(FORT WALTON BEACH, FLORIDA) - Registered Nurses (RNs) employed at HCA Florida Fort Walton-Destin Hospital in Fort Walton Beach, Florida have voted decisively in favor of joining National Nurses Organizing Committee/National Nurses United (NNOC/NNU), the largest Union of RNs in the United States.

More than 65% of Nurses voted in favor of Unionizing, NNOC/NNU Officials said.

“I am absolutely overwhelmed and elated that we are now part of National Nurses United,” Emergency Department RN Paige Campbell said. “We now have the opportunity to make real changes at our hospital so we can provide the highest quality of care to each and every one of our patients. We know that with a seat at the bargaining table, management must address our concerns. And while we rejoice in this victory, we know in the end, it is our patients who will be the biggest winners.”

Nurses moved to Unionize the hospital due to chronic short-staffing, unsafe floating practices, continual issues with broken equipment and workplace violence.

A national study has found that HCA staffing levels were about 30% below the national average.

Fort Walton-Destin Hospital is owned and operated by HCA Healthcare, Incorporated, the largest for-profit operator of Health Care Facilities in the country and is worth more than $90 billion. Last year, HCA CEO, Sam Hazen, made $23.8 million.

Including Fort Walton-Destin Hospital’s 400 Nurses, NNOC/NNU represents some 3,500 Nurses in Florida at 11 HCA Hospitals.

NNOC/NNU represents another 6,500 RNs at HCA Facilities in California, North Carolina, Texas, Kansas, Missouri and Nevada.

Nurses will now move to elect their Bargaining Team and prepare to negotiate their first contract.

NNU represents more than 225,000 Nurses nationwide, including Members working in the Southern States of Texas, Alabama, Florida, North Carolina and Louisiana.

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Photo Courtesy Of National Nurses United.