As labor shortages persist throughout the country, nurses unions have taken increased action to support nursing staff.
Here are eight recent actions taken by nurses unions reported by Becker's Hospital Review since Dec. 29, starting with the most recent:
1. More than 670 Minnesota Nurses Association members at six Mayo Clinic Health System facilities are demanding wage fairness and retention bonuses to address staffing issues and recognize workers, according to a union news release shared with Becker's on Jan. 19.
2. Registered nurse members of National Nurses United held actions across the U.S. Jan. 13 advocating for better staffing and protections for workers.
3. A union representing 32,000 registered nurses and healthcare professionals urged hospitals to reconsider allowing its asymptomatic members who test positive for COVID-19 to return to work immediately without isolation or testing.
4. A national coalition of unions is petitioning a federal court to compel the Labor Department's Occupational Safety and Health Administration to adopt permanent COVID-19 protections for healthcare workers and keep a temporary emergency temporary standard for healthcare workers in place until that happens.
5. The American Medical Association and leaders of the Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals condemned and questioned revisions the CDC made to the federal agency's COVID-19 isolation guidance.
6. Nurses at Saint Vincent Hospital in Worcester, Mass., voted to ratify a new contract on Jan. 3, officially ending a 301-day strike, according to union and hospital statements.
7. National Nurses United condemned the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration's decision to rescind some COVID-19 protections for healthcare workers as it works to issue a final rule.
8. National Nurses United condemned the CDC's new recommendation that trims the isolation period for asymptomatic healthcare workers with COVID-19 and no longer requires exposed vaccinated workers to quarantine.