Nurse, Dubuque, IA

At a House Education and Labor press conference held on Feb. 6, 2007, Iowa registered nurse and SEIU member Linda Merfeld delivered the following statement in support of the Employee Free Choice Act.

"For more than 14 years, I've worked as an RN in the recovery room at Finley Hospital in Dubuque, Iowa. My job in the recovery room is to care for patients immediately after their surgery.

In my years at the hospital, I've watched with great concern as fewer and fewer nurses have been taking care of more and more patients.  There are staffing patterns that continue to change and further jeopardize the quality of care our patients receive.

In 2003, I joined with other nurses to gain a voice on the job to improve the quality of care our patients receive. I was appalled at what was going on in our hospital, and as a result, I felt I had an obligation to my coworkers and to our patients to step up and do something about it.

Managers started holding meetings one-on-one and in small groups with nurses to spread myths and half-truths about forming a union. Not only were those meetings mandatory, but nurses were pulled away from patient care to attend them.  Those of us who had joined together to form a union weren't allowed to speak up to correct the inaccurate information the other nurses were given.

Instead of working with us, the nurses who have firsthand experience in delivering patient care, the hospital administration began telling us, "You'll never be able to tell us how to staff this hospital," and "We don't have to talk to you about patient care."

Last year, a nurse with 30 years of experience at Finley was fired for speaking out about patient care issues. She had never once received a disciplinary action.

No one should be fired for trying to have a voice in the decisions that affect their jobs and patient care.  That's why I've come to Washington.  I'm here to stand with working people across this country to ask our members of Congress to help nurses like me deliver the high quality care our patients deserve.  A voice at work enables us to work with hospital management, elected officials, and community groups to ensure we have the resources to provide quality care.

At the end of the day, we all enter nursing for the same reason -- to care for those who cannot care for themselves. No nurse should be fired from her job for standing up for her patients.  The Employee Free Choice Act provides a fair process so that nurses like me can speak up and ensure our patients receive the care they need."