Many, perhaps most, nurses feel overworked and underpaid. So we’re likely to see more votes like the one at Hahnemann University Hospital, in Philadelphia, where 516 nurses have voted to join the Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals, marking the nation’s largest pro-union vote in the last year.

“I think nurses have had enough,” said Bill Cruice, executive director of the union, PASNAP, which led Temple University Hospital’s nurses through a strike several years ago.

Healthcare institutions  have been one of the few  growth areas for  otherwise stressed unions in recent years.