Maggie Nielsen
Resurrection Medical Center
Chicago
ER Nurse Believes Union Representation Will Improve Patient Care
Maggie Nielsen, a nurse for 22 years, is an emergency room nurse at Our Lady of the Resurrection Medical Center (OLR) in Chicago. She has been at OLR for 12 years.
Maggie is worried about the quality of patient care at her hospital. She says hospital instruments, such as heart monitors and blood pressure cuffs, are often broken and the number of patients has gone up, yet nursing staff has been cut. Maggie says, "I’ve begged and begged and begged management…pleading we need help."
She knows that having a voice at work is the only way she can advocate for better patient care.
In order to improve patient care, Maggie decided to become active in the workers’ effort to form a union with AFSCME. One day she passed out information on the union to her co-workers during her lunch break. When top management told her to stop, she filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board. A year later, a notice was posted by the hospital saying they would not do it again.
Maggie says top management consistently shows they are adamantly against Maggie and her co-workers organizing. Maggie feels employees are hesitant to speak to her because they fear employer reprisal.
Maggie continues to fight for her freedom to join a union despite employer intimidation. She knows that to provide the best care for her patients, she must improve working conditions for herself and her co-workers.
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