Sandy Eaton, RN, CCDSLinks, May 25, 2012 National Nurses United, the two-year-old national union of registered nurses, called on its members and all their allies to Come Together to Heal the World in Chicago on May 18th. This marks the latest phase in the union’s campaign for a Financial Transaction Tax, the “Robin Hood Tax,” which began outside the US Chamber of Commerce on Lafayette Park last June and quickly spread to Wall Street and beyond. NNU’s annual Staff Nurse Assembly this year bypassed Capitol Hill, its usual venue, for Chicago, the original site of the G8-NATO summit. ... National

Tony Marrero, Tampa Bay Times, May 24, 2012 Reinforcements and higher wages are on the way for nurses at 10 of the 15 Florida hospitals owned by Hospital Corporation of America, including five in the bay area. The union representing roughly 3,100 nurses at the hospitals reached a contract agreement with Tennessee-based HCA earlier this month that will guarantee pay increases and bolster nursing ranks. The two issues prompted members to picket after contract talks stalled in recent months. ... HCA

Richard Dymond, Bradenton Herald, May 8, 2012 Manatee - Blake Medical Center, Doctors Hospital of Sarasota and eight other Florida hospitals have their first collective bargaining deal with their registered nurses since becoming part of Hospital Corporation of America. The contract was announced Monday by National Nurses United, the largest union and professional association of registered nurses in the United States with 170,000 members, according to the union website. ... Nurses

Barbara Peters Smith, Sarasota Herald Tribune, May 7, 2012 After negotiations lasting more than a year, registered nurses have reached a first-ever collective bargaining agreement with 10 Florida hospitals that are part of Hospital Corporation of America, including Doctors Hospital of Sarasota, Blake Medical Center in Bradenton and Fawcett Memorial Hospital in Port Charlotte. The new deal affects some 3,100 Florida registered nurses affiliated with the California-based union National Nurses United. It comes when, as the state emerges from a deep recession, nurses’ bargaining power is bolstered by a potential for shortages ... Registered

Abraham Aboraya, Nashville Business Journal, May 7, 2012 More than 3,000 nurses are ten HCA-owned hospitals in Florida have unionized. Ten Florida hospitals owned by HCA Holdings Inc. have unionized, according to the National Nurses Union (sic). The agreement affects 3,100 registered nurses in the state at hospitals owned by Nashville, Tennessee-based HCA. Key components of the contract include:

Provides Big Gains in Patient Care, Economic Improvements. National Nurses United, May 7, 2012 Tampa - Registered nurses at 10 Florida hospitals that are a part of the nation’s largest for profit hospital chain, Nashville-based HCA, have achieved their first collective bargaining contract with important improvements in patient care protections and enhanced professional and economic standards. Together, these provisions will help keep experienced RNs on staff at the bedside, National Nurses United (NNU) announced today. NNU is the largest union and professional association of registered nurses in the US, with 170,000 members. ... Historic

The deal could mean $150 million in salary and benefit concessions, JHS said. Karen Franklin, NBC, February 7, 2012 Jackson Health System and a union representing medical professionals announced Tuesday that they have reached a labor agreement in hopes of strengthening the Miami hospital, according to JHS administrators. The three-year contract, agreed upon by Service Employees International Union Local 1991 and Jackson, was established to help the hospital expand in the changing healthcare environment, the hospital said. The resolution will now be voted upon by employees, a financial board and county commissioners. ... Jackson

Two sides tussle over whether hospital has enough nurses. Bob LaMendola, Sun Sentinel, February 6, 2012 Several dozen unionized nurses picketed at Florida Medical Center in the rain on Monday, saying the Lauderdale Lakes hospital has not hired enough patient-care employees. Protesters outside health care facilities have been a rarity in South Florida for decades, but are becoming more common in recent months since thousands of health employees at a dozen hospitals have joined labor unions. Monday's rally was organized by the National Nurses Organizing Committee, which won an election at Florida Medical in April ... Nurses

