Illinois

Large group of nurses hold banner "Safe Staffing Ratios Save Lives""

Legislation updates

Illinois Safe Patient Limits Act Fact Sheet

Illinois has no law limiting the number of patients a registered nurse can care for at one time. As a result, registered nurses are consistently required to care for more patients than is safe, compromising patient care and negatively impacting patient outcomes.

The Safe Patient Limits Act requires hospitals to annually develop safe staffing plans that meet the bill’s RN patient limits and provide for additional staffing based on individual patient care needs. Learn more by reading our fact sheet »

Nurse Licensure Compact Legislation — Opposition Fact Sheet

NNOC-Illinois/National Nurses United urges you to oppose H.B. 1338, H.B. 1652, H.B. 1706, H.B. 2614, S.B. 102, and any other Nurse Licensure Compact or Universal Recognition of Occupational Licenses (Compact) legislation introduced this session. Learn why by reading our fact sheet »

Press releases

4 nurses at podium holding signs "Prime RNs United for our Patients"

Union nurses reinstated at Prime hospital in Illinois

Four formerly suspended registered nurses at Olympia Fields Hospital in Olympia Fields, Ill. have been reinstated and will return to work this week. By Sept. 15, Prime Healthcare had suspended or fired six nurses at Olympia Fields Hospital.

National Nurses Organizing Committee

October 5, 2026

Olympia Fields nurses vote overwhelmingly to join National Nurses Organizing Committee

Registered nurses at Olympia Fields Hospital in Olympia Fields, Ill., voted 82 percent in favor of joining National Nurses Organizing Committee, an affiliate of National Nurses United, the largest and fastest-growing registered nurse (RN) union in the nation.

National Nurses Organizing Committee/National Nurses United

September 24, 2026

NLRB blocks union election due to Prime Healthcare’s illegal interference with nurses’ right to unionize

The National Labor Relations Board’s Region 13 Office in Chicago moved to block the originally scheduled Sept. 17 NLRB union election at Saint Francis Hospital in Evanston, Ill., in light of credible allegations that a free and fair election is not possible at this time due to Prime Healthcare’s substantial and flagrant violations of the National Labor Relations Act.

National Nurses Organizing Committee/National Nurses United

September 14, 2026

Community and nurses marching and holding signs "RNs Against Crime Health." Person with shirt "Safe Staffing Saves Lives"

Olympia Fields nurses to hold one-day strike, Saint Mary’s nurses to picket on September 15

Registered nurses at Olympia Fields Hospital in Olympia Fields, Illinois, will hold a strike for one day on September 15 to protest the administration’s retaliation against nurses who speak up and fight for their patients.

National Nurses Organizing Committee

September 13, 2026

Nurse holding/shading herself with sign "RNs Against Crime Health"

Nurses to sympathy strike, picket on September 15 at five Prime Healthcare hospitals in four states

Registered nurses at three Prime Healthcare hospitals in Nevada and California, as well as nurses and health care workers at an additional hospital in California, will hold a sympathy strike for one day on September 15 in solidarity with nurses at Olympia Fields Hospital in Illinois who are striking on the same day to protest the suspension of six nurses at Olympia Fields Hospital.

California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee

September 13, 2026

Large group of nurses inside, mostly wearing red, smiling, with raised fists

Union victory in Chicago

In May, registered nurses at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago voted overwhelmingly, with 77 percent in favor, of joining National Nurses Organizing Committee, an affiliate of National Nurses United, the nation’s largest and fastest-growing registered nurse union.

September 28, 2026

Nurse on picket line holding signs "Prime RNs United for our Patients"

Prime Healthcare nurses stage national uprising

Nurses at Prime Healthcare facilities across the country are fired up and fed up with chronic short staffing, lack of supplies and working equipment at their hospitals, and being forced to do more with less at every turn. This is why they are unionizing, picketing, and striking from California to Maine, speaking up for their patients, their communities, and themselves.

September 28, 2026

UChicago Ingalls RNs win strong contract

Registered nurses at UChicago Medicine Ingalls Memorial Hospital in Harvey, Ill. voted overwhelmingly in favor of ratifying a new four-year contract on April 7, winning protections to improve patient safety and nurse retention.

July 9, 2025

Never Giving Up

Cook County nurses won a months-long battle to get the retention retroactive pay they won in a contract extension. Don’t give up,” said Brenda Langford, RN, PPC member, chief nurse representative at Chicago’s Stroger Hospital, and an NNOC board member. “It does take time to win a campaign, and it can take multiple campaigns to hold management accountable."

December 20, 2024

Chicago nurses score contract victory

Registered nurses at UChicago Medicine in Chicago, Ill., voted overwhelmingly in March to approve a new four-year agreement that addresses numerous patient safety concerns. In February the nurses voted 97 percent in favor of authorizing their nurse bargaining committee to call a one-day strike if management did not address their chronic staffing concerns.

June 5, 2024