(Radio Iowa) – The results of this week’s vote to unionize by nearly 18-hundred nurses at the four UnityPoint hospitals in metro Des Moines are still unclear. Over the past three days, 871 nurses voted for the union, while 666 voted against it, but the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, which is leading unionization effort, is challenging the validity of another 251 ballots. Carly Olney, a critical care nurse in Des Moines, says a lot of nurses are feeling disheartened right now.

“We can’t take the best care of our patients if we are overworked. We haven’t even eaten lunch all day, and we’re working 12, 13 hours a day,” Olney says. “We’re taking care of way too many patients, far more than what we are able to do.” This results of the election will be undetermined until the National Labor Relations Board can review the challenged ballots to see if they should be counted. Olney says there’s a lot riding on this vote. “We get this contract, and we have every intention going forward of adding on if they would like to join our respiratory therapists, our patient care techs, pharmacy,” she says.

A spokesperson for UnityPoint said it doesn’t believe there is any merit to Teamster’s ballot challenges. The vote involved nurses at four hospitals: Blank Children’s Hospital, Iowa Lutheran Hospital and Iowa Methodist Medical Center in Des Moines, and Methodist West Hospital in West Des Moines.