Protesters complain about patient ratios. Neki Mohan, Local 10, February 6, 2012 Fort Lauderdale - Dozens of nurses lined the entrance to the Florida Medical Center campus of North Shore Hospital on Monday morning, holding signs saying, "We want to be heard," and "Unsafe Working Conditions." The major complaint is that too many patients are assigned to each nurse. "On the night shift, we can have up to eight patients to one nurse," said Ellen Newlan, a 15-year veteran of the hospital. Newlan said nurses are overwhelmed and rushed, and that affects patient care. ... Nurses

Management Refuses to Fully Address Safety, Staffing, Standards - Say RNs.
 National Nurses United, February 3, 2012 Fort Lauderdale - Registered Nurses, members of the National Nurses Organizing Committee-Florida and National Nurses United - the largest union and professional association of registered nurses in the country, with 170,000 members - will hold a Respect Registered Nurses rally at The Florida Medical Center campus (FMC) of North Shore Medical Center – a Tenet hospital. There are 238 RNs on staff at FMC.

 RNs are holding the rally to draw attention to a host of concerns about hospital conditions ... Nurses

John Dorschner, Miami Herald, February 3, 2012 Jackson Health System plans to “right-size” its organization with “significant” layoffs, Chief Executive Carlos Migoya said Friday. Though he refused to give specifics, he said managers are examining each department to see where reductions make sense without hurting the quality of patient care. Jackson is working quickly to decide where to cut. “We want to know in the next 10 days to two weeks,” he said. Migoya said patient volume has dropped, partly because of shorter average lengths of stay and partly because more patients are getting out-patient treatment rather than being admitted to the hospital. ... Jackson

Lisa Fingeroot, Tallahassee Democrat, February 3, 2012 Advocates launched a campaign for state tax reform Thursday at the Capitol with a symbolic tug of war between nurses and teachers who dropped the rope between them to the floor and said they refuse to be pitted against each other in the fight for limited tax dollars. About 150 nurses and teachers from South Florida stood beside two senators and a representative, all Democrats, under the name Floridians For A Fair Economy. They offered a package of legislation they say will close corporate tax loopholes and generate about $500 million of needed revenue. ... Teachers

Associated Press, January 27, 2012 Tallahassee - The union representing Florida's prison nurses is suing the state over the planned outsourcing of inmate health care. The Florida Nurses Association filed its suit against the Department of Corrections in Tallahassee earlier this week. It represents about 1,000 nurses in state government. Many are in the department and fear losing their jobs. The suit claims the privatization is unconstitutional because lawmakers authorized it in last year's annual budget instead of a separate law. The reasoning is the same as a judge's decision last year that privatizing the actual running of state prisons also is unconstitutional. ... Prison

Hayley Mathis, Hernando Today, September 23, 2011 For more than three years, Jared Hanlon has worked as a registered nurse at Oak Hill Hospital. As a nurse in the progressive care unit, Hanlon, 31, works at least three 12-hour night shifts each week, taking care of as many as five patients in one shift. Due to the number of patients, Hanlon describes these shifts as daunting and dangerous, possibly jeopardizing his ability to adequately care for each patient. For the past nine months, Hanlon said he and his fellow nurses have continually complained about the working conditions with little response from hospital officials. But their voices were heard Friday morning as more than 50 nurses ... Raising

Tony Marrero, Saint Petersburg Times, September 22, 2011 Brooksville - On more than 200 occasions since last December, registered nurses at Oak Hill Hospital have worked assigned shifts essentially under protest. In most cases, the nurses feared that a high patient load would compromise their ability to give proper care. Nurses cannot refuse an assignment but can document their concerns by filing an official objection form with hospital management. In the last nine months, Oak Hill's registered nurses have filed 209 such forms, said Sheila Carter, a labor representative for Oak Hill's registered nurses union. ... Nurses