Registered nurses at Houston’s Cypress Fairbanks Medical Center voted unanimously Monday night to approve a new collective bargaining agreement with the hospital, extending the only private union contract for nurses in America’s fourth largest city.

A controversial electronic health records system on which Sutter corporation has said it is spending $1 billion went completely dark Monday at Sutter hospitals in Northern California exposing patients to additional risk beyond problems reported with the system in July, registered nurses reported yesterday. For several months RNs have cited multiple problems with the new system, known as Epic, with safe care delivery that the California Nurses Association says is increasingly troublesome.

For the 12th consecutive year, National Nurses United Executive Director RoseAnn DeMoro has been deemed one of the 100 most influential people in healthcare in the U.S., once again named to a list published today by Modern Healthcare, a prominent national healthcare industry publication.

Washington, DC – This Saturday, Aug. 24, members of National Nurses United, the largest union and professional association of registered nurses in the country, will join hands with thousands of activists from coast to coast in the historic commemoration of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s March for Jobs and Freedom.

Eight tough months of negotiations for registered nurses and service and technical staff that included protests at hospital board meetings, an overwhelming vote of no confidence in management, and caregivers’ resolve to protect patient care have culminated in tentative agreements with Palomar Health District, the California Nurses Association (CNA) and Caregiver and Healthcare Employees Union (CHEU) announced today.