In 2018 the Youngstown General Duty Nurses Association disbanded after fifty-two years and donated to the Youngstown Historical Center of Industry and Labor their records as well as a sizable grant to hire an intern to process their collection and create an exhibit about their history. The collection comprised more than thirty cubic feet of material in the form of three-dimensional artifacts, posters, brochures, booklets, contracts, letters, etc., containing a wealth of information about the union that fought for the rights of nurses, safer working conditions and excellent patient care. Researching their story has been fascinating and provides a glimpse into the lives of nurses in Youngstown, Ohio, as well as the ways in which they wanted safe working conditions to practice the best medicine possible. Their strikes were not only efforts to enhance working conditions in hospitals but were also ways to advocate for improved patient care and an adherence to excellence. As I researched the union, I discovered that the nurses were always promoting patient-centric policies.
When researching the profession of nursing and working conditions in hospitals, some generalizations come to light. According to Dr. Dorcas Fitzgerald, retired Professor Emeritus of Nursing at Youngstown State University, the nurses were overworked and underpaid, “…making less than $1.90/hour in Ohio in 1965.” Expectations were that this largely female workforce would work “long hours/rotating shifts” in a “hazardous…environment [that] had many unsafe substances (body fluids, medications, contagious illnesses, etc.)” Typically, full-time nurses lasted only two years then, due to personal circumstances such as a lack of childcare, had to reduce their work hours to part-time.”[2]
These conditions and a desire for improvement coincided with the Civil Rights Movements in the 1950s and 1960s and the Women’s Liberation Movement in the 1960s and 1970s, which both pushed for more rights, equality, and recognition of the importance of minorities in society and the workplace. At the same time, unions were a significant part of the Mahoning Valley, representing a variety of blue-collar workers such as steel workers, auto plant workers, factory workers, etc. Union membership in the 1950s and 1960s was at its peak and unions were quite powerful. What is significant about the YGDNA was that it advocated for “professional” workers who were primarily women.
…13-day job action at…Youngstown, Oh, hospital to raise the wages and benefits of the nurses there —and [Patton’s] efforts ultimately elevated the economic and general welfare of RNs throughout her state and beyond. Her spearheading of the Ohio E&GW [Economic and General Welfare] program led to the Ohio Nurses Association’s first bargaining unit. She also championed the staff nurses’ role in determining their own work environment and how to best deliver care.[3]
Nursing is a stressful, complex career, and allowing nurses to work in an optimal environment, where they have control over their surroundings, allows for a better atmosphere for patient care. When nurses are not over-worked, fatigued, or concerned about personal matters, they can focus all of their attention on their patients. This was their ultimate goal, per their mission statement,
to promote and preserve improvements in employment conditions and standards of professional practice; promote adherence to the Code of Ethics established by the American Nurses Association; and support the overall community in which it operates…[4]
Throughout its history, YGDNA participated in six strikes and received community support for each. One of the most contentious issues, which never seemed to be decisively resolved, was mandatory overtime (MOT). MOT was an extremely important issue to nurses. They were adamant; they could not perform quality health care when forced to work six, eight, or ten additional hours on top of their original eight or twelve hour shift. Exhaustion and extreme fatigue were not conducive conditions in which optimal care occurred and nurses raised this issue again and again with successive hospital management companies over the years. In addition to striking over issues of ethics and patient safety, the union also worked to improve wages, benefits, and overall working conditions. They formed a cohesive body which fought collectively but also came together at social functions, community events, and “…through volunteering and organizing public health programs and events.”[5]
Rally in support of the YGDNA and their desire for safe staffing levels to ensure patient safety and quality health care.
When contemplating the impact the Youngstown General Duty Nurses Association had on our community, we see the void they left is immense; they truly cared for their patients and fought on their behalf, many times, to ensure that they provided them with the best professional attention. September of 2018 was a somber time for many in the Mahoning Valley. The closing of Northside Medical Center brought an end to the hospital’s history of providing quality health care and services to the Valley’s residents on Youngstown’s Northside. Members of the Youngstown General Duty Nurses Association lost their jobs, as did many other workers at the facility. They also lost their ability to care for and provide outstanding medical attention to the community. These nurses are a part of the community as well as contributors to making it a better place to live.
