Nurses Join Forces With Labor Union to Launch Healthcare Platform Cooperative

Summary

With support from the United Health Workers West — a 150,000-member strong union — nurses in California have launched the NursesCan Cooperative to create more opportunities to use their skills in the swiftly-changing healthcare industry.

“I didn’t know much about co-ops before … once I started doing the research, I fell in love,” Desiree M. Pedroza, a licensed vocational nurse and president of the NursesCan Cooperative’s board, says. “A cooperative is one of the best things you could be part of.”

The motivation to create the cooperative wasn’t only to provide more work opportunities, but also better work opportunities. Licensed vocational nurses are comparable to registered nurses, but those who formed the cooperative said they couldn’t utilize all their skills in most hospitals.