A vote of support from 65% of registered nurses working at Endeavor Health Edward Hospital in Naperville means RNs there are now part of a union.
The nurses cast their unionization ballots on Nov. 5, indicating the majority of the 1,200 workers employed in this capacity wanted to join National Nurses Organizing Committee, an affiliate of National Nurses United.
“We are so proud to win our union election and join National Nurses Organizing Committee,” Kendra Creech, an RN in the perioperative unit, said in a media release. “We know that a union for RNs will help us be even stronger advocates for our patients.”
Transition in hospital-nurse relationship
The decision by RNs at Edward to join National Nurses Organizing Committee means the union now represents more than 10,000 nurses across the Chicago area, the organization said in a news release. This includes RNs at Rush University Medical Center — part of the Rush University Health System, with which Endeavor Health has announced plans to merge.
Endeavor Health officials previously said the system prefers to communicate and negotiate with nurses directly, without a union serving as an intermediary.
“While we hoped to maintain a direct working relationship with our nurses at Edward Hospital, we respect their decision and the election process, pending finalization of the results,” Endeavor Health said in a statement. “While this election outcome represents a transition in how we work and communicate with our nurses, our commitment to high-quality patient care and mutual respect remains constant, and our focus is on moving forward together as one dedicated nursing team to achieve nursing excellence in service to our patients and communities.”
Union aims to help ‘care for our nurses’
Before voting to join the union, nurses at Edward Hospital said they were dissatisfied with inadequate staffing, which they say has led to concerns about safety and patient care.
Eunice Torres of Downers Grove, an RN in the emergency department, told NCTV17 in October that while staffing is always enough to care for patients, it’s not enough “to be able to take our breaks — and we work 12-hour shifts.”
“That’s an important thing that we are able to care for our nurses, so that we can care for our patients,” Torres said last month.
Nurses now say their union status will help them attain and maintain the care standards they and their patients need.
“We look forward to bargaining our first union contract that protects our patients and nurses so we can give them the care they deserve,” Aneysha Becka, an RN in the neonatal intensive care unit, said in a media release. “We want safe staffing at all times. This is why we voted to join NNOC/NNU — because our union knows how to win strong contracts.”
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