National Nurses United announced Tuesday that its membership has ratified contracts for 17 hospitals affiliated with Nashville-based Hospital Corporation of America.
The Silver Spring, Md.-based union reached the agreements with for-profit HCA late last week. They affect nearly 8,000 registered nurses in 10 HCA hospitals in Florida, four in Texas and one hospital each in Missouri, Kansas and Nevada.
NNU says the pacts include wage increases of up to 15% over the life of the three-year agreements, varying by location. Some facilities include additional increases based on nurse experience.
The contracts also prohibit hospitals from cancelling a nurse's shift if it causes the hospital to not comply with established staffing standards. They also include language to create break relief RN positions to ensure nurses are well-rested and procedures to protect nurses from workplace violence and patient handling injuries, two major issues that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration is focusing on in healthcare settings.
“We are pleased that 17 of our affiliated hospitals have reached tentative agreements with this union, and we look forward to continuing our focus on providing the quality of care our patients deserve,” an HCA spokesman said in a statement.
NNU represents roughly 185,000 members across the U.S. The hospitals involved in the pacts are listed below:
Florida:
Oak Hill Hospital, Brooksville
Osceola Medical Center in Kissimmee
Medical Center of Trinity in Trinity
Central Florida Research Hospital, Sanford
Largo Medical Center, Largo
St. Petersburg General Hospital, St. Petersburg
Northside Hospital, St. Petersburg
Blake Medical Center, Bradenton
Fawcett Memorial Hospital, Port Charlotte
Doctors Hospital of Sarasota, Sarasota
Kansas: Menorah Medical Center, Overland Park
Missouri: Research Medical Center, Kansas City
Texas:
Corpus Christi Medical Center, Corpus Christi
Las Palmas Medical Center, El Paso
Del Sol Medical Center, El Paso
Valley Regional Medical Center, Brownsville
Nevada: Mountain View Hospital, Las Vegas
