RNs reject anti-union campaign, choose AFT

Rejecting a virulent anti-union campaign launched by their employer, registered nurses at Centerpoint Medical Center in Independence, Mo., voted for representation by Nurses United for Patient Care/AFT Healthcare in November.

Nurses at Centerpoint chose union representation because they were concerned about the amount of time they were able to spend with their patients, along with the stress and fatigue that came from limited staffing and walking long distances to get from unit to unit in the sprawling new facility.

With the addition of Centerpoint, Nurses United represents more than 750 nurses in the Kansas City area, including Cathie Fitzgerald, Sarah Willingham and Pauline Moe.

Pauline Moe, an oncology nurse at Centerpoint, says she is excited and relieved about unionizing. The high patient-to-nurse ratio, 8-to-1, and the lack of time spent with patients had many of the nurses on edge, says Moe. "When you’re rushing to get to the next patient, you don’t feel you are giving them your full attention." Moe felt like she was failing her patients somehow. "I think every nurse felt it."

Moe believes having the union in place will have a positive effect on patient care at Centerpoint. For the nurses there, unionizing is "not about wages and benefits," says Moe. "It's about being able to do the job; having the time to provide the care that's needed. The future of nursing will be better with the union," she adds.

"Everyone had reasons to unionize," says Cathie Fitzgerald, a registered nurse who works in Centerpoint’s progressive care unit. Those reasons ranged from providing good, safe patient care to opening the lines of communication with senior leadership, says Fitzgerald. The main reason she said yes to the union was because she knew that nurses are stronger advocates for their patients when they work together.

"I get concerned about the nursing shortage, and I wonder who is going to take care of us," adds Fitzgerald. Advocating for good, safe patient care whether at the local, state or national level takes a strong group, she says. "We are only going to be heard in numbers."

"I'm really proud of all of us for getting together and doing this. It was a big deal," says Sarah Willingham, a neonatal intensive care unit nurse. Willingham, who has a year and a half of nursing experience under her belt, was beginning to feel the pressure of understaffing and unresponsive management.

Now that the union is in place, the focus will be on "reaching out to all nurses at the hospital to hear their ideas for improving patient care so we can take those recommendations into negotiations," says Willingham.