LCMC Health’s University Medical Center nurses voted to join National Nurses United, the largest U.S. union for registered nurses, after a three-day vote that ended Saturday night.
The union will be Louisiana’s first among private-sector health care workers. It is also one of the state's largest, with 598 eligible members.
More than 90% of eligible nurses voted in the election. Of those who voted, 82% voted in favor of the union, according to National Nurses United.
“Nurses at our hospital wanted a voice so we can speak up for our patients and ourselves, and we wanted a seat at the table to be involved in shaping the future of our hospital,” said Dionne Jones, a registered nurse at UMC, in a written statement.
Officials at UMC acknowledged the union and said they would "continue to work with the National Labor Relations Board and operate consistently with the processes established by the National Labor Relations Act."
"As a hospital, our focus remains the same — to provide exceptional patient care that honors the Spirit of Charity," the hospital said in an emailed statement.
Next, the union will be certified by the National Labor Relations Board. Negotiations and bargaining on a contract come after that.
Nurses affiliated with University Medical Center indicated safe working conditions and staffing rations would be a priority for negotiating contracts.
“Nurses in units across the hospital supported this union because of the difficult working conditions at our facility, our safety concerns about our workplace, and the unsafe staffing in our units,” said Christine Faulkner, a registered nurse in the medical intensive care unit.
The union includes registered nurses who are full-time, part-time and per diem, along with clinic nurses and nurse practitioners.
National Nurses United filed paperwork to unionize on the UMC nurses’ behalf in October.
Legal representatives from LCMC and National Nurses United, the group seeking to represent nurses at UMC, hashed out details of the election in a pre-hearing discussion with the National Labor Relations Board that was closed to the public. Both groups declined to comment on the outcome or discussions that led to the agreement.
The move to organize comes after years of health-care worker burnout and staff shortages at hospitals nationwide.
Nurses' unions in Illinois have recently moved to push legislation that would create a limit on nurse-to-patient ratios. In Texas and Kansas, registered nurses participated in a strike last week to protest unsafe nursing conditions. About 1,700 nurses in New Jersey recently ended a four-month strike protesting staffing ratios, insurance benefits and sick time.