‘We are fighting for our lives’: Nurses rally for union, citing safety concerns
Nurses at Unity Point are asking the health care provider to let them form a union
By Amanda Rooker
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DES MOINES, Iowa (KCCI) — The shouts of UnityPoint nurses calling for change echoed through the streets of downtown Des Moines Wednesday. Outside Iowa Methodist Medical Center, dozens of nurses rallied for a union, saying they’ve reached a breaking point when it comes to patient care and their own safety.
At the heart of their push: concerns about understaffing, long hours, and what they describe as unsafe working conditions.
“We don’t simply want this union; we need this union. We are quite literally fighting for our lives at times,” said Iowa Methodist Medical Care Center Critical Care Unit nurse Sammi Ladd.
Ladd shared emotional stories from her own career. She recounted being assaulted two months ago by a critically ill patient in the ICU. She said it took two or three nurses to get the patient off of her.
“By the time I managed to get free, he could still kick me in the chest,” Ladd said. “He dug his fingernails into my forearm, and I had to carry a bruise, the exact size and shape of his hand, for over a week.”
Ladd said that isn’t the only incident she’s dealt with.
“I’ve been bitten. I’ve been spit on. I’ve been hit. I’ve had remotes and call lights thrown at me while I was 32 weeks pregnant. I’ve watched as my coworkers get assaulted, even though they do everything in their power to avoid it.”
Other nurses echoed her concerns, pointing to a staffing crisis that they say leaves them stretched thin. “We as nurses are being required to take on unreasonable and often unsafe patient loads,” said obstetrics nurse Nicole Ledger. “We never know what will come in, and we are starting many days already understaffed.”
Teamsters Local 90 says a majority of UnityPoint’s roughly 2,000 nurses have signed cards authorizing the union to represent them. The union has asked UnityPoint Health to voluntarily recognize the effort.
UnityPoint Health, however, says that’s not the right path forward.
“While we respect our nurses’ right to seek or reject outside representation, we believe that recognizing a union based on a claim of support from a segment of the nursing team is not the best way forward,” the health system said in a statement. “This type of choice should be made in a way that protects each nurse’s right to a private, fully informed decision, and we believe that can only occur through standard election processes guided by the National Labor Relations Board. If an election is called, we encourage all eligible nurses to vote and make their voices heard.”
“At UnityPoint Health, our nurses inspire us daily with their compassion, dedication, and heart,” a spokesperson added in a statement to KCCI. “We deeply value each nurse and want to work closely with them because we believe that direct collaboration builds the strongest, most supportive environment for everyone. For that reason, we believe that representation by an outside party is not in the best interests of our hospitals, our nurses, or the patients we serve.”
But nurses like Colin Russell, a rapid response nurse, say “direct collaboration” hasn’t solved the problems. “These nurses went through all the proper channels. They filled out all the proper forms, and yet their voices were still ignored,” he said.
Russell said he believes forming a union is the only way to create meaningful change. “By becoming Teamsters, we empower each hospital, each floor, each unit, even each nurse, to make the changes needed to keep this system great and more importantly, to care for those most vulnerable in our community.”
Organizers say that if UnityPoint Health does not voluntarily recognize the union, they will request a formal election through the National Labor Relations Board.
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