Registered nurses at Jesse Brown VA Medical Center in Chicago, Ill., will hold a rally on Friday, June 27, to highlight patient safety concerns caused by the facility’s plans to change RNs’ schedules, making it more difficult to retain and recruit nurses. The VA’s plan to unilaterally terminate current scheduling practices for almost 400 RNs strips nurses of their right to bargain over working conditions and diminishes their role as patient advocates. Nurses at Jesse Brown VA Medical Center are represented by National Nurses Organizing Committee/National Nurses United (NNOC/NNU). 

“The VA knows that the flexible schedules at Jesse Brown help retain and recruit experienced nurses and improve patient outcomes,” said Tina Godinho, RN in the intensive care unit. “If the Jesse Brown administration refuses to listen to nurses and moves forward with this plan to unilaterally change our schedules, they will lose experienced RNs to other hospitals that do offer these schedules. We know that the outcome of this decision would hurt veterans.

Who: RNs who work with veterans in Chicago
What: Rally to protect veterans and retain nurses
When: Friday, June 27, 1 p.m.
Where: Jesse Brown VA Medical Center, 820 S. Damen Ave., Chicago, Ill.; at the Damen entrance

“What we are experiencing here at Jesse Brown is a microcosm of the new culture of the VA nationally,” said Adelena Marshall, RN in the behavioral health unit. “Nurses are crucial to carrying out veteran care. If you’re not valuing our voices, you are not valuing veteran care.” 

According to an August 2024 report by the VA’s Office of Inspector General, 82 percent of VAs nationwide are critically understaffed. National Nurses United has organized and advocated for the Department of Veterans Affairs to implement flexible scheduling in the facilities to address this critical issue. At Jesse Brown, all RNs who work in 24-hour inpatient units currently work on this schedule, which was promoted by an internal national VA committee whose charge was to “reduce burnout” and improve veteran outcomes. That committee found that these flexible schedules improve job satisfaction, decrease nurse turnover, increase quality of care, and make the VA a better place to work and receive care. 

NNOC/NNU represents roughly 600 registered nurses at Jesse Brown in Chicago and more than 15,000 registered nurses at 23 VHA facilities across the country, many of whom are also veterans.

National Nurses United is the largest and fastest-growing union and professional association of registered nurses in the United States with more than 225,000 members nationwide. NNU affiliates include California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee, DC Nurses Association, Michigan Nurses Association, Minnesota Nurses Association, and New York State Nurses Association.