Registered nurses at Northwestern Medical Center (NMC) voted overwhelmingly against the formation of a union during an election held Wednesday at the St. Albans hospital. In a vote that, according to NMC’s Vice President of Planning and Community Relations Jonathan Billings, saw a 95 percent turnout from the hospital’s nursing staff, 57 nurses voted in favor of the formation of a union while 101 nurses voted against unionization.
Citing looming retirements and increasing demand, advocates for Maine nurses are lobbying for a bond referendum that would infuse $12 million into training programs in the state. Question 4, a $49 million higher education bond on the November ballot, would earmark $12 million for nursing education programs and facilities to help address a deficit of nursing school graduates.
Nurses at Indiana Regional Medical Center have set the stage for a potential strike amid negotiations for a new contract. Members of the Indiana Registered Nurses Association voted overwhelmingly Tuesday to authorize a strike but did not set a strike date, union officials said. In a statement, the union noted the vote authorizes IRNA officers to call a strike “when they feel it is necessary” but doesn’t guarantee a strike will occur.
Executives from Western Massachusetts hospitals acknowledge that the closest thing to a sound bite argument against ballot Question 1 and its mandatory nurse staffing ratios sounds like a contradiction in terms. "More nurses means less care. Which is crazy," said Spiros Hatiras, Holyoke Medical Center's president and CEO.
More than 15,000 University of California radiology technologists, nurse's aides and other patient care workers have scheduled a three-day strike beginning Tuesday.