get excellent care. Of course I'm excited!" said Chris Garth, PACU, Mountain View Hospital in Las Vegas, Nev.
 
Nurses working at the following hospitals, all affiliated with Nashville-based HCA, are covered by the new tentative agreements:
 
Florida:
Oak Hill Hospital, Brooksville
Osceola Medical Center in Kissimmee,
Medical Center of Trinity in Trinity  
Central Florida Research Hospital, Sanford
Largo Medical Center, Largo  
St. Petersburg General Hospital, St. Petersburg
Northside Hospital, St. Petersburg
Blake Medical Center, Bradenton
Fawcett Memorial Hospital, Port Charlotte
Doctors Hospital of Sarasota, Sarasota
 
Kansas: Menorah Medical Center, Overland Park, Kan.
 
Missouri: Research Medical Center, Kansas City, Mo.
 
Texas:
Corpus Christi Medical Center, Corpus Christi
Las Palmas Medical Center, El Paso
Del Sol Medical Center, El Paso
Valley Regional Medical Center, Brownsville
 
Nevada: Mountain View Hospital, Las Vegas