Nurses from HCA Healthcare facilities held a rally on Nov. 30 outside of HCA's West Florida Division Office in Tampa, Fla.
The rally comes ahead of 2024 contract negotiations involving members of the National Nurses Organizing Committee, an affiliate of National Nurses United.
Union members say the rally is to demand better from management ahead of the negotiations, according to a Nov. 27 NNOC/NNU news release. Nurses represented by the union at several HCA facilities will begin bargaining new contracts next year as their current agreements expire. Nurses say contract negotiations will be an opportunity to address issues such as staffing, which they will also discuss at the rally.
"When it comes to staffing, when it comes to recruitment and retention, when it comes to all these ridiculous technological schemes that only make it harder for nurses to provide high- quality patient care, HCA is failing us and our patients," Cheryl Rodarmel, RN, who works at Research Medical Center in Kansas City, Mo., said in the union release. "We're so excited to stand alongside our union siblings from HCA hospitals nationwide to let management know we're standing together through thick and through thin."
HCA, which is based in Nashville, Tenn., shared the following statement with Becker's: The "small protest by NNU is no different than their protests against countless health systems across the country. We expect that NNU will continue protesting and making unfounded claims about our hospitals and the quality care that we are proud to provide, especially as we enter negotiations for a new contract, as we will with this labor union next year. We are proud of the excellent care we provide to our patients, which includes earning 338 quality achievements for best in specialty for 2024 from Healthgrades, placing our facilities among the top of all short-term acute care hospitals evaluated."
The union represents more than 10,000 registered nurses at 20 HCA facilities in 17 cities across seven states, including Florida, Texas, California, Nevada, Missouri, Kansas, and North Carolina.