I’m passionate about being an obstetrics nurse at Magee, the hospital where I was born, and where I get to care for my hometown. I want to spend my entire career here, but I am no longer sure that will be possible. Many of us have sought greater investment in professional standards for nurses and bedside care, but UPMC administration has insisted there’s not enough money “in the budget” to make the improvements we need.
So my coworkers and I were stunned to learn that our hospital made over $345 million in profits for fiscal year 2024, making Magee the third-most-profitable hospital in the state. That’s why we are forming our union: to make sure UPMC invests more of its giant profits in frontline staff, so we can give our patients the time, education and attention they require.
I’ve been a registered nurse for a few years now and work in labor and delivery; triage, which is like our emergency room for pregnant moms; and the high-risk antepartum unit, which treats mothers experiencing severe complications leading up to their births. We care for some of the sickest patients from all over Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia, New York, and Maryland.
Our patients trust us to support them during the most important and vulnerable moments of their lives. The key to our ability to provide the highest level of care is time. The only way to have more time is to have fewer patients to care for. The National Association of Women’s Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses has set staffing standards based on measuring patient outcomes. But too often, we fall short of those standards.
Nursing is hard work physically, mentally, and emotionally. When we have enough time, we can do a better job of monitoring our patients, coaching them, and teaching them about how to care for their baby and their own body. We can reassure them when they need it most and provide comfort when they experience the loss of a newborn.
But because UPMC does not sufficiently value its veteran nurses, many of them have left, and we lack the kind of mentorship that helps support and retain newer nurses like me through challenging times.
The truth is, we’ve known all along that UPMC has the resources to make urgently needed improvements: we can all see the expansion, the executive salaries, the shiny branding and advertising, the private jet. It comes down to who is calling the shots about the budget, and right now, it’s largely in the hands of the board. UPMC has 24 board members, and they are mostly a collection of real estate, banking, and other executives. Only two physicians are on the board, and only one of them is based in our state.
For years, nurses have raised our concerns through every channel available within the hospital. But we’ve come to realize that the only way to ensure UPMC invests more in direct patient care is for frontline nurses to have a seat at the decision-making table. United together, we will negotiate a union contract that makes it possible for us to remain in this profession we love and provide the very best care to our community.
UPMC nurses will hold a union vote Aug. 19 and 23. Liz Jardini is a registered nurse at UPMC Magee-Womens Hospital and was born and raised in Pittsburgh.
This article appears in Aug 6-12, 2025.
