Nurses at Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia, part of the Temple University Health System, have voted to join the Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals.
A total of 345 Fox Chase nurses voted, with 62 percent voting in favor of unionizing, according to a union news release. The vote count was completed after voting closed June 20.
Nurses in support of unionizing cited a need to better advocate for critical quality of care issues such as safer staffing and retention of experienced nurses.
"It became more and more apparent that we needed to have a seat at the table to advocate for safer nurse staffing ratios for our patients, who need and deserve the best care we can provide," Ed Hall, RN, an intensive care unit nurse at Fox Chase, said in the union release.
Fox Chase spokesperson Jeremy Moore shared the following statement with Becker's: "Nurses at Fox Chase Cancer Center working at 333 Cottman Avenue voted … to become part of the Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals. We respect their decision and look forward to a fruitful negotiation as we work toward a contract that will benefit both employees at Fox Chase Cancer Center and the patients we treat